Building Successful Teams in the Midst of Transition
By Thomas W. McKee
Masters of Change
Some people seem to thrive on change. How do they do
it? How do they manage change in a way that they not
only survive, but also excel? They seem to make change
work for them. Martin Luther King, Jr., Margaret Thatcher,
Winston Churchill, Anwar Sadat, Nelson Mandela and Mother
Teresa stood squarely in the center of change and controversy
with resolute courage and determination. These leaders
created their own opportunities to fight for what they
believed in.
Each of these leaders were masters of change. One of
the most significant essentials for success during transition
is teambuilding. Leaders who can challenge, motivate
and empower their teams through change are successful.
Most change disrupts teamwork. The leaders who can keep
their work teams focused during changes will have organizations
and businesses that thrive.
A Parable for the 21st Century Leader
The leader who doesn't prepare team members for the
future will wake up like Sergei Krikalev did in Russia.
In April of 1991, the Leningrad native Krikalev was
launched into space to orbit the earth for four months.
While he was in orbit, the technical system that was
to bring the cosmonaut back to earth, failed. His four-month
trip lasted ten months, and when he returned to earth
almost a year later, the world had changed. His country
no longer existed. Mikhail Gorbachev had been replaced
by a previously marginal politician named Boris Yeltsin.
The Communist Party was out of power and in disrepute.
Krikalev's hometown of Leningrad had been renamed St.
Petersburg. His 500-ruble salary was significantly reduced
by inflation and now was not enough to buy even a hamburger
at the Moscow McDonalds. Krikalev's true story is a
parable for the 21st century leader. We are experiencing
the greatest era of change in human history.
Transitioning Through Culture Shock
The U.S. National Basketball Association (NBA) is going
through a major transition as more players are international
basketball stars. Valde Divac was one of the first outside-U.S
born basketball players to be recruited to the NBA.
When he stepped off the plane at the Los Angeles International
Airport in 1989, L.A. Lakers' general manager, Jerry
West, took one look at the scrawny, cirgarette-smoking
Serbian and thought, "What have I done?" "He
looked like a vagabond," West said. Divac and his
wife Ana undertook intensive English lessons to make
the transition. And Coach Pat Riley memorized 30 common
basketball terms in Serbo-Croatian. But Divac says that
language wasn't the only problem. "My first year
was very tough. It was culture shock!"
Today, Divac, who plays for the Sacramento Kings, takes
younger players like Hedo Turkoglu from Turkey, and
Peja Stojakovic from Serbia-Montenegro, under his wing
to help them with the culture shock.
Relying on a Strong Team
Small businesses also go through culture shock when
they are in transition. I had the opportunity to work
with a small business in Sacramento, CA that was facing
a change that could have devastated their business.
Capitol Periodontal Group is a growing periodontal practice
of five doctors and about 35 employees. Dental specialists,
such as periodontists, depend on general dentists as
the gatekeepers for their continual referrals. When
gatekeepers begin to recommend other specialists, business
can eventually dry up. Several years ago, when one partner
left the group, the general dentistry community wondered
what was wrong. Why would one partner leave a thriving
business to join another? The staff also struggled with
this change since the one doctor brought in a great
deal of business.
But Capital Periodontal Group focused on a strong strategic
mission. They developed a transition plan and kept focusing
on sound periodontal health care and building a team
of caring workers. I facilitated several workshops on
team and patient communication. In the past few years,
the group has added two more doctors and is recognized
as a fun place to work because of its team spirit. At
a recent workshop, each of the doctors sat and listened
to small groups of employees evaluate each doctor's
communication skills. I have worked with a lot of businesses
in communication. However, this is the first time I
ever saw partners who listened carefully to their staff
evaluate their communication skills with patients. No
wonder they are growing and the staff enjoy working
together.
Five Essentials
When taking a team through transitional times, we emphasize
the following five essentials. Not only are each of
these essential, but they are listed in the proper order.
Each one builds upon the preceding one. Get one out
of place and you disrupt the team. The five essentials
are the basic outline of our consulting, training and
development.
Essential One: Knowledge
Is your organization a learning organization? A learning
organization includes the following characteristics:
1. A climate that encourages, rewards and enhances
individual and collective learning
2. A view that holds surprises, mistakes and failures
as learning opportunities
3. A desire for continuous improvement and renewal
4. A culture that integrates learning with work
Do you have knowledge workers or skilled workers?
Successful businesses today focus on knowledge workers.
Knowledge workers are entrepreneurial, visionary and
creative. They look at their job as a business and serve
other workers in the company as their customers. Knowledge
is the foundation for vision.
Essential Two: A Focused Vision
The team must have a unified vision. When a team has
a well-developed vision that they have developed, they
have the energy of a common cause. But it is important
that the team vision is developed by the team, not by
management. The team that creates its vision owns the
cause. However, without knowledge, the team mission
can be a false hope.
Essential Three: Faith
Doubt and skepticism will erode the team spirit. The
dynamic team must have a strong faith and trust in the
vision. However, faith is not stronger than the truth
of its assumptions. Therefore, faith must be built on
the first two factors: knowledge and vision. Faith without
knowledge and vision is merely presumption.
Essential Four: Initiative
Peter Drucker says that "sooner or later all plans
degenerate into work if anything is to be accomplished."
How do you motivate your staff to do their part? You
don't. Motivation is an inside job; it is internal.
Therefore, daily initiative comes from making sure each
person is doing the part of the whole that they feel
they can best contribute to the overall mission. Initiative
without knowledge, vision and faith is misguided energy.
Without initiative, vision and faith are just a dream.
Essential Five: Training and Development
Jerry Rice, who still plays professional football at
the age of 40, practices his basic skills by catching
100 balls each day. You would think that after almost
20 years of being an all-pro, he would know how to catch
balls; however, Jerry Rice keeps developing his skills.
No wonder he is one of the greatest to play the game.
The American Society of Training and Development found
the following major competencies as models for human
performance improvement, especially during times of
transition:
Industry or corporation awareness
Leadership skills
Interpersonal-relationship skills
Technological literacy
Problem-solving skills
Problem-definition skills
Systems thinking and understanding
Performance understanding
Knowledge of interventions
Business understanding
Organization understanding
Contracting skills
Advocacy skills
Coping skills
Ability to see the big picture
Great teams are made up of knowledge workers, who have
a focused vision, believe in their mission and empower
each other with their initiative and skill development.
Leaders who constantly emphasize these five essentials
will be able to navigate their teams through times of
transitions.
Thomas McKee is President and Founder of Advantage
Point Systems, Inc. Read more about him at http://advantagepoint.com/staff/Default.htm
or contact him at tom@advantagepoint.com.
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