Flywheel Leadership

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The making of an exceptional team, and how to build What is a team? When I dug a little deeper on building teams, it quickly took me back to the fundamentals of what makes up a team. We throw around the term team, but what do we really mean in the world of work. It's similar to a sports team, but it is different. The goal is to compete and win, come together to achieve something, and work together to drive towards a common goal. The goal is to win, but together, and not at the cost of one another, but the advancement of the team. New Oxford American Dictionary Definition - collection of people working together towards a common goal What does good like? What does it take to have a great team? What communication is necessary? What leadership, what resources, what parameters? What rules? A great team has a basic purpose, mission, and common connectivity, but it’s really whatever you want it to be - the leader, and the team determine what good looks like. A team is set-up to achieve the team's goals and expectations. I think back to Good to Great, Jim Collins, where the connection of people and business advancement is so strong, proving you don't have one without the other. Here are a few core points centered from the people lens, adopted from concepts and quotes from Good to Great, by Jim Collins: Build a culture of discipline and commitment to business and people, not a hierarchy to manage poor or average performers Contagious culture and success Ambition for institution, not themselves, humility and intense professional will Team First (We not I) Talent builds the future, they know where to take company when you don’t Ability to get and keep great people- growth throttle Throughout, Jim Collins makes the logical individual points come together into a wider philosophy, which I refer to as building a Performance Operations Culture. Trust Trust is the fundamental groundwork for business and teams. Trust is a feeling, a path to connectivity, a mutual understanding, a currency. But how do you build trust and the team feeling, versus the instinctive urge for survival which ultimately focuses on encroaching on one another. The answer: the group cares more about each other and the broader team, more than their individual advancement. Each team member has a team first mindset, one team attitude, and genuinely cares about the person next to them. Leadership & Ownership The leadership role on a team is the facilitator, sometimes a guide, yes, and they must be directive at times, but much of leadership with the right people on the bus, is about steering a ship loosely. I saw a quote recently that said leadership is much more about the ship, than the leader (I believe it's from John Tomlinson). Team ownership is about the team, not the leader, it's the team's team, not a leader's possie or following. When you can drive ownership amongst your team, their commitment prevails above all else. Commitment with an army or football team like mentality, but with the flexibility and trust that makes VPs, execs, HR, and entrepreneurs jealous. This where performance meets culture. This all starts with trust. Teams have a common goal, mission, or directive, serving their end customer, but also each other. Teams win together, and fail together Rough times bring people together Want growth, build loyalty with your customers - Russell Brunson stated - Russell Brunson, Facebook post Taking it a step further to support Brunson's comment, is Richard Branson about the employee focus - "Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.” The Collective Target: Care, Culture, Mission, & Purpose Drives the Makings of a Great Team Culminates with achievement of ideal state, working towards or achieving your organizational/group BEHAG, or progress towards operational focus and vision, driving financial and operational results Can take you really wherever you want in the context of the business, but you need a collective goal, more powerful than the individual priorities Accomplishing something as a team is so much more special than individual achievement, but why? - People tend to care more when the people they care for are achieving something significant - There is collective power in community - When the achievement is by the team and strengthens the team, it has the likelihood to raise performance, satisfaction, and engagement - The bigger the team and effort, the more engagement it builds, driving the motivation and mental side, tied to the achievement How to Build a Great Team By the leader, organization, and peers amongst the team working on the following: Genuine care for colleagues (teammates), which builds trust and comradery Expectations AND flexibility - eliminate performance tied to hours, face time, etc. Focus on real performance results that drives business, not the quantity of time or location of work if not critical to delivery of quality product or service. Expectations go both ways - leaders expect of their team, but the team should expect fundamental leadership and support as well Guided flexibility - It's about allowing your team to color between the lines (with lines being critical boundaries), but not telling them how to color, when to color, what table or office to sit in, and with what kind of marker, if it's not business critical. Basically, expect great effort, great work, but treat your team like adults. Align individual advancement and org/group growth - Individual and group opportunity must stem from team results for individuals to work on both self-development and focus on activities growing the org/team Build psychological safety with innovation, thinking differently, and promote generating the wild ideas - those are the ones that help you build your next product or service, or great break-through Establish radical candor - your team must be able to share what needs to be shared and not sugar coat it for you or your SLT/ELT Power must be shared - the leader does get the final call and must keep everyone on track, but the team must feel empowered to work at their fullest potential and with some individuality and creativity, and not be held back by a leader without confidence. Logical, human-based leadership and team collaboration - no teams of robots, otherwise just have robots and AI do the work Transparency - share whatever you can, maybe even a little more than some think you should, as your team will appreciate it, and they will in kind, share more with you. It's a two-way street. It takes time - yes, you can help move it along faster, but there must be some natural progression, otherwise it will look and feel, fake, forced, and not well received The list goes on - it's not rocket science, but it is people, operations and cultural science. The information is straight forward, the implementation is a flying unicorn to some, for others, it's completely natural or they're at least on the path to learning to become a better leader. Throughout my career, I have seen dozens of examples where this goes really well, or very badly, all depending on how the leader or company establish the org structure, expectations, or promote culture. I'll look to share more specific examples and stories as the OpCo newsletter evolves. Your team, group, or company will never be perfect, but you're looking for progress over perfect. Team Building Resources Patrick Lencioni (The Table Group) Courier Group Harvard Business Review: The Secrets of Great Teamwork

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

Founder, CEO, or entry-level professional, you're not getting promoted tomorrow, without putting in the work today.

https://grahampeelle.com

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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Operations leaders are builders As I considered what additional operations topics I would cover over the next few weeks, I heard a comment that stuck with me. Operations leaders are builders. Building a team, building a business, building products, or building a service. This resonates with me because of the creation mode that relates to more of the artistic professions, product designers, movie makers, and similar roles, but also those building an operation or building a business. We are builders. Just a matter of what we build compared to others. It’s often assumed things just run. Some assume the work just gets done, but Operations is who makes it happen, many times behind the scenes, under the radar, and behind the curtain. Why is this important to remember? Because similar to artistic liberties someone in the arts may need to be creative and productive, operations needs the same kind of freedom to create, innovate, and build. The ability to build without having to stay between the lines. Ops having runway to work, allows for the organic improvements in all aspects of the operation by running business in an intentional manner. Ultimately, Operations encompasses this ability to deliver on the day-to-day, but also work on building the next best thing, or improving the process, experience, or service. Developing your team, helping your customer succeed, delivering on quality - all Operations. Sometimes we have those that want things to “just run”, rely on Operations, but allow the flexibility to deliver just that. The more barriers, hoops, or bureaucracy, the less likely Ops can have the necessary freedom to build. Want greatness, let Operations do its job. Think about the parallel with sales - yes there are policies and procedures focused on how orgs sell, but how often do we see sales professionals limited by too much restriction, process, rules, admin, reporting, and structure that is contrary to the sales craft itself, in turn, limiting your ability to grow, by limiting sales activity, incentives, or power. It’s similar for Ops, so as we look at different functions, maybe it’s as simple as allowing teams and individuals to do their jobs. Hire the best people and allow them to their jobs. How many companies spend so much time effort and money to find the best people, to handcuff them and tell them what to do? Steve Jobs said it well, “It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do, we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.” Operations leaders are builders: builders of culture, builders of products, builders or service, and builders of business. If you’re leading an organization, let your builders, build. David Senra provided the inspiration from his comment about being a “Builder” …from the Founders episode regarding Henry Flagler, a founder of Standard Oil (with JD Rockefeller), who also built a bridge to the Florida Keys back when Key West was the largest city in FL, and what is now Miami was then called Ft. Dallas.

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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Leadership concepts are often simple, common sense, and even logical, so why do so many struggle with leadership? It comes down to two different mindsets: Choosing to put people first, with empathy and actual care Putting other priorities first, and trying to make it look like people are first, prioritizing other priorities over people, forcing people into the equation Choose people-first, because people prove to be your most important resource in the long run for the majority of business models, people are your customers in many circumstances, and prioritizing people always shines through eventually, with the leaders and companies that are truly supportive of their people, vs. those that claim to focus on people. A People-First Approach ensures you prioritize your primary focus has the deserving attention, compared to an outcome-based focus, which prioritizes the result vs. the culture and inputs to get there. A culture and inputs focus will build a sustainable model for future growth, because it engrains the why and the how, not just the results, while outcomes-focus drives only caring about the end game. The outcome is important and is necessary to drive performance and results, but would you ever replace "People" in your Purpose, Mission, or Values statements, with Outcomes or Margin? People Performance, not Outcomes forcing people into the equation, builds a sustainable growth-oriented model bringing your team along with the mission. If you would like to be notified for future posts on operations leadership, culture, and talent related topics, make sure you click the 🔔 on my profile page. Or subscribe to the monthly newsletter and find it in your email or LinkedIn. For additional daily content, check out https://grahampeelle.com

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

Close the gap - find the way to connect your business goals with your people's goals, which actually usually happens in reverse of that. 

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The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

It's about the people.

Cameron Herold's Show The Second in Command

 Mainly tied to Cameron's work founding the COO Alliance

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The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

Jay Clouse of "Creator Science" with Chase Jarvis, referenced in this show

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The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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Going the “extra mile” as a leader to support your team can many times mean simply being a good person, listening to what they need, and showing your support for your team. It doesn’t make leadership easy, but leadership doesn’t have to be complex.

Here are a few examples:

Story telling: share the firm’s past or your own stories to help make a better future. Not dwelling, but learning from past experience, accelerating learning for others. Look how effective a story is to truly illustrate a point - stories create and grow culture.

Give them some feedback about something no one else had the guts to share, but they need to hear it. This requires genuine trust and care to deliver it AND they have it received in a positive and impactful way.

Checking-in to see if they need something, and really caring if they need help.

Not redirecting endlessly, but actually helping connect them to resources and those who can help.

Teaching to have them help themselves is great, but if they aren’t able to help themselves, sometimes it backfires. Take time to coach and teach them when it’s that time.

If not a critical directive and the situation allows for some nuance, but they’re lost- have them to speak to a peer or an additional leader that excels in that area. Or give them two options that could work, but have them make and own the decision.

Removing roadblocks that are preventing success, or frustrating for job satisfaction and not business critical.

Be approachable and open to conversation. If you want your team to update you, share with you, be vulnerable with where they need help, you better make it comfortable for them to reach out.

Have a coffee or meal…without them asking. And if remote, schedule an informal catch-up and not mention business at all. If you’re shaking from even the idea of not having an agenda, the agenda is to connect outside of business and have a relaxed and open environment. Put yourself out there to encourage them to do the same.

Buy a team member a new jacket when they need one (one of the most meaningful gestures I have seen someone do for someone else), or whatever simple gesture that goes a long way and shows you actually care about them as a human.

Support, Care, Guide, Coach, Direct, Empower, but not isolating, leaving behind, or degrading. Sounds simple, but often times it’s not easy. In an effort to teach someone to fish, or to mature and learn, leaders often miss opportunities to develop their teams and leave them feeling lost for answers with no clear resource to help. Be the kind of leader that teaches someone to fish, but sticks around or is available if they lose their way and need leadership.

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

Positioning is about intentionally crafting your leadership journey.

Your willingness to contribute makes you an expert at some level in the eyes of your audience.

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The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

Find your people. Find your Tribe. You may feel strongly about chasing those who have already "made" it, but consider seeking out your peer group to learn from, support you, and find friends in a similar spot looking to grow.

https://grahampeelle.com

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.