Ego Free Zone of Great Teams
Your company’s leadership team is featured in the Wall Street Journal. The article reads:
“They have derailed the competition by building an entirely new kind of organization. This isn’t just a newer model it is a better one that taps into the power and the passion of all employees. This passion is wed to networking technologies that ignite collaboration and creativity throughout the company. This leadership team is also remarkably disciplined. They have outmaneuvered the competition with no leaks, no infighting and virtually no credit for their effort. Given their accomplishments they might be household names by now. This brain trust, however, works in near anonymity. This is no accident. The team lives by the rule, ‘All the credit goes to the company not to the individuals.’ Privately the team members say, ‘There’s not much to know. It just works.’ *
Ego Laden Zone of Lesser Teams
This same article contrasts the ego laden zone of your competitor’s executive team, to the ego free zone of your team. They are “beset by leaks and infighting. The warring factions include an overbearing strategist, a know-it-all adviser, and ego laden flacks. The team is comprised of self-important vice-presidents who battle loudly and publicly about budget, turf, access to the CEO and prestige.” The ego zone.
You finish reading and recall sharing a vision that described what you wanted your team to become.
“I’m not sure that I am going to be the best CEO. But I am absolutely positive that we have the opportunity to create the best organization, and in the end that is more important to our success. The way great things happen is when people are willing to submerge their own egos and focus on common goals and tasks. That’s my mind-set. It’s not just a gimmick, it’s not just a shtick. I actually believe in it.” *
As you developed the team, you focused on three tasks and principles:
- Find and select competent people, who didn’t need to build an ego
- Collaboratively develop a shared vision
- Collectively determine the rules of play for working together
It worked. Each and every member was excited and passionate. The group quickly became a strong inner circle that worked through, or set aside, differences. Each person submerged his/her ego needs on behalf of the greater mission.
You recall the darker times. The competition was eating your lunch. Your business strategy wasn’t working. You had to re-group. The situation was ripe for finger-pointing and internal warfare, but the team had already forged its identity. No one needed to defend his or her ego. Instead everybody swallowed hard, egos included. People worked things out. The warship came out stronger. Together you drew sharper distinctions between your company and the competition. The team’s dedication to its mission won the day.
The article goes on to describe your leadership,
When he’s running a meeting, he does more listening than talking, asking questions and taking the temperature of everyone in the room. Regardless of where you fall in the hierarchy, he listens to you as though you are his right hand person. He focuses, he prods, he pushes, to help enrich your thinking and to make sure that he fully understands your position. That sets an important tone as well: When you go into a meeting expecting to learn from each other and not dictate, it fosters camaraderie.*
You fold the morning paper under your arm and get in the car. On the drive to work you notice the warm glow emanating from the inside. It’s going to be a great day.
*These excerpts appeared in The Wall Street Journal and describe two real teams. Each was charged with winning an election. The ego free team worked for Barack Obama. The other team worked for Hilary Clinton. I described these teams as companies to keep you, the reader, focused on the rules of building a great team, not on the politics. Sounds a bit like the workplace, doesn’t it?
Have a few rules for great teams? Please share and spread the wisdom.