Tag: Team

How to Secure the Team Win Without its Captain

How to Secure the Team Win Without its Captain

You’re missing a key player on your leadership team and it’s affecting your entire operation. Morale is down. People are kicking the dirt on the ground. It’s been months since anyone on that functional team has felt a tinge of success. The void has created hesitation, doubt and fear. Impending functional doom seems imminent as other staff members contemplate jumping ship and resigning.

The pressure from your team, the company and the board is unrelenting. You can feel the apprehension in the air, and you’re not quite sure what to do about it. It’s easy in this moment to begin to question your own plan and leadership capacity.

So what do you do?

There are only a few things you need to remember:

  1. SNAP OUT OF IT! Remember – you are a total winner! Get your mojo back and activate your power, peace and prosperity muscles.
  2. Your greatest resource is your resourcefulness. Have an honest dialogue with your team. Ask for their support. Paint a picture of the greater vision that you have for the team, the future leader you want to bring in and for the organization as a whole. This is how you can rally the team and uplift morale. You need to protect, nurture and grow those team members in the absence of a chief functional officer until such time when you find the right A+ hire.
  3. There is an A+ player for every role in every company. Have you mapped out what success looks like for the functional leader you want to hire? Have you created a winning profile that includes both technical chops and the right culture fit? As you seek to fill the position, are you going beyond online search and networking? There is a better way of recruiting – an elite, special forces approach – that is Level 3 Recruiting™. Level 3 Recruiting™ is defined by a refined selection process, precision extraction and securing the top 1{f7a32599756963b989bde631f1a44401cc789db6f847c3735c9e8f651be632a4} of A+ executive leaders.
  4. Especially during a low point, it’s crucial to remember that victory is possible! Don’t settle for a mediocre candidate to fill the missing role quickly. Once you’ve hired your A+ player, your team will emerge a hundred times better and stronger than before.

Now go, attack, win!

How To Think About Loyal Colleagues In The Face of Startup Hyper Growth

How To Think About Loyal Colleagues In The Face of Startup Hyper Growth

Breaking up is hard to do – in relationships and especially in business. Most of us have been there: someone doing an important role in your business is failing; the needs of the business have outgrown his or her personal growth curve. But he or she is a really nice person or you have a deep history with that person and don’t want to betray the trust or loyalty he or she has shown you.

Why is it so hard to navigate conversations with someone who is underperforming? The crux of this problem is the need to be liked more than being respected. The desire for harmony over performance excellence often stems from this same affliction. When leaders are looking for external validation, they become susceptible to false logic and can come up with poor reasons to maintain loyalty from that person for the sake of being liked. The leader does this at the subjugation of truth, honor and building a true meritocracy. What’s worse is that other people see what’s happening and know that the leader is showing weakness rather than the necessary commitment to the company mission.

Problem solving this situation requires some courage, honest introspection and the discipline to re-commit to the company mission and purpose over personal feelings. What gives leaders the requisite moral authority is their dedication to the mission. Achieving your mission is what will create the greatest good for the world, your business, your team and all of the individuals involved. Practice the fortitude, self-confidence and personal commitment necessary to drive performance excellence over the need for harmony. What’s more is that there is an opportunity here to honor truth, wisdom and the personal loyalty they have earned. Treating a person with dignity and grace at the end of the relationship is the sign of a true leader.

Have honest conversations with the team member who is failing. Get him or her out of harm’s way. Stepping aside from the role they are struggling with may be the only way to support both the person’s individual growth and the growth of your company. The right or wrong leaders in the right or wrong roles will make the difference between creating and destroying value. Securing the right executive leader with both technical chops and culture fit will give you keys to the promised land.