By just reading the headline, you might think that this article is targeting leaders. You are wrong, this article is targeting you, as the employee, as a part of a team. I am going to write a bit about team work and your part in it. Remember that you hold a vital role in any team, and you need to understand this role to contribute to the victory. I will first start by a comparison with ancient boats,

Gar! Land hoy Pirates!

I always like to compare teamwork with a sea voyage where you set sail for a faraway destination. You need a captain, you need a navigator and you need a lookout, gunmen, a chef, cannon fodders and deck boys. All of you have different skills and abilities, and you are expected to use them. The chef does not necessary know how to read a map, he is still an important part of the team. The captain does not know how to cook, but the captain is still in charge. Each and one of them with different roles, but still equal important. The captain must understand that he is not more important than all the other roles, as this often leads to mutiny.

Learn how to navigate

If you are the navigator of your team, make sure that you are hungry for more skills about navigation. Create a learning goal to become the best navigator possible. I will tell you again and again, buy some books! Learn from other navigators, participate in online forums (yes pirates are very modern these days ). Don’t worry about IF you are going to reach your destination, because without proper skill you won’t unless you do as Christopher Columbus and set sail, only to re-name your destination when you missed with half a globe. What you need to worry about is improving your skills. And the reason is simple, with skills comes success. If you know how to navigate, you will get to your destination. If you become an even better navigator, you will get there faster.

But do not forget to cook

This is very important. When you are on a team, you’re not alone! What if the chef has to walk the plank? Who is supposed to cook? Unlike an engine that breaks down, with one part out of order, humans have the ability to adapt new conditions. What if an engine was redundant, one breaks down and another one keeps going. This is absolutely necessary in a good team. This does not mean that you now need to be full time chef, but you know how to cook and can prevent the crew from starving or ending up with scurvy, until a new chef is in place. This is why it is a good advice to learn a bit about what the other people in the team do as well. Create a redundant team that will keep going.

Mutiny happens for a reason

When the captain keeps changing the recipe for the chef, or deciding on another route, overruling the navigator he is micromanaging and create two things you do not want in a crew; Lack of trust and dissatisfaction. The captain needs to trust his crew members to be best at whatever they are hired for. But the captain need to know the value of knowledge and make sure the crew has learning goals. The captain should help the navigator to become a better navigator. Start with; “What do you want to improve?” A leader is a servant, applying his efforts to help other evolve. But wait, your captain is currently in a flying state between the plank and the deep ocean, what do you do? Who is in command? Now what? Yes, you get the point. In addition to being a good navigator, an above average chef, you should also read about leadership. You should also know the role of the captain. Who runs this place when the captain is gone? Do you all set sail for Tahiti? Or are you trying to loot the next armada? You must understand the importance of achieving the goals and as a team you need to take responsibility, for the team to run smoothly. So if you want to be captain one day, start acquiring the necessary skills now. No need to wait until the captain is shark bait.

Now you know about the different roles, and how you need to know more about more than just yours.

Create an open space for dialogue

To get a team to function you need room and space for open dialogue. It is important that people can talk without fear, and team members need to understand that it is ok to be criticized. But remember criticism need to be constructive and with an intention to make people grow. If you have people with opinions, let them speak, listen to them. I heard about a woman here in Norway that had a sound proof scream room at work, where people could go and just scream! How great is that? Do not look down on people with other opinions. The deck boy might not like the food the chef is making, he is allowed to have this opinion, there is still no reason for the chef to hate the boy, but he might rather take it into consideration, and maybe once in a while adjust his menu? You understand what I mean.

Hire the right people

Look for tolerance in the people you hire. Look for people that understand that there is a difference between what you do and who you are. Look for people that are able to understand the importance of lifelong learning. If you get team members that care about each other, and are interested in seeing their friends and co-workers develop, you are then hiring the best crew. – Remember lesson number 1: Understand the different team roles.

Please do feel free to add more ingredients to this team recipe by commenting – what does it take to make a winning team?

I hope you enjoy my blog and feel free to subscribe. Thank you so much for reading, you rock!

Motivational Gardener

I am a soccer fan; I have played for years in the lower divisions until a shoulder injury forced my goalkeeper gloves to be put in the darkest places of the closet. I never became good at this game, but I still had fun and joy playing against the worst soccer players in the Norwegian soccer league. How is your team doing? Today I want to compare soccer and business life to show why you should be the star player always.

The Team – What division are you playing in?
First of all imagine your department as a soccer team. How is it doing in the leagues, are you the premiership or an amateur team? What team do you wish to play for? Are you fighting for the championship or against relegation? Are there star players on your team? Are you acting as a team? Or is everybody just hatching their own balls like it where eggs?

Your team probably has a manager, a coach and a bunch of players. Your field might be top notch or you might be playing on gravel. There might be rules from the league (Board), rules from the team owner (CEO) or other regulations in your game. Some are good, and some you hate. Your manager or your coach might be amateurs. Still you have to be the star player, and I am about to tell you why.

Your dream job!
What does your dream job look like? Is it making more money? Is it at another company? Is it doing something different? Is it playing left field, striker or defense? Whatever your dream job is, unless you have it right now, you are dead wrong! Your dream job is not out there! Your dream job is inside your own head. And you need to create your dream job right now, right here.

Do not be a grump at work, if you are unhappy and if you do a poor job right now, you will never ever find your dream job elsewhere, because doing a poor job now will not get you anywhere. Imagine Manchester United or Barcelona, what kind of players do they buy? YEAH! They buy other star players and great talents. They do not buy the unhappy chubby guy in the lower divisions that won’t run if you poke him with a stick. Star players are recruited for the best teams. This is why you need to be a star player where you are right now! No matter your current working conditions or even if it rains on top of it. If you manage to shine at work, you will be noticed, you will get good recommendations when the scouts shows up. And if you can build your dream job out of manure you will always have your dream job.

The team needs you
Know your role and be a role model. Veteran workers are often the unmotivated workers, while they shall be the once that carry the burden of making your team great. You should strive to create fun around you, make other people happy and make your team mates good. You should always do your best. At the end of the day you must feel good about what you have managed during the day. Do not try to hide or get away with less when you can do more. Run that extra mile. “But my pay is bad, they do not pay me enough…” I do not care is my response, because you will never reach the salary of Manchester United players if you are about to be benched at your own game.

Are you a leader at work today?
As a leader you need to act as a soccer coach in the field as well. If you see a good coach, live at a great team’s practice, you will notice that the good coach interferes as soon as a fault appears. He blows his whistle and stops the game. Why the h… did you not pass the ball now? Why did you not cross it into the box? Next time run fifteen feet further and bend it like a banana into the box. This is what you will notice at the practice field. If the player refuses to do so, they are sent into the shower, but if they do what they are told, they will succeed. But the coach must be in the trenches and deal with trouble instantly. If you can correct a faulty behavior at work at once you will also succeed as a coach of the team. Why did you leave out important information in the reports, they are essential for the project, do it over. Do not get in a situation where you come one or two weeks later and pointing out how the project failed because of this report was inadequate. Teach them now as it happens.

Good luck winning the league! – Remember it starts right now, inside you.

Today I am presenting an easy to implement tool to boost work morale, mood and fun around the office. Just give your co-workers or employees the true joy of applause. We got one kind of activity that we manages to complete ten to fifteen times a day, and for each employee that manages to complete this task, gets to put a magnet on a white board to symbolize that we are getting closer to the goals of fifteen completed tasks. And for each person standing up we cheer and applaud. Sometimes we fail to notice it in all the other havoc resulting in one or two clapping their hands all red, but those times when everyone cheers and join in is priceless. The mood rise like a rocket and people is laughing; even the customers is wondering why we are cheering and gets amused. It is a win win win win situation for everybody.

So the challenge of today is to find a reason to make applause a part of your day at work! Try to give a great applause to someone that just enters the room, they will feel GREAT! And you will feel great, and all others that clap hands will feel great. Clapping your hands should replace happy pills as a drug, it is so effective.

So let’s sit back and imagine what it would feel like to be Spanish at Ernst Happel Stadium during the final in Euro 2008. I know that I got sucked into all the joy, as I was standing just about 20 feet away from the Spanish crowd this day.

And for those that have no interest in soccer, let’s take a look at Michael Jordan’s last game and standing ovation. Imagine being in this crowd feeling all this positive energy! WOW!

So if you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands or should it be if you’re in need of happiness clap your hands?   Have a super fantastic day!