The team needs a leader, the individual needs a mentor. You lead the team, by connecting with the individuals and figuring out what they need to buy into the vision. Some will resist, they can’t see it on the first, the second, or the eighteenth day. They have different viewpoints, different goals, and different ideas – the leader brings them into the focus of the team, not ignoring them but finding how they connect to…
The fastest way to build trust is to get everyone onto one page. We’re on this journey together, no one is getting off, we’ll see it through, whatever happens. We aren’t looking for experts, rockstars, ninjas, or gurus to solve our problems with and gift them all the problems we have – we are looking for someone to be there with us, to work with us, to support us and not leave partway through. Trust…
Start small, master the small, get really scary good at it, keep track of it and how you are doing. And then add more. But don’t add until you’ve mastered the first small thing. Otherwise, it’s simply a set of experiments you are doing (not bad either) but not the goal.
A team needs principles, tenets, values, a mantra, a song, a theme… They need something they can get behind, something they can always fall back on when they are not sure what to do. If you’re making one for your team, some thoughts; Don’t do it by yourself – it can be a great team exercise. Keep it digestible – a page, a print-out, something that can be viewed everywhere and anywhere and doesn’t require…
Some of my most memorable one-on-ones have been a walk to get a coffee (or let’s be honest tea). They are not planned, they are not structured and they start with a simple question – “How is it going?” or “What do you think of this?”. You don’t need to make them a complex lunch, planning session, build-up that takes 1 hour. Most times you’ll get more out of that relaxed 15 min discussion.