Go to any playground, classroom or backyard where young children gather and you will find a teacher or a parent trying to instill the importance of sharing. From toys to snacks, to our time and resources, we learn from a very early age that sharing is a virtue. It’s a fundamental childhood lesson designed to make us better people and better members of society.
Go to many boardrooms, office buildings and cubicles in the corporate world and, for the most part, you will find sharing is a lost art. People aren’t bad, but traditional corporate culture and systems fail to encourage real teamwork. Most people are out for themselves, trying to outshine and outdo one another for promotions and recognition in cutthroat competition that encourages confrontation rather than collaboration. The good of the company is a byproduct of this behavior, not the goal. There are teams in the corporate world; many of them are successful. But too many managers and team leaders take the credit for their team’s hard work – using “I” more often than “we” when describing success. And as the old saying goes, “There is no ‘I’ in teamwork.”
I found this to be true in my own career. I first joined the working world in the real estate industry when I joined my father’s company. I was excited to work in a team environment and develop an exciting business in what I thought was a collaborative profession. Was I ever wrong. Each real estate broker was interested only in his or her own accomplishments; the success of the team wasn’t even a consideration.
I grew the family business and soon found myself in a leadership position in the company. I thought if I were in charge, things would be different. I dedicated myself to fostering a team environment, taking the time and energy to invest in the people I brought on board to help them and our business grow. I believed that if I developed a supportive, collaborative workplace, no one would ever want to leave. I worked on being what I considered a servant leader – giving completely of my time and my knowledge to my colleagues and the business, believing we all would benefit from this practice. Wrong again. Some of the top people I trained and brought along left the brokerage and became my direct competition. At one point, I realized I was responsible for helping build many brokerages in the Los Angeles area, all started by my former colleagues.
I couldn’t believe what was happening at the time. I thought I had done everything right. Upon thinking about it, I realized my strategy had a fatal flaw: While the environment I created encouraged teamwork with me, it didn’t encourage teamwork among everyone on the team. I took the time to coach and help people as a servant leader, but the systems we had in place didn’t reward others for working with one another while recognizing individual achievement. Teamwork is more than simply assembling a group of people together with a goal; true teamwork requires strong leadership, a common vision and a culture that reinforces and rewards collaboration. In my years in business, I’ve identified “Nine Cs” that every good servant leader must master to build a successful team:
Culture. Teamwork doesn’t just naturally happen. You need to create a company culture that encourages and rewards it at every level. You need to systematize teamwork — engrain it in every facet of your business. Recognize not only the top individual but also the top team in your office. Tie teamwork to bonuses and promotions, not just the bottom line. Without a supportive culture in place, teamwork will be a word rather than an action.
True teamwork
requires strong
leadership, vision
and a culture
that reinforces
and rewards
collaboration.
Cause. Successful teams are inspired teams. You don’t inspire teams with tasks; you inspire teams with dreams. Give them a reason bigger than themselves to go out there and give 110 percent. At World Financial Group Inc., our cause — our crusade — is to help middle-income families who have traditionally been underserved by the financial services industry to get on track to their futures by educating them about money. That’s a dream people can get behind. When my teammates go out and help a family, it’s not just business to them. Their actions have meaning and purpose, and they get a sense of satisfaction that they’ve helped make a difference in someone’s life. I take this so seriously that I play on my last name and tell everyone I am a “cruzader” for our mission. Servant leaders must convey the “why” to their teams. And that leads me to my next point.
Communication. A servant leader keeps in constant communication with his/her team. Share successes. Make them part of the business by being transparent, open and honest. Good and constant communication builds a foundation of trust. Trust fortifies the bonds necessary for teams to flourish and businesses to grow.
Collaboration. Find opportunities for people to work together and play to their strengths. Mix up the players on your team so people have a chance to work with everyone. Changing things around breeds fresh perspectives and new ideas.
Coach. Create an environment that encourages and rewards people for sharing and teaching others what they know. The traditional corporate world seems to discourage this. By tying promotions, recognition and rewards to individual accomplishments, employees tend to keep their skills and abilities to themselves rather than teaching others for the common good. When you build a business that rewards mentoring, experienced professionals will share their skills. We do this at World Financial Group Inc. As an associate with our company, you have access to multiple experienced professionals/coaches. No matter where you are in business, you have someone to mentor you. This practice builds a successful business and a strong, confident, growing team driven by a nurturing business environment.
Commitment. Servant leaders must lead by example and show other teammates at every turn they are committed to their individual success and the success of the business. They must give their time and talents to helping others, and in turn, this will help the business to grow. The commitment level you give, is the commitment level you get back from your team.
Compassion. Good servant leaders don’t just say they care about their teammates; they show it. Take the time to get to know each and every team member, their families, their goals and dreams. Understanding your teammates and getting to know who they truly are will help you be a better leader.
Create an
environment of
giving and everything
comes back to you
tenfold.
Challenge. Evaluate the company’s business goals regularly and work with team members to develop individual and collective milestones to get there. Good servant leaders keep the team members in tune with company goals and stretch the team’s vision so they can achieve what they never thought they could. Your ultimate goal is to challenge your team members and build other servant leaders.
Cheerleader. A servant leader is also the cheerleader, giving the team the dose of motivation they need to go out and do their jobs to the best of their abilities. Encourage your teammates with frequent calls. Reward their initiative and accomplishments in front of the entire team. As team leader, you are the director of motivation, a job you should take seriously. By affiliating myself with a company that understands and values teamwork, my team members and I have built a strong financial services and insurance business that has helped so many people. We eagerly share our knowledge with each other and focus on helping families in a collaborative, inviting environment that people find enjoyable and rewarding. People say walking into our World Financial Group Inc. office is like walking into a home where people really care about one another. That is the professional culture I always wanted to be a part of and why I love going to work every day. I truly believe that life is about the give, not the get. If you create an environment of giving, everything comes back to you tenfold.
©World Financial Group, Inc. Reprinted with permission. This article has been edited for electronic use.