Source: Dave Hogg, Creative Commons
Forbes Leadership contributor John Baldoni recently published an article titled “Don’t Let Your Team Become Like The Detroit Lions”
I’m from Michigan and have lived most of my life here. When I was a young lad of nine, the Lions won their last championship. In the over 50 subsequent years, the Lions have not won a single playoff game. For me, hope was lost a long time ago.
John Baldoni offers three lessons to avoid becoming the floundering dysfunctional organization that I’ve watched my whole life:
Evaluate Talent
“Seek to understand who they are as people and what they want to achieve now and in the future.” You’re hiring human beings, not human doings! Hire people for their character and values and their fit in the organization. Knowledge and talent are always needed but if they’re not quality human beings there will be no value in the long run.
Develop Your People
“When you bring new people on board you need to groom them and provide them with opportunities to succeed.” Part of that responsibility is integrating them into the team. Leaders all too often under estimate the impact that a new member has on a team or how much effort it takes to develop the trust so that a new member can be successful. Build great teams!
Respect Your Customers
Peter Drucker wisely counseled, ‘The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer. Spend time getting to know their needs as well as their desires.” I watched one of my clients several years ago lose their most important customer even when they had the greatest “customer satisfaction” rating. The problem was that my client had developed this customer satisfaction rating internally based on what they thought the customer wanted. But, they never set down with the customer and asked them what was most valuable about the relationship. Don’t assume you know the customer’s needs. Ask them.
Hope is not a strategy.