3 Simple Strategies to Align Your Team

by David Linsmeyer

These are terms, phrases, words we’ve seen before and all ones that describe teams that are built for success. As leaders, or even individual producers with support, we are all striving to build our teams and create a culture where everyone is, indeed, rowing in the same direction. As we can all relate to, though, this can be a serious challenge.

According to a recent global culture study by workplace culture specialists O.C. Tanner, nearly 1 in 3 employees don’t feel fulfilled in their work. And this makes them:

» 399% more likely to actively look for another job

» 340% more likely to leave the organization within a year

» 47% less likely to put in a great deal of effort to help the organization succeed

» 71% less likely to promote the organization as a great place to work

Add to all this that many reading this article are a part of or lead organizations where the majority of our workforces are either independent contractors or in some sort of commission-based sales capacity, these numbers above are compounded.

O.C. Tanner notes in their study that fulfillment is bigger than engagement or job satisfaction, and it is safe to say that individual fulfillment, especially considering their numbers around it, directly correlate to how well a team functions together. While Yale professor Halford E. Lullock tells us that “No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it”, isn’t it also true that it is the individual excellence, the individual fulfillment of the violinist, flutist, and others working in unison that really makes the symphony soar?

If we revisit some of the ideas from O.C. Tanner it becomes clear that driving toward a solution that promotes both the individual and organization and works to bring the two (and their goals) together, is the solution for success when attempting to build teams that last.

As they have identified in their study, there are 4 main factors that contribute to fulfillment: Community/Connection/ Belonging, Growth, Balance, and Purpose.

We can center around 2 of these specifically for our efforts here— clarifying our leadership purpose (both individual and organizational) and helping individuals define their goals/purpose and then aligning that to the organization through fostering community, connection and belonging. Now how do we do it? It can be as simple as what we outlined in the sentence above—define your high level organizational and personal vision/purpose, help our team define theirs, and then figure out a way to connect the two (Keep reading… I tell you how later!)

Do you have a personal vision for yourself and your organization?

During his research for the book Start with Why, author Simon Sinek found that most people cannot answer the question, “Why do you do what you do?” As a leader, it’s even more important for you to know why you are doing what you do. What is your vision? What’s the vision for your company? What’s the vision for your team? What is your purpose behind why you do what you do?

At Southwestern Consulting we have a saying, “If people don’t understand their ‘why’, they won’t understand their ‘how-to’.” It is important to start operating out of your purpose as opposed to your emotions; align your actions with your purpose for why you do what you do as opposed to aligning your actions with your feelings, or what you feel like doing. Because wouldn’t you agree that if we only did what we felt like doing, then 90% of the time we wouldn’t do anything?

Your purpose is your cause for why you are determined to live your life, the belief system you have for why you and your organization exist, it gives you energy to get out of bed in the morning. If we aren’t locked and loaded on our purpose, there is no way we will be able to act out of our purpose. If we don’t have it, it’s easier to act out of our emotion.

An excerpt from Darren Hardy’s book, The Compound Effect: Jumpstart Your Income, Your Life, Your Success, does wonders to illustrate the power of purpose:

If I were to put a ten-inch wide, thirty-foot-long plank on the ground and say, ‘If you walk the length of the plank, I’ll give you twenty dollars,” would you do it? Of course. It’s an easy twenty bucks. But what if I took that same plank and made a rooftop ‘bridge’ between two 100-story buildings? That same twenty dollars for walking the thirty-foot plank no longer looks desirable or even possible, does it? You’d look at me and say, “Not on your life.”

However, if your child was on the opposite building and that building was on fire, would you walk the length of the plank to save him? Without question and immediately—you’d do it, twenty dollars or not.

Why is it that the first time I asked you to cross that sky high plank, you said ‘no way’, yet the second time you wouldn’t hesitate? The risks and dangers are the same. What changed? Your why changed—your reason for wanting to do it. You see, when the reason is big enough, you will be willing to perform almost any how.

Darren Hardy tells us to find our indomitable inner power, our unconquerable inner power, drive, and unrelenting passion. He says, “No, it’s not your willpower, it’s your ‘Why Power’.” This kind of power will drive you to move mountains, swim oceans, and walk through fire to accomplish your goals.

Do your team members have a vision and purpose, and do you know what motivates them?

The easy part here is gathering that everything from the section above not only applies to you as an individual but to each one of your team members as well. The often more challenging piece is helping people follow through on it all. I have the honor of spending time professionally with several RLI members and am often inspired by leaders that really get this part.

I recently asked Jennifer Janet with Coldwell Banker Professional Associates if she knew her team’s goals. She responded swiftly and confidently that she did and went on to say that every November she does an offsite with her whole team where the pure focus is getting clarity on next year’s goals. Now there is always more work we can do as leaders helping our team members gain clarity on their goals, purpose, vision ahead, and not to mention the challenges that come with helping folks stay connected to it all, but kudos to Jennifer for being an example that we all can look up to here. The question is—how are you doing here? Have you scheduled offsites for your team to map it all out? Have you even brought up the words, goals, vision, purpose to your team? Hopefully these questions prompt you to lean in here and continue to challenge yourself around helping your team define what they want and why.

Have you brought it all together through a company creed?

We mentioned earlier that there would be insight into how we can tie it all together, so here it is: Build a creed!

To have a team that has a common mission and vision, there must be a company creed that includes the methodology and principles to live and operate by. The way we truly create community, connection and belonging is by bringing our people together through shared principles and beliefs that guide our organizations.

Your company might already have a mission or vision statement. But do your people buy in to the vision you promote? Can everyone in your company tell you what your mission statement is? If your people aren’t invested in your company’s vision, it’s probably because it didn’t come from them. Your team won’t feel emotionally invested in a vision that isn’t their own.

A creed is different from a vision or mission statement. Your company’s creed should be created by your people, and it should be reinforced regularly, reminding your team of why you do what you do. This gets your people invested in the way your company conducts business and connects to your vision in a way that can motivate your team.

Similar to the Constitution of the United States, your creed acts as a guidepost, pointing you in the direction you need to be heading. It helps you hire the right people; it helps you fire the right (or the wrong) people; it helps you make every decision that you need to make in your business because now you’re operating from a point of principles, not personalities. Without a creed, without shared principles that people own, it’s easy to see how we may all be in the boat, but not all with oars that get us rowing the right way.

Andrew Carnegie, Industrialist and Philanthropist summed it up well with his famous quote—“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.” Now it’s our job to reflect on that and then act toward doing it.

David Linsmeyer is an experienced professional sales and leadership coach, a certified trainer, and a partner with Southwestern Consulting. He has trained more than 20,000 groups, companies, and organizations throughout his career across the globe. For a step-by-step process on how to build a company creed, sample creeds or other team building team, reach out to David directly at 260.466.9828 or dlinsmeyer@ southwestconsulting.com.

Source: https://www.octanner.com/insights/white-papers/5-culture-trends-for-2023.html

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