Articles

Make Time To Develop Your People

Nick Conner
Senior Vice President, Program Development

When Will We Be There?

We took our boys down to North Carolina last summer to see their grandparents.  We broke the drive into three days down and three days back and about 5-6 hour blocks.  It was inevitable that we were going to hear the proverbial “when will we be there?” or “how much longer?”  We of course had to answer in terms that a seven year old could understand.  For example, fifteen minutes = one Sponge Bob episode, so two hours is eight Sponge Bob episodes and so on.

Right about now we are all asking the same questions about the recession.  It seems like we were ramping up for it for two or three years and now that it’s arrived (and boy has it arrived) we hear mixed messages of a possible end in sight.  So do we spend another 2-3 years ramping down?  What a long trip.

It was easy for folks to jump on the poor recession bandwagon and you can tell they have.  Spending is frozen on most developmental programs.  Team building (the real stuff) and leadership development were almost non-existent in 2009.

Fortunately we were blessed.  Our clients believe in what we do and agree that the best place for an investment right now is in the growth and health of the organization, especially improving the functioning of the executive team, and their clarification of and recommitment to the organization’s values and purpose.

Smart executive teams have taken the opportunity during slow times to build greater trust and a cohesive membership. This benefits the organization as it will reduce the uncertainty that causes distrust, especially during tough times, and it will promote better decisions about the future of the business.  The strategy should be to emerge galvanized and stronger than ever when things turn and be that much further in the game than your competition.

Early in my career I was in Exercise Physiology, certified by the American College of Sports Medicine.  That’s right, Nick Conner, fitness trainer to the rich and famous.  I would always get a kick out of the people whose goals were to get in shape in order to look good enough to join a gym.  I always thought the gym was for getting in shape.

My point is that developing effective leaders and a cohesive team at any level is a process, not an event. We shouldn’t wait until things are better then decide to make an effort to better ourselves.

So, are we there yet?  There are positive economic signs around the world, but are we there yet?  How many Sponge Bob episodes until we feel confident to invest in our people for the future of the organization?  The time is now.

Leading Through Difficult Times

What if, “what if” happens?

Nick Conner
Senior Vice President, Program Development

You know we prefer to have our TeamBuilders WorldWide programs outdoors.  It’s great to get out of the meeting room and breathe some fresh air, but the weather doesn’t always cooperate.  What if it rains today?  We jokingly tell our participants that in the event of rain we will then default to plan “B”.  It looks a lot like plan “A”, but we are wet.  We’ll get a chuckle or two, but we always have back up space in case we can’t get outdoors.

I’m not going to sit here and write to you about the obvious.  No one on our team is an economist and can provide sound advice about the financial future of your business, but we do know the efficiency of work teams can minimize wasted cost and maximize profitability.

Not too long ago we all witnessed the historical Miracle on the Hudson as Captain Sullenberger and his crew performed the mother of all contingency plans as they safely landed their airbus and its passengers on the Hudson River.  Not a few, not some, but everyone survived. This and other contingencies are probably practiced and drilled over and over again for the moment of “what if.”  Many of you are experiencing some of the “what ifs” these challenging economic times are presenting.  Contingency plans are becoming the safety feature many businesses hoped they wouldn’t have to use, but are.  It’s like child seats and airbags; we don’t ever want to use them, but we would never go without them.

Today it is critically important that your people are able to work well together, to handle any “what if” that comes their way.  Unfortunately, it is during these difficult economic times that we often see organizations stopping the development of their people, stopping the the development of effective teams and sacrificing the best contingency known to humans…TEAMWORK.

Hope is not a plan and we must prepare ourselves for the worst to maintain our best.  Team efficiency is not a luxury we can only afford when the economy is good.  It is suppose to be one of the tools we rely on when confronted with challenges.

Remember teamwork is doing more, faster, efficiently.  Costs increase with lack of trust, poor communication, absenteeism, and the old “us vs. them” culture.
More gets done, faster and cost effectively with teamwork.  What if we had high performing teams all the time?  We would have a better chance of not a few, not some, but everyone surviving…thriving.