One of my favorite books was a gift from a friend of mine called “The Boys In The Boat”. It’s the story of the 1936 US Men’s Olympic Rowing team that earned a berth in the Summer Olympics in Berlin and went on to win a gold medal. The key theme and learning for me were just how hard it is for individuals to truly come together and achieve something great. Here are a couple of nuggets of wisdom:

• In a team or group effort, individuals may possess all of the raw talent, skill, stamina, intellect, and emotional strength necessary to complete the task at hand. None of that will matter if not combined with the unique and most improbable trait: an ability to disregard individual ambitions, intentionally ignore and “throw his ego over the side and to pull, not just for himself, but the other boys in the boat”.

• Being dependent on the efforts of other people, trusting them is extremely difficult. This is especially true for many of our entrepreneurs- letting go of the fierce independence and individuality that got you where you are, must give way to complete and total trust in the group in order to make victory possible.

• Great leaders are like great Coxswains. They are capable of exerting both physical and psychological control over everything that happens in the boat. They know their oarsmen inside and out, their strengths and vulnerabilities. They have the force of character to inspire exhausted oarsmen to dig deeper and try harder even when all appears is lost.

• An eloquent description of the team effort- “the perfectly synchronized flow of muscle, oars, boat, and water; the single, whole, unified, and beautiful symphony that a crew in motion becomes- is all that matters. Not the individual, not the self.

What hinders your team’s oneness? Call us today to see how we’ve helped other teams experience breakthroughs.

In his 2020 book “The Motive”, leadership author and speaker Patrick Lencioni lays out the right and wrong reasons for being a leader. I saw Lencioni give his first talk on the book to a leadership conference in August 2019 where he quoted the tagline of the conference – “All leaders have influence” – and then said “and some of you shouldn’t !!”, a line that drew big laughs.
This is such an important and fundamental question that Lencioni has stated that this should have been the first book he wrote. In summary – if you want to help and serve others, that is a good motive for being a leader. If you want to be a leader for power, title, status, money, or to feed your ego, those are the wrong reasons to be a leader. I saw Lencioni give his first talk on the book to a leadership conference in August 2019 where he quoted the tagline of the conference – “All leaders have influence” – and then said “and some of you shouldn’t !!”, a line that drew big laughs.
In his typical style (e.g. “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team”), Lencioni describes the opposite of good leadership. Here is the list of things that poor leaders hate to spend time on:
• Difficult Conversations – Poor leaders avoid difficult conversations, such as timely, direct feedback when expectations are not being met.
• Managing Direct Reports – Poor leaders either micro-manage their directs or say “I hire good people and leave them alone”.
• Running Great Meetings – Poor leaders dread meetings, avoid them, and complain about them.
• Team Building – Poor leaders regard team building as “soft” (not core) or “touchy-feely” and delegate it to subordinates or HR.
• Repetition/Reinforcement – Poor leaders underestimate the need to repeat their key messages (strategy, etc.) multiple times or get bored with reinforcing them.
• Difficult Conversations – Poor leaders avoid difficult conversations, such as timely, direct feedback when expectations are not being met. Great leaders understand that such conversations are not easy but are crucial.
Managing Direct Reports – Poor leaders either micro-manage their directs or say “I hire good people and leave them alone”. Great leaders strike the right balance and act as a “coach” for their directs.
• Running Great Meetings – Poor leaders dread meetings, avoid them, and complain about them. Great leaders want to run great meetings because they realize that is where they get great input, solve issues, and set an example for others.
• Team Building – Poor leaders regard team building as “soft” (not core) or “touchy-feely” and delegate it to subordinates or HR. Great leaders realize that team health is absolutely core and creates a real, sustainable competitive advantage, enabling the success of the “hard” strategies and technical pursuits.
• Repetition/Reinforcement – Poor leaders underestimate the need to repeat their key messages (strategy, etc.) multiple times or get bored with reinforcing them. Great leaders are the CRO (Chief Reminding Officer) and realize that people have to hear it at least seven times before it sinks in.
What are your motives for being a leader? Do you agree with the importance of the five things great leaders must get really good at? Please give me an example of when you tackled one of these important leadership actions and achieved results!