The Beacon Blog

Communicate Directly

You may have heard the adage, “Ignore a problem long enough, and it goes away.” Fact is, problems ignored don’t disappear. On the contrary, they tend to become bigger and harder to solve as time goes by.

When things on your team start to malfunction, it’s usually best to deal with the issues directly. You might need to start by speaking privately with certain team members to find out what is going on. Perhaps you then have some group dialogue. Perhaps you communicate with the subset of the team that is causing or having the problem. Perhaps you deal with the problem gently. Perhaps you deal with it harshly. All of these possibilities depend on the gravity and nature of the problem.

The point here is that you will do better, more often, if you put issues on the table, talk about them, and attempt to work through them. A problem ignored almost always becomes a problem that you regret ignoring.

Have a great day.

At The Latimer Group, we believe that successful teams are built on honesty, open communication, and collaboration. For more on team building and team communication, look for Dean Brenner’s new book, Sharing the Sandbox: Building and Leading Great Teams in the 21st Century, on sale now.

Photo: Krypto

Filed Under: Communication, Leadership, Team Building, Teamwork

Tips for Leading a Global Team

Different native languages and cultural norms are major roadblocks to a successful Global Team. To get around this, a Global Team leader should promote the sharing of cultural knowledge.

Create a sense of respect for other cultures, as well as for other people. With the Global Team, you need to do more than just get to know your teammates. You also need to get to know the cultures of your teammates. Things are perceived differently in different cultures; an action that might be a compliment in one culture could be an insult in another. This extra layer of knowledge will help you create the culture of respect we have mentioned so many times in Sharing the Sandbox.
If the team communicates in your native language, make it easy for people to understand you. If you are on a global team operating primarily in your native language, remember to make these adjustments:

Speak more slowly to compensate for the fact that some people might need time to mentally translate to their native language. (Be careful, though—going too slowly can be insulting.)
Use simpler sentence structures, active-voice verbs (“speak” instead of “spoken to”) and fewer stream-of-consciousness strings (several ideas linked together with commas). In other words, try to use shorter sentences and simple subject-verb-object construction.
Avoid the colloquialisms that might make sense to an American but would be confusing to a non-American (for example, “We were just focused on grinding through the process, one yard at a time”). Remember that colloquialisms have two meanings: a literal one (he hit a home run in the baseball game) and a figurative one (our idea was well received; it was a home run). Figurative language requires extra translation—and time—on the part of a nonnative listener. Make the listener’s job easier by avoiding this type of language altogether.

I’ll close by directly addressing the concept of ethnocentricity. In many global organizations, the culture of the home office ends up dominating, and the people who sit in the home office often expect, consciously or subconsciously, the rest of the team around the world to adjust to their own cultural norms. The “ivory tower” syndrome can easily set in, and once it has set in, it is hard to undo. Leadership needs to demonstrate through words and actions that they are interested in the opinions, needs, and contributions from everyone in the organization, not just those who sit in the home office every day.

Photo: ironrodart

Filed Under: Communication, Leadership, Team Building, Teamwork

How to Be A Great Teammate

I spoke at my former university recently, as part of the 75th anniversary celebration of the school’s sailing team, which I’d been part of at one time. The organizers asked me to say a few words about team building and team culture, as they know it’s a subject I’ve been spending a lot of time on of late. Their current team culture is a very positive one. They refer to it as the “As One Philosophy,” which suggests that no matter your standing on the team, from the standout star to the last person on the bench, that the team stands together “As One,” no matter who’s on the field at the time. That’s certainly a philosophy I agree with, so I was more than happy to add my comments at the event.

There were a few things I focused on, which I’d like to share with you, as they’re concepts which are appropriate beyond this university sailing team:

First, being a great teammate is an attitude, not a skill. Being a great teammate is completely unrelated to your ability on the field, or in the office. Skill and ability, oftentimes, are in your nature, whereas attitude is something you can adopt and nurture. You can control your attitude about being a great teammate.

Second, being a great teammate is a choice — one you make every day. It’s a choice between promoting yourself and your needs, or promoting the needs of the team. And it’s not always easy. As human beings, we’re ambitious, and each of us wants to do what’s best for ourselves, so making that choice is sometimes challenging. But it’s essential in order to be that great teammate.

And finally, remember that five, ten, or twenty years down the road, when the people you’ve worked with, played with, or teamed with think of you, what they’ll remember above all else is what kind of teammate you were. You may be the best in the world at what you do, but if you were a bad teammate, people will remember. It may not be as important in the competitive moment, but I think we can all agree that at some point in the future, peoples’ perception of you, your brand, or your reputation will be important to you.

Some food for thought as we start another week. Hope it’s a great one. As always, comments and feedback are most welcome.

Good luck.

Photo: pbo31

Filed Under: Leadership, Sailing, Team Building, Teamwork

7 Characteristics of Good Followership

At The Latimer Group, we often say, “No one leads all the time.” Part of being a good teammate – and a good leader – is knowing how to also be a good follower. True, followership isn’t always fun; it’s not always sexy. The credit often goes to the person in the lead. But good followership can have its own rewards since the best teams celebrate the successes of the whole group.

What makes a good follower? It’s not that complicated. The concepts are simple to understand but often complicated to execute. Why? Because a little something called “the ego” gets in the way.

But if we can manage the ego; embrace the fact that there is value to ourselves, our teammates, and our leaders; and be good teammates and followers; then we have a chance to do something great. So with all of this in mind, here are a few practices that will make you a great teammate and follower:

Be part of the process. Strong followers are not just along for the ride. They contribute to the process. Strong leaders seek the input of others in their organization, and strong followers seek to contribute whenever possible and appropriate.
Be open to ideas other than your own. Strong followers give input and contribute, but they also realize that good ideas can come from others, too. Listen to what others have to say. Listen with your ears and your mind.
Disagree internally, support externally. Strong followers on good teams have a responsibility to raise their hand and speak up when they disagree with something. But strong followers always share that disagreement respectfully, logically, and internally within the team. Once a decision is made final, the strong follower supports it and does everything they can to make it work. Strong followers speak up and then “get on the bus” once the decision is made.
Celebrate the performances of others. Strong followers enjoy and celebrate the successes of their teammates. Strong followers cheer for the people around them and love to see their teams succeed. The strong follower, just like the strong leader, thinks and speaks of “we” and rarely of “I.”
Carry your own weight. Being a strong cheerleader is important, but to be a valuable member of a team, you must also do the legwork. Everyone loves to have a positive cheerleader on the team, but eventually, if that cheerleader does not actively contribute to the team’s success, the cheering starts to ring hollow.
Don’t run for office. Strong followers do lots of things that may eventually make them a candidate for a leadership position, but strong followers don’t actively campaign to replace the current leadership. Strong followers do their job well, and they are ready when the time comes to step forward and assume a more prominent role on the team.
Keep the “dirty laundry” within the team. This point is similar to #3, but is still worth a separate mention. Strong followers don’t publicly criticize a teammate or team leadership. They keep their issues within the team. Weak teams don’t.

Good luck.

Filed Under: Leadership, Team Building, Teamwork

5 Keys to Persuasive Communication

Are you persuasive? When you speak and write, do you have the ability to persuade people to do what you want them to do and to believe what you want them to think? Those with the power to persuade are in demand. People want to be on their teams. People follow their lead. Persuasive people tend to get noticed, heard, remembered, and, eventually, promoted.

Persuasive communication is not easy. It takes plenty of thought, planning, and practice. But the concepts that lead to persuasive communication are pretty straightforward. Here are five of the most important. If you put these into practice, they will help you immediately.

Have a clear goal every time you speak. If you start with a clear goal for your communication opportunity, your preparation will be quicker and of better quality. Only when you know your desired destination does it become possible to get where you want to go.
Spend time thinking about the needs and desires of your audience. Before designing the agenda for a meeting, for instance, spend some time thinking about the current mindset of your audience. Don’t spend all your time thinking about what you want to say. Spend most of your time thinking about the issues your audience will care about. What will cause them to say “yes” or “no” to your requests?
Make the benefits to your audience the common denominator to every aspect of your message. Do you want to persuade someone of something? Then make the benefits the highlight of the message. If your message lacks clear benefits, you will struggle to persuade anyone of anything.
Be authentic and sincere. When you deliver your message, speak in your own voice and with your own style. Do it your way, just as if you were speaking to a friend. Equally important, be sincere. When you stand up to speak, show the audience that you care about the topic.
Practice. Acquiring any new skill requires many things, coaching and instruction among them. But without sufficient practice, all the books and coaching in the world won’t make you better. The same goes for communication. There are no magic bullets, no get-rich-quick schemes, no lose-100-pounds-in-100-days ploys. The amount you practice will determine your success.

When you do all these things, you are simply increasing the chances that you will connect with your audience, and when you do that, you make it more valuable for them and more likely that you will enjoy a successful meeting, phone call, or presentation.

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Filed Under: Communication, Leadership, Persuasion