Build a team that puts the team first.
I believe in the team. I believe that teams win. I believe once you form a selfless team, all is possible. And by selfless, I mean the ego has been put to one side. But selfless teams are the hardest to form because putting the ego to one side is a difficult thing.
To reach this stage the team is at its optimum. The team looks after the team. Individual egos are no longer as important as the team. Teams win because everyone in the team puts the team first.
It has also reached its optimum in another way. Not just in what it can achieve, but in the feeling you get from being part of it.
When a team clicks like that, it’s just the best fun. That feeling, well, its one of life’s key moments. To be part of something much bigger than yourself is a rare and precious thing.
It’s why we love playing sport, and why we love startups. We love the camaraderie, the banter, the fight against all the odds.
I am a football fan. Although Louis Suarez didn’t turn out to be the perfect human. He turned out to be the perfect team player. He was the star. But he treated the team like it was the star. That was what made his so special. He chased every ball. His chased every lost cause. Like nothing was too small for him to hustle for. Alas, he had a far better control of his ego that his gnashers.
On a radio talk show an English Rugby player was asked what was the best feeling about winning a World Cup medal. He replied by saying that the moment that meant most to him was before the game. In the tunnel. That moment when all the team looked at each other, and they knew how much work they had put in to get them there. And win or lose, the team looked around and said thank you to each other. A moment.
At Hiut Denim Co, we are all on our second chance. The town is on a second chance to make jeans. The GrandMasters are on a second chance to make jeans. And, Clare and I are on our second chance to build a global brand that stands for something. No one in the team thinks they will get a third chance. This is it. If we blow it, there will not be another one.
The team knows its strength comes from its mission to get the town making jeans again, but also from everyone looking after each other. A small army can beat a big army by being fast, being nimble. and mostly by being together. Together is how we can win.
Now this is the Law of the Jungle -as old and true as the sky. And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the Wolf shall break must die. As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk, but the Law runneth forward and back — For the strength of the pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack. Rudyard Kipling. The Jungle Book.
So how do you build a selfless team.
Here are some things that have guided me.
1, Culture.
A company is only as strong as the people that work in it. The people are only as strong the culture that exists in the company. Culture is a funny thing to talk about. You can’t see it. You can’t feel it. But when it’s not right, you absolutely know it.
Good Book to read:
2, Trust.
My learning is a team is galvanised by a two things. They like to gather around the founding idea of the company. The more that idea is going to change things, the more people will want to gather around it.
But, as importantly, the second thing teams love to gather around is a leader they trust. Trust is a multiplier of energy for a team. In order for the team to trust the leader, the leader has to trust the team.
Trust is a two way street. This Talk at Do USA by Tina Roth-Eisenberg sums it up best for me: Trust Breeds Magic.
3, Empathy.
You have to know where your team is. And where it wants to be. And understand forcing your will on the team isn’t going to get you there. The team have to want to go there, and it is important to learn quickly that listening is a more powerful tool than shouting in terms of getting you there.
It takes a while to learn that.
This is an excerpt from Tribal Leadership, by Dave Logan, John King, and Halee Fischer-Wright.
Stage 1. Shared by most street gangs and characterised by despair, hostility, and the collective belief that “life sucks”.
Stage 2. Filled primarily with apathetic people who perceive themselves as victims and who passively antagonistic, with the mind-set that “my life sucks”. Think The Office on TV or the Dilbert comic strip.
Stage 3. Focused primarily on individual achievement and driven by the mot “I’m great (and you’re not).” According to the authors, people in organisations at this stage “have to win, and for them winning is personal. They’ll outwork and outthink their competitions on an individual basis. The mood that results is a collection of ‘lone warriors.’ “
Stage 4. Dedicated to tribal pride and the overriding conviction that “we’re great (and they are not).” This kind of team requires a strong adversary, and the bigger the foe, the more powerful the tribe.
Stage 5. A rare stage characterised by a sense of innocent wonder and a strong belief that “life is great”.
All things being equal, contend Logan and his colleagues a stage 5 culture will outperform a stage 4 culture, a stage 4 culture will outperform a stage 3 culture, and so on.
In order to shift a culture from one stage to the next, you need to find the levers that are appropriate for that particular stage in the teams development.
Good book to read further on this is:
Phil Jackson — Eleven Rings.
Good to watch on team work.
How ants work together.
Good to watch about quieting your cleverness. (As Duke Stump would say)
The Marshmallow Challenge.
4, Purpose.
For me, the most important brands in the world make you feel something. They do that because they have something they want to change. And as customers, we want to be part of that change.
These companies feel human. The founders tell us how the world could be. They bare their soul to us. These companies have a reason to exist over and above just to make a profit: They have a purpose.
Yes, we admire the product they make. But the thing we love the most about them is the change they are making. Teams are at their best, strongest, most creative when they are making change happen. The bigger the change you are making, the stronger the team. Teams love to be part of history.
My book:
James Victore on the importance of finding your love.
5, Hire Slow.
Employee No. 1 matters. Employee No.2 matters. Everyone matters. Don’t delegate hiring to someone else. Take your time with each person. Get to know them. Run with them. Get them to do some work. Give them a tough deadline. Find out if what you are doing matters to them. Firing people is ugly for everyone involved. Do everything you can to hire people that you will never have to fire. So take your time. Hire for people’s strengths, and not their failings. And then give them as much training as you can. And make their environment as fun as you can.
Good read from Paul Graham:
Good read from Ben Harowitz:
6, Fun.
Make great coffee. Play great music. Make time to all go out together. Teams that play together, stay together.
My Workshop in London.
How to Build a great brand with very little money. Sept 11th. London.
My Workshop at MadeinGhent. NY. Sept 23rd.
