Imagine sitting in the audience at a classical music concert, seeing the faces of the musicians but usually only the back of the conductor. In fact, the conductor spends very little time facing you, the audience.
They spend most of their time facing the orchestra, which is effectively their team. They are guiding them to play beautifully and with great impact together.
And have you noticed how perfectly the musicians play together, seemingly unaware of each other, yet clearly very aware as they harmonise with each other through their various instruments, providing their own unique contribution to the music. And then, once in awhile, the conductor faces the audience and shares what’s going on – what they are doing, what we can expect, what they will or have delivered. And we, the audience, feel seen and well taken care of.
The interaction between conductor and orchestra is a great example of teamwork and leadership. By focusing a large chunk of their time on the team, the conductor helps them work and perform better together than they ever could have done on their own.
You can’t play a symphony on your own!
So take inspiration from the world of music.
If you’re a leader, ask yourself this question: Am I giving the team the focus and guidance they really need to be able to deliver or am I focusing too much of my time outside the team? Are you for example attending meetings all day, hence not having enough time for your team and its needs?
All leadership is of course a balance act; you need to carefully balance all your stakeholders. Do you get the balance right? Are there maybe stakeholders that you give more focus than they need or want? Are there stakeholders that need more focus than they are currently getting?
Take inspiration from the world of music and reflect on how you spend your time as a leader. Give the team enough focus and support so that they can deliver with your guidance and support. Orchestras are also a powerful reminder of how important all team members are.
There’s nothing quite as great as the feeling when you’ve done something for someone else. Contributing to something beyond ourselves, something greater than ourselves is endlessly inspiring.
“We rise by lifting others”
Robert Ingersoll
Helping someone else – by for example giving your time, sharing your knowledge, ideas, skills or network, is just great to do.
Do it unconditionally. Don’t do it expecting something back. If you get something back, then great, but never let that be the reason why you do it. Help because you want to.
To lead is to be of service to others, to enable others to do more, to be more.
Who can you of service to today? How can you help solve their problem, make their day easier? Who can you help today?
Thanks for helping!
About the authors
Mandy Flint & Elisabet Vinberg Hearn, award-winning authors of ”The Team Formula”.
Their latest book, multi-award-winning ”Leading Teams – 10 Challenges: 10 Solutions”, published by Financial Times International is a practical tool for building winning teams. You can download a free chapter of the book atwww.leadingteamsbook.com
Praise for ”Leading Teams: ”Enjoyable to read. Simple to understand. Practical to implement. A must read for team members or leaders”Debbie Fogel-Monnissen, Executive Vice President, International Markets Finance Officer, Mastercard, NY, USA.
It can be tempting to constantly wish for great results and going from success to success. Smooth sailing basically. But that’s rarely how it is, is it?
We all experience setbacks, we all make mistakes. And it’s supposed to be that way.
Progress requires setbacks; the only sure way to avoid failure is not to try.
Henry Spencer
It’s the same for teams you’re in or lead. Sometimes things go easily, success is right there – and sometimes you need to come across hurdles, you need to learn to get over them, to find new solutions – learn new ways of approaching new challenges and situations.
So the next time your team stumbles, welcome it.
Look for the learning. Look for the creativity it can bring. Get the team discussing and finding solutions together, as great ideas are rarely a solitary Eureka moment – ideas feed each other and with great teamwork there are no limits to what you can achieve.
Here’s to success, yours and your team’s – spiced up by challenges, setbacks and changes!
About the authors
Mandy Flint & Elisabet Vinberg Hearn, award-winning authors of ”The Team Formula”.
Their latest book, multi-award-winning ”Leading Teams – 10 Challenges: 10 Solutions”, published by Financial Times International is a practical tool for building winning teams. You can download a free chapter of the book atwww.leadingteamsbook.com
Praise for ”Leading Teams: ”Enjoyable to read. Simple to understand. Practical to implement. A must read for team members or leaders”Debbie Fogel-Monnissen, Executive Vice President, International Markets Finance Officer, Mastercard, NY, USA.
Corporate culture is more and more recognised as a force to be reckoned with. “How things get done around here” matters. Culture matters.
Many organisations want to change or adapt their culture – to be more inclusive, innovative, collaborative, successful etc. But changing culture is not an easy task. In fact, it’s complex, as it involves people’s behaviours and feelings.
If you want to change or impact the culture, turn to yourself first. Think about how your behaviours shape the culture you’re in – and think about what you can do differently to shape a different culture.
What is culture then?
Culture is always present, it never stops.
In a way culture is quite simple, it simply determines “how things get done around here”. It is usually implicit rather than explicit and can be hard to pinpoint. It is not the “what”, it is the “how” of business. It is how people react, behave and interact every minute of every day. It is not something complicated or fluffy, it is something quite simple. It is the glue that holds an organisation together. It is however not determined by a framed poster on the wall in reception, it is more complex than that. And this is the challenge with culture, the concept is simple but the implementation can be very complex and habits die hard, and to change behaviours takes time.
The questions to ask, for an organisation that wants to embrace the power of culture, are these:
Do we have a healthy culture that drives the organisation forward, that makes it easy to operate effectively and efficiently?
Do people enjoy working there?
Does the culture deliver results while creating a true picture of an organisation with integrity?
Does it create trust and build confidence?
Does it attract customers, employees and investors?
These are relevant questions, because it should do all those things. Culture, as we’ve discussed, is “how things get done” and for that reason it should be on every board’s agenda as well as every executive team’s and every leader’s agenda. Leaders at all levels should be setting the tone for “how things get done”.
Culture definitely starts at the top, and at the same time it can’t just be dictated from the top. It needs to resonate with people at all levels, it needs to feel right for people, as something they would “stand for” themselves. It gets propagated by role modeling not just by words.
So think about what are you doing to help and support the culture that you are creating, it starts with you. You can influence it more than you realise. Start today
About the authors
Mandy Flint & Elisabet Vinberg Hearn, award-winning authors of ”The Team Formula”.
Their latest book, multi-award-winning ”Leading Teams – 10 Challenges: 10 Solutions”, published by Financial Times International is a practical tool for building winning teams. You can download a free chapter of the book atwww.leadingteamsbook.com
Praise for ”Leading Teams: ”Enjoyable to read. Simple to understand. Practical to implement. A must read for team members or leaders”Debbie Fogel-Monnissen, Executive Vice President, International Markets Finance Officer, Mastercard, NY, USA.
What is culture then?
Culture is always present, it never stops.
In a way culture is quite simple, it simply determines “how things get done around here”. It is usually implicit rather than explicit and can be hard to pinpoint. It is not the “what”, it is the “how” of business. It is how people react, behave and interact every minute of every day. It is not something complicated or fluffy, it is something quite simple. It is the glue that holds an organisation together. It is however not determined by a framed poster on the wall in reception, it is more complex than that. And this is the challenge with culture, the concept is simple but the implementation can be very complex and habits die hard, and to change behaviours takes time.
The questions to ask, for an organisation that wants to embrace the power of culture, are these:
Do we have a healthy culture that drives the organisation forward, that makes it easy to operate effectively and efficiently?
Do people enjoy working there?
Does the culture deliver results while creating a true picture of an organisation with integrity?
Does it create trust and build confidence?
Does it attract customers, employees and investors?
These are relevant questions, because it should do all those things. Culture, as we’ve discussed, is “how things get done” and for that reason it should be on every board’s agenda as well as every executive team’s and every leader’s agenda. Leaders at all levels should be setting the tone for “how things get done”.
Culture definitely starts at the top, and at the same time it can’t just be dictated from the top. It needs to resonate with people at all levels, it needs to feel right for people, as something they would “stand for” themselves. It gets propagated by role modeling not just by words.
So think about what are you doing to help and support the culture that you are creating, it starts with you. You can influence it more than you realise. Start today
About the authors
Mandy Flint & Elisabet Vinberg Hearn, award-winning authors of ”The Team Formula”.
Their latest book, multi-award-winning ”Leading Teams – 10 Challenges: 10 Solutions”, published by Financial Times International is a practical tool for building winning teams. You can download a free chapter of the book atwww.leadingteamsbook.com
Praise for ”Leading Teams: ”Enjoyable to read. Simple to understand. Practical to implement. A must read for team members or leaders”Debbie Fogel-Monnissen, Executive Vice President, International Markets Finance Officer, Mastercard, NY, USA.
Kanske är det så för oss alla att barndomens somrar har ett visst skimmer omkring sig när vi tänker på dem. Så är det i alla fall för mig.
Mina skimrande somrar spenderades framför allt i Luleå – på vårt underbara Lillängen och ombord på Geishan i Luleås skärgård – och på Väddö i vackra Roslagen.
Det var på 60- och 70-talet som spenderade vi ett antal somrar på Väddö, närmare bestämt på Luftvärnets Skjutskola, ett militärt avspärrat träningsområde precis vid Ålands hav. Där fanns flera hundra värnpliktiga i baracker och sen runt 6-7 stugor för befälet – där bodde vi då pappa var en av dem.
På nåt sätt var det som att tiden och världen stod till därute. Kanske var det för att vi var så isolerade – det var ju ett militärt område och ingen obehörig kunde/fick ta sig in.
Där levde vi så i totalt lugn och stillhet (sånär som på övningsskjutandet som pågick dagtid!). Minnen blandas ihop med bilder och film som mamma och pappa tog och det är svårt att veta vad som är ihågkommet och påmint. Det gör ingenting.
Vad jag tänker på är hur vi på nåt sätt bara “var”, helt i stunden, tog dan som den kom, gjorde vad som föll oss in, i harmoni med väder och andra omständigheter.
Rodde ut på Ålands hav, badade hur kallt den än var i vattnet, fiskade på bryggan i badviken, jagade varann på klipporna, badade fötterna i de små pölarna som bildades i havsklipporna – och när vi blev lite äldre – spelade tennis, låg och läste, spelade kort och köpte godis på “markan” (och spanade in de värnpliktiga!)
Det fanns ingen telefon, ingen diskmaskin, ingen tvättmaskin och ingen affär. Och det var helt OK. Kommer ihåg hur vi åkte “hem till stan” för att tvätta nån gång varannan vecka eller så. Eller åkte in till Norrtälje för att gå på konditori – kändes som en riktig lyx!
Dessa minnen är så starkt förankrade i mig att jag kan framkalla känslan av dem när helst jag vill.
Gör du detsamma med dina minnen? Hittar du inspirationen, lugnet, drivkraften, glädjen i dina bästa minnen?
Ta en stund och kom ihåg och hämta kraft i dem. Kanske minns din barndoms somrar. Men inte för att bli sentimental och leva i det förflutna, utan för att kunna leva så bra du kan nu.
Så ta sen en stund och lev i nuet – det är nåt vi kan göra som vuxna också (jag har mycket att lära från de barndomssomrarna:-)) – att bara vara. Och förutom njutningen av att leva i nuet, att verkligen uppleva det som händer idag – tänk vilka fina minnen vi skapar för vår framtid!
