Team Killers (Part One)

I make a living consulting with different businesses, organizations and leaders around the country. One of the main things I’ve learned when consulting with any of these companies or individuals is that the main leader always believes their team is more bought into the vision than they actually are.

They believe, generally speaking, that everyone loves their job and loves them.

Every leader needs to realize that on some level, the people who work for you aren’t going to tell you the truth. Why? Because the truth could get them fired.

These leaders may be great running incredible organizations, but they often ignore the fact that certain employees are cancerous to the rest of the team. You can be an incredible leader and oblivious at the same time.

Here’s the 3 main things I’ve seen that are team killers for any organization:

1.) Entitlement — People who want power.

A person who wants a title to lord over others will destroy team chemistry. It’ll cause other people to lose sight of the assignment because they’ll be questioning the credibility of the person giving the assignment.

Solution: Create a culture of servanthood from the top down. I learned of a CEO the other day who starts off every Monday morning walking around with a cart of muffins and coffee — serving his employees once a week. I don’t know what company it was, but I’d work with and follow that guy.

2.) Credit — People who want glory.

Ronald Reagan said it best when he said, “There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked into a successful organization, and there are at least 4 to 5 people who believe the company’s success is due to their presence alone. Have you ever been in a meeting and someone else shared your idea before you did, and your first thought was, “That was… MY… idea.” You’re killing your team.

Solution: Be a loser. Just wake up and decide early that you just want your organization to win today. It doesn’t matter if you take the shot, or have the best idea. You simply want your organization to have impact. Play your part, whether you get the recognition or not.

3.) Boring meetings — Connection times for your team that can be used to inspire, but often stunt momentum.

The world could not run without meetings. They are a vital part of every organization, obviously. Yet, I have never met a person who said, “Man, I love work meetings.” If you’re going to have a meeting, have a meeting! Every single person in your meeting is asking themselves one question: Why am I here?

Solution: Give people a reason to be there. Help them understand their value in the meeting or at least add value to them while they’re there. Engage them while they’re there. Speaking of “there”, change up the space every now and then. Meet at a restaurant. Surprise your staff with a catered brunch. Change up the time. Your meetings should increase momentum for your organization. Often times, meetings can be problem-solving oriented. Don’t spend too much time running in circles around the problem. Bring clarity and focus to your meeting to keep people from checking out. There’s always at least one person who’s in your meeting who’s mind is elsewhere. Always.

Check out my next blog, Team Killers (Part Two) for more.