Introduction to the 4 Steps to Leadership

Being that I come from an athletic background, the majority of times when I heard the term “teamwork”, I would think of all the old clichés like, “There’s no I in team!” or “Take one for the team!”. But it took me getting into the business world to really realize what true teamwork is. For instance, one of my youth basketball players remarked to me once when I said the “I in team” cliché, “But there is an M and an E”! I wanted to be angry, but when I thought about it, it was true. That is one of the fundamental issues with leading teams, most of the time we have no idea HOW to lead. Lots of people spout “Take one for the team!”, but few people actually know where the etymology of the phrase comes from. The phrase comes from baseball, where a batter allows a pitch to hit him and advance to first base instead of doing what is natural and moving out of the way of a speeding, hard baseball that’s heading towards him! Taking one for the team is the ultimate self sacrifice, doing something that could hurt you, for the betterment of the team. So next time you are tossing that cliché out to a teammate, take a moment to think of the original meaning, and see if that is what your expectations are.

Often as leaders, we throw out these empty phrases and expect action. Why? Many times, it is because that is what we have seen in leadership ourselves. Leadership of adults is not an easy task. When we are in the power position with children, many times our power is not impugned. But when dealing with adults, it is our actions that show our true intentions, which puts us in a tough situation. Sometimes, we have been thrown into a position of leadership, and we don’t know what to say. We have this new position of leadership, and everyone is looking at us, so we feel like we need to say SOMETHING. What often comes out is a mixture of clichés that we have heard throughout the years from many other leaders. If we are unprepared, our speeches can end up sounding like Eddie Murphy’s character in the movie, The Distinguished Gentleman, when after winning an election he gives this sterling speech with a mixture of many political catch phrases, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but for what you can do for your country. There is nothing to fear but fear itself. If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Live free or die! And in conclusion, read my lips!" Now that is an example of saying a lot while not saying anything!
With that being said, let’s talk about the Four Steps to Phenomenal team leadership. I love sports, so I am going to give you a football analogy to prove each part, but it applies to all organizations, whether they be sports teams, businesses, or community groups. You can look at any organization that is failing, and I would be willing to bet that they are missing one or more of these necessary steps. The four steps are Mutual Purpose, Empowered People, Proper Change Communication, and Visionary Leadership.

Stay Tuned for a breakdown of each one of the steps...

Oginga Carr

CEO Epiphany Consulting LLC

The Classroom Analogy

I come from an educational family. Both my mom and sister are nationally acclaimed, award winning teachers. As we have just started back to school, an analogy that my mom used to tell me popped into my head, and I couldn’t help but think about how it relates to our work in teams as well as how we motivated ourselves. Being in the classroom for over 30 years, my mom made this observation, “If you have 30 kids in a classroom, they average out this way. Five of your kids will do their work no matter what. You could have all the distractions in the world, but they will still turn their work in. Five of your students will try to act up no matter what. The battle is for the 20 kids in the middle.”

You see, successful teachers that perform well find ways to commend that positive behavior by the model five that are doing their work, while giving the proper incentives to the middle, and handling the mischievous five. Teachers that struggle haven’t found a way to handle the mischievous five and haven’t motivated the middle. The model five is still doing their work, but now these teachers are dealing with distractions from 25 students and lost control. How does this relate to our situations in teamwork as well as with us?

If you have a team of 10 people, it’s a sure bet that you have one in the ten that are at work extra early, ready to go. This is the model member. Then it is just as likely that you have someone who gets to work somewhere between 2 minutes before the clock on a good day, to 20 minutes after the clock on a bad day. This is the mischievous member. If being prompt to work is important with your team, and you keep letting the mischievous member come in as they like, the middle of your team will start to lean in that direction, thus giving you a bigger headache.
Inside of you, the model and mischievous side also exist. When we are faced with a decision in our lives, we are immediately bombarded with two thoughts; the best and worst case scenarios. Neither direction is absolute for us, but it is our decision making that allows us to lean in either direction.

So what do we do? How do we prepare ourselves like the successful teacher, and coach our “classrooms” well? In the situation with a team, the key is a combination of incentives and corrective actions. If we address the mischievous behavior in an open way, we will correct not only the wayward member, but make an example to the team that this behavior will not be tolerated. Also, if we find ways to add incentives to the positive behavior, (i.e. early release from work) it will create an environment for your middle to lean in that direction. While in teams, mastering the mischievous and model behavior is the key. To battle our own mental demons, facts are the key to move our “classroom”. When facing these decisions, we must consider the facts of the situation to move us into the most positive action. It’s easy to pick out negative speak within our thoughts. We use victim speak like “always” or “never”. There are very few things in life that happen in absolutes, so when we use “always” or “never”, they are very rarely true. By concentrating on the facts of a situation, we can find the most reasonable path and move our classrooms in the most positive direction.

Oginga Carr
CEO Epiphany Consulting