In 1980, I was in my college dormitory when the USA amature hockey players beat the professional Soviets. It was called the dream team. In the 1940's a team of mainly 20 year old physicists came together for a project called the Manhattan Project and developed the atomic bomb. In the late 1700's a group of farmers and merchants in the New World came together and defeated the world power of the day in what was called the American Revolution.
Were these teams, filled with extraordinary people? You could make that case, but you could also make a case that they were filled with whoever was available at the time. You can also make the case that they had united for a cause that was bigger than they were, it transcended themselves and they gave themselves to the task. This is the distinctive that I think links all three of these teams. They had a transcendent cause that united their efforts and brought them together. The cause was bigger than they were, bigger than their each individual situations.
So my question is how do you develop a team with the unity of those historic teams around a mundane cause. Maybe a cause like mine. I want to build a better plumbing company. So you have a cause, plumbing, that can be monotonous, boring, filled with conflict and problems. What can a person do to make this cause be one that unites, that transcends?
I think the answer is nothing, unless you see the work as a means for people to win, work becomes viewed as a place where we can develop into better more effective people. Work becomes a place were we can learn to take risk, to fail, to dare greatly. As we dare greatly, as we face the challenges, face the stress, we learn how to get along better with others, how to connect better, how to depend upon each other. We learn about our own strengths and weaknesses and we learn about the same of those around us.
This can happen in any place if the leader leads like a sinner. As we lead like sinners, we lead with our humility. We lead pointing out how we stumble. What happens when someone stumbles? What I see happen most often is that others move closer. Others offer help. Others offer acceptance. But this will only happen if its safe to fail. Safe to have made a mistake.
I often see exasperated leaders of companies, sigh and wish that their people would only do what they tell them to do. Why can't they do that. I see people talk about how difficult it is to manage people. It is referred to as baby sitting 101. Why can't they grow up?
But the fact is that all of us will be growing up all of our lives. It is a fact that some people never grow up. Some will let bitterness eat away at them and consume them. Some will let insecurity rule and pull back from the world more and more their whole lives. Still others will make themselves victim's and never achieve, but only because of excuses.
If the leader sets the atmosphere that people need to be perfect then what happens when a mistake is made. If perfection is the requirement, then who takes risk, who makes all the decisions? If I am going to get crucified if my decision goes sour, how will I make the next decision? Most likely that person is going to ask the boss to make it. How effective will that team be?
What will happen to the team that is working under the standard of perfection with regards to competition? Since the perfectionist team never makes decisions, how much opportunity will exist in that team? Won't the opportunity of that team be limited to the ability of one person. The one who never makes mistakes, or if he does can't get chewed out for them? The leader? If this opportunity is limited, how will people deal with each other if they view each other as threats to their own prosperity.
I believe that leading like a sinner will bring a team closer together. It will bring growth to the members of the team, which in turn will enable ability of the team to do more. This will bring more opportunity, more reward, more winning.
So go ahead, work up some guts and lead your team like a sinner.
6 comments:
I really like the three examples of teams. Being less familiar with the hockey team and Manhattan story would have liked a bit more information.
I read once that extraordinary times bring out the extraordinary in people. It seems that many individuals fail to see the challenges that confront them as something they can influence, thus become victims to their own negative and limited thinking. Being a promoter of individuals unlimited capacity, I appreciate the challenge given in this post.
I liked the word humility better than "sinner." Lead with humility softened it for me. We all make mistakes and I'm so glad my team "forgives" me for goofs at my work. I'm certainly glad my family team overlooks my mistakes too! So sinner, mistake maker, humble leader all are good ways to lead a team. Thank you for your writing and thoughts!
Thanks for the comments. I appreciate them very much.
Unlike my wife, I like the "sinner" reference. Stick with it. I would like to see you flesh the concept out a bit more.
I'm a big believer in creating safe places and becoming a "safe place." If as a leader I have fallen hard and screwed up badly then become accountable for my actions I can become compasionate and mercyful toward others when they make great mistakes.
The best leaders are then ones who have done battle with themselves and learned to tolerate, in fact, encourage others to stumble occassionally. Thomas Edison screwed up a couple thousand times before he came up with the electric light bulb.
Jim, linking the concept of "safety" to leading like a sinner is great. I like the idea of becoming a safe place for others too.
I like the connection of leading like a sinner to being a safe person. The key to a team coming together, pressing into the messiness, is in fact feeling safe because the leader is safe.
I am also very much drawn to Jim's statement of I have screwed up badly and then become accountable for my actions. Owning the fact that we will screw up, that screwing up is a given, and then entering the freedom to still be something else besides that screw up, beyond the screw up is the step to being free to be accountable, to get up after a screw up, to not be defeated by the screw up, but rather continue to be that which we find we were made to be in our hearts.
This is what leading like a sinner will create, is freedom to become, rather than slavery to our brokenness. This is why I like the offensive title of lead like a sinner, there is no ambiguity of what we are to do. You can lead with the feeling of humility and stay completely hidden.
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