This time of year, we are SPAMMED with nasty messages designed to make us feel vulnerable and less than. As in, ‘I know your 2019 was horrible and didn’t live up to your expectations. Change your luck and begin 2020 on the right foot.’
Or my all-time favourite ….. “I have been watching the world this year and despite all that negativity, have great news for you. Sign up today at ‘name your program’ and get ready to have a superb rest of your life.” Really?????
The best leaders in the world ALREADY have their plans for the coming year nailed down, laid out, wrapped and bowed and ready to blast as soon as the New Year’s bells begin to peal. The rest of us, not so much.
If YOU are part of the ‘rest of us’ tribe, I’d like to give you one thought to ponder.
Flip your ME upside down. Turn your ME into WE.
Seriously. It will ignite all the plans you have written, coalesce all your dreams and drive all the outcomes you want — massively into the stratosphere. Plus, it will help you complete most if not all your goals ahead of time and likely within budget anytime you want.
The full backstory on this particular topic is on my latest podcast episode. 14 minutes to which you can easily listen on Google, iTunes, Spotify or Simplecast.
For this piece, I want to share with you two things I have done consistently for more than 30 years.
The number one thing all human beings want is to be acknowledged. I just received a survey from Harvard University which specifies the number one skill 80% of employees believe is lacking in their workplace is team building. YIKES. Still. Today. In 2019. Most leaders and managers are not great at team building. And that simple fact hasn’t changed in the last fifty years!
At its core, team building is about acknowledging the folks around us. The most exceptional leaders RARELY deliberate about themselves or their personalities or their issues or their goals. The most awesome leaders focus FIRST on the WE in their lives. They focus on the OTHERS. Employees, customers, suppliers. In short, they focus only on their teams.
They reframe everything as People First.
WE instead of ME.
The best way to treat all people is to turn your ME into WE. How? Here are just two of my personal go-tos.
1. Quit obsessing about your corporate goals and how you will or will not make them. Instead, obsess on helping your people and your customers and your suppliers reach their goals, within the context of what you want. If you consistently demonstrate that you are helping them to reach just a fraction of their personal goals, they will give you a minimum 125% of yours.
2. Share equally in good and bad times. Bonus plans for everyone based on results achieved (not rank or seniority) work exceptionally well. Especially with short term (monthly), medium-term (annually) and longer-term (2 to 3 years) rewards. On the flip side, whenever I announced poor results, my people knew I was just recapping the obvious. So when I took unpaid leave with my people, instead of initiating layoffs and terminations, well, THAT was always a huge moment.
When your team realizes you are just ‘first among equals’ and ‘in it with them’ the bonds of loyalty and trust are exceptionally hard to break. The result is you win huge cooperation and engagement to move you as close to your objectives as possible.
If you are interested in making 2020 a tremendous success for your business or teams, let me buy you a mentoring session. Simply book a call and let me help get you headed in the right direction.
To your success!
