Teamwork begins with you! That’s right, you are the key to making your team come together and succeed! If every person in your organization took on this mentality …. WOW! Teamwork can be magical. Teamwork is a mindset, a way of thinking, a way of working. These simple strategies provide you with a recipe for creating team unity in your organization. Commit today to being a team player!

Focus On Strengths

Be a part of solutions in your organization. Focus on that which is right. Those that focus on what’s wrong usually are not the ones that add value to your organization. These people waste all their energy on complaining and bickering. Stay positive and offer up your very best!

Reach out to discover the strengths of others. Focus on others’ strengths and help them to maximize their natural abilities. Part of being a great team player is your ability to focus on the strengths of others and not nit-pick their deficiencies. As you do this for others, they will return the favor and focus on your strengths.

Find ways to partner with others in your organization in a complementary way. Thank goodness everyone does not have the exact same skillset. Find ways to provide assistance to others in ways that bring out the full benefit of your strengths. If you have specific skills that others lack, help them by filling those gaps. For instance, if you are pretty sharp with Excel spreadsheets, a skill that others in your department lack, step up and provide that assistance any chance possible.

Look for ways that your strengths can be further developed. Not always are we able to do what we do best everyday all day long. However, look for ways to strategically position yourself to be able to do what you do best most of the time.

Common Vision

Identifying and communicating a clear vision is one of the most important assets of any organization. A vision is a mental image of the future of the business. The vision defines who and what the business is, why it exists, and where it is going in the grand scheme of things. In order to understand or identify your organization’s vision, you must define:

· Your business’s fundamental reason for existence beyond just making money

· The timeless, unchanging core values of the business

· The “big picture” aspirations for the future of the business

· What drives your passion for doing what you do as an organization

Discover for yourself what the vision is for your organization and how your role in the company plays into this vision.

A shared vision exists when every person in the organization accepts the vision, understands the vision, takes ownership of the vision, and most importantly aligns their behavior with the vision. Be sure to add value to this vision and be a part of the big picture in your organization.

Equality

In any social relationship, people are monitoring the checks and balances – what they give versus what they receive. This is also common in the workplace; we monitor relationships just as we do outside of work.

Make sure that all you do contributes to the strength of your team. Add value every chance you get. Share the workload fairly. Volunteer to take on your fair share of the work and be the one that is willing to step up your contributions. Make teamwork the norm. Sometimes “doing the minimal” is the norm and people become bitter when their perception is that they are doing more than everyone else. When you have multiple people being careful to not do more than their fair share, you have got a big problem! Change these norms by embracing a sense of full collaboration, helping, and good hard work. See your coworkers as equals and do all you can do to provide them with any assistance that is needed.

The beauty of this kind of work is that real relationships are reciprocal. What you get out of a relationship is proportionate to what you give to it. If you abide by this simple rule, you will win more times than not in workplace relationships and teamwork. Give first always and don’t measure what comes back! This is a simple rule, but one that has dramatic positive rewards. If you embrace this as your norm in life, you will be amazed at the rewards to relationships at work and in your personal life.

Trust & Openness

Building trust in your organization is no simple task, nor is there a secret recipe for creating trust. However, there is a secret first step to creating trust. This secret step is to be willing to trust others. Anytime “Watch your back!” is commonly stated in an organization, the lack of trust is inevitable. You’ve got to transition the norm to commonly stating, “I’ve got your back!”

Like any kind of phenomena in relationships, you get what you give. So if you want to be trusted, you’ve got to be trustworthy. Similarly, if you want to have a lot of friends, you’ve got to be friendly! Not rocket science, right? So, commit yourself to being trustworthy. If you commit to having a project completed by a certain time, or if you promise to cover a shift for a coworker etc. Just do it! Do what you say you’re going to do! Trust will be destroyed if people talk the talk of teamwork, but are unwilling to walk the walk.

Express your dependency to your coworkers. Let them know that they can count on you and that you need to count on their support. Expressions of trust and confidence such as this can open up opportunities for trust building.

Acceptance of Differences

Diversity in the workplace is oftentimes brought up in reference to differences of race, gender, religious, or other aspects of one’s ethnic definitions. But think about this, you could have two people with a long list of ethnic descriptors (i.e. – African American, female, Christian, married with three children, each with a household income of $75k per year), yet these two individuals have very distinct ways of thinking and behaving. Diversity comes down to thinking differently.

Diversity in the workplace has always been present and will forever be present in our world. We are fortunate to get to work with people that think different from ourselves. Recognize this as a strength to your organization and to yourself personally. Learn from others’ differences. Be willing to accept others’ ways of thinking. Narrow minded people think their way is the only way. Don’t fall into this trap! Just as you want to be yourself at work, let others be themselves as well and celebrate your differences.

Great organizations look within for innovations and solutions to difficult market conditions. This is obviously a great practice, and one that is underutilized. Seeking new ideas from your team will give them a voice, empower their opinions, and engage them in the building up of the company and its objectives.

If your organization has such a program, participate! You have ideas, but they are worthless if you don’t share them openly and in a structured way so that the “higher-ups” can catch wind of your brilliance.

Communication

Communication is oftentimes blamed as the culprit for faltering teamwork. Better said, the lack of communication is oftentimes labeled the culprit. You know what’s kind of strange, but I am sure you can think of a time that this has occurred in your workplace … Communication is oftentimes blamed, although it is just part of the more serious and more difficult underlying issue. For example, you might hear people say, “We have a major communication issue.” Upon further investigation you discover that nobody trusts the boss or that a new policy that was just implemented is causing a decrease in sales. Oddly, neither one of these issues is really a “communication issue,” yet both could easily be labeled as such.

So what is a real communication issue? What is at the heart of good communication? Commit yourself to the following and you will be perceived as a great communicator in your organization. 1) Be open, clear, and honest. Be real with people. Tell the truth and don’t sugar coat situations. 2) Assume good intent in others. Be positive with others and focus on what’s right. Communicate about what’s right. 3) Keep people informed. Wherever you fall in the chain of command, keep people in the loop. Communicate upwards and downwards, left and right. The more people know, the less people will have to invent stories about. 4) Avoid all drama. That’s right I said it – drama! Stay out of the gossip in your organization. If there are chats taking place around the water cooler, don’t approach with your ears and interest keenly on point. Stay out of it! Drama, rumors, and gossip are completely destructive to the wellbeing of an organization and specifically destructive to teamwork.

Altruism

Lastly, embrace a spirit of altruism by demonstrating an unselfish concern for the welfare of others. Selfishness pumping of one’s own ego has become way too common in the workplace. Build yourself up by making others look good. Put others’ needs first.

The power of team begins with you! You are the key. Model excellent team skills and you will see a dramatic transformation in your reputation and true character. Others will see you as a team player. They will follow your example and opportunities will be presented to you that will allow you to continue to achieve long-term success and sustainable personal growth.

If you have ever looked at a color wheel, you have probably noticed that half the wheel is "warm" and half the wheel is "cool," yet all together it is a harmonious blending of complementary colors.

In North America colors are generally associated with different feelings or emotions:

• Red: excitement, strength, sex, passion, speed, danger
• Blue: trust, reliability, belonging, coolness
• Yellow: warmth, sunshine, cheer, happiness
• Orange: playfulness, warmth, vibrant
• Green: nature, fresh, cool, growth, abundance
• Purple: royal, spirituality, dignity
• Pink: soft, sweet, nurture, security
• White: pure, virginal, clean, youthful, mild
• Black: sophistication, elegant, seductive, mystery
• Gold: prestige, expensive
• Silver: prestige, cold, scientific

So it’s only natural that when you design your marketing materials you should consider how the colors you choose will affect your intended audience. That means reviewing several factors about your target audience:

• Demographics (i.e. age, gender, socio-economics, culture)
• Geographic location
• Intended reaction

In addition, depending on the season, you’ll want to consider any current color trends that might influence your marketing campaign.

Other Factors to Consider

While experts seem to agree that there are color preferences based on personal differences, individual choice is not definitive.

For instance, gender may influence color choice. Some believe that men prefer blue over red, and women prefer red over blue. Still others indicate that men and women generally do not differ between dark or light colors. However, in a study conducted several years ago, 56 percent of men and 76 percent of women preferred cool colors, and 51 percent men and 45 percent women liked bright colors.

Culture also has an impact on color attitudes and preferences. For instance, death is represented by white in Chinese culture and purple in Brazil. Yellow signifies sadness in Greece and jealousy in France. In American culture white is purity and green is jealousy. So you can quite easily find conflict in trying to select a color palette to please everyone and every market.

While there is no perfect color palette for every situation, you can identify the ideal colors, subtle shades and variations that work best for your marketing campaign by understanding what you want your campaign to communicate.

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Business leaders around the world are oftentimes looking for effective ways to represent their organizations to the world – a concept referred to as branding. Many of these organizations have a strong sense of who they are and why people should want to conduct business with them and they do a good job communicating that to their respective markets. The reality though is that many organizations fail to have a strong sense of their own guiding principles and cannot clearly articulate their vision or communicate unique aspects of their identity (brand) in a way that compels both employees and customers to develop emotional attachments with the organization. This emotional attachment and loyalty have been proven to result in an increase in productivity, profitability, customer loyalty, and staff retention. The power of vision is extraordinary!

CREATING A SHARED VISION

Identifying and communicating a clear vision is one of the most important functions a business leader can perform. A vision is a mental image of the future of the business. The vision defines who and what the business is, why it exists, and where it is going in the grand scheme of things. In order to understand or identify your organization’s vision, you must define:

• Your business’s fundamental reason for existence beyond just making money
• The timeless, unchanging core values of the business
• The “big picture” aspirations for the future of the business
• What drives your passion for doing what you do as an organization

A shared vision exists when every person in the organization accepts the vision, understands the vision, takes ownership of the vision, and most importantly aligns their behavior with the vision.

A strong, shared vision can provide a sense of structure, stability, direction and purpose, build and strengthen loyalty through involvement, and set high standards of excellence that reflect high ideals and a sense of integrity. A strong vision also inspires people to align their energies in a common direction that reflects the company’s unique strengths. For a vision to accomplish this, consider the following criteria:

• The vision statement must be a powerful and positive statement
• The vision must be concise yet comprehensive (short and sweet)
• The vision must apply to all areas of operation
• The vision must be focused on the essence of what you do as a business
• The vision must be communicated (sold) to all stakeholders

CORE VALUES

Many organizations, large and small, have some version of core values, whether they’re formally articulated or not. The question of how ‘sticky’ the core values are — how deeply and consistently they’re understood, and how frequently they’re reflected in action — depends on the quality of leadership, the substance and clarity of communication, and the resonance that employees and other stakeholders the organization have with the proclaimed values.

Just like vision, if core values are tucked away nicely in a strategic plan manual or on a fancy placard on the wall, the value and utility are null and void. In fact, an organization is better off to not even have a vision statement or core values unless they are going to integrate them into the organization through effective alignment.

Whether your individual or organizational values include purpose, integrity, creativity, trust, respect, or human rights, thorough and insightful discussion is required so that you and others are very clear about what your selected words and statements mean, and what they look, sound, and feel like in action. Then it becomes more likely that there will be alignment between stated and demonstrated vision and values. What does ‘ethics’ mean in your organization? How do you know when you’re being ethical or unethical? What does integrity mean? Where is the line? What does it mean to be committed? What does it require? What do ‘trust’ and ‘respect’ mean? Do people feel trusted and respected? What does ‘customer care’ mean? Do the customers feel ‘cared for’? What does ‘good citizenship’ mean? Is it demonstrated? Do the company’s highest priorities reflect these values? Are these values observable in everyday behaviors or norms? How do you know when you’ve arrived at living your vision, or if you’ve excelled at ‘being’ a particular value? And so on…

Behavior is always a reflection of values, though it’s certainly influenced by one’s degree of passion and commitment toward the vision and core values. So in a company that has one set of formal core values and another set of “lived values,” based on what you observe from the actions of the company’s people, there exists an informal, perhaps unspoken set of norms and expectations that has been accepted and rewarded in the organizational culture. This is a very basic measure of “Do we do what we say we do?”

Enron offered the classic example of this, with a formal vision, mission, and ethics statement accompanied by core values which were subjugated by cultural messaging that gave the values of individual ambition, competition, the illusion of profit; and dishonesty a higher priority. The latter were ultimately reflected in the behaviors seen in and associated with the company.

In high performing organizations, there is a greater dedication to aligning behavior and action with the highest stated values, even when such an alignment requires constant attention to and flexibility to changing market conditions. Whether or not vision and core values are ‘lived’ in an organization depends on the influence of leaders, the level to which employees are engaged, and the type of culture that is established and supported in the organization. Vision and core values become “who we are” and “how we operate” as an organization.

CHALLENGE OF ALIGNMENT

A commitment to clarity about vision and values is always a challenge if assigned a lower priority than the day-to-day activities and tasks. For most business leaders, making it a priority and designating the time is the commonly the issue. For a larger organization that often allocates time and resources to vision and values work (usually in the form of strategic planning), the key challenges include keeping it from being just another boring process and aligning the many groups and individuals with the company’s stated vision. When business leaders refer to vision or values as an “initiative,” people will respond with thoughts or words such as “oh boy, here we go again!” But when the vision is presented with passion and clarity, people are likely to buy in and fully commit to the vision. Commitment is demonstrated by daily behaviors that are aligned.

The rewards of being clear about vision and values, and aligning the priorities and behaviors throughout the company with its stated vision and values, are extraordinary. They include:

• Greater clarity when making decisions
• The ability to recruit top-talented employees
• A greater sense of passion and meaning associated with vision and values
• An increase in employee emotional engagement, and
• Increased performance as an organization

For business leaders, being clear on vision and values offers two additional benefits — a source of motivation and inspiration to add value to the individual roles of employees and other stakeholders; and a tangible product that can provide clarity for branding identity of the organization.

To reap the rewards of vision and values, one must have clear intention and deliberate focus. With annual or semi-annual vision and values check-ins, and a clear idea of what it means to have alignment processes woven into daily activities, alignment will become more the norm than the exception and will transform an organization in line with the vision and values. The possibilities are limitless!

Michael Scott from Dunder Mifflin talks about what it takes to really succeed in management.  Very funny video!

The relationship that exists between employees and their bosses has been the focus of a great deal of research in recent years. This relationship has been proven to be at the core of employee engagement, job satisfaction, and employee performance. As with any relationship, certain expectations must be met in order for the relationship to be mutually rewarding. Perhaps these checklists will be helpful.

WHAT BOSSES OWE SUBORDINATES

1. Structure: absolute clarity on policies and procedures; good systems in place; clarity on job duties.

2. Stability: sense of teamwork, confidence in you as a leader, confidence in the organization.

3. Direction: clear, specific, consistent vision and strategy all aligned with goals.

4. Information: on which risks / opportunities require a change of direction, and why.

5. Support: adequate materials and equipment, funds; Coaching for employees when needed.

6. Feedback: objective and specific performance evaluation with room for employee response.

7. Inspiration and encouragement: model top performance, dedication, and engagement.

8. Discipline and correction: consistent expectations for all employees.

9. Respect: for the subordinate’s human dignity and achievements.

WHAT SUBORDINATES OWE BOSSES

1. Performance: careful and complete to meet or exceed stated requirements.

2. Information: on risks / opportunities clear to the subordinate, relevant to boss.

3. Requests and recommendations: not complaints and untested “ideas.”

4. Patience: consideration of the boss’s time demands and constraints.

5. Commitment to the boss’s goals: unstinting investment of time and talent to achieve them (or open-minded willingness to be convinced).

6. Courage and self-discipline: staying power even in tough times. Willingness to ask what and how rather than assume why.

7. Respect: for the boss’s human dignity and position in the hierarchy.

WHAT NEITHER OWES THE OTHER

1. Perfection.

2. Mutual psychoanalysis, mind-reading.

3. Personal affection.

4. Allegiance to the same beliefs or values.

5. Extreme or constant self-sacrifice for the other’s benefit.

6. Unnecessary drama

Focus on nurturing a genuine relationship of trust with one another and focus on mutual outcomes.  With a solid relationship, you are more able to be authentic and sincere.  Live up to these expectations – what you owe one another – and together you will succeed!

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Show Interest

People may sense that you are not interested in them, especially their feelings. Ask people how they are feeling and what their concerns are. If that bores you, try to look interested (lean forward, open your eyes wide) and try to repeat in your head what they are saying. Keep this in mind:  people do NOT communicate just to give information. If you think this way, people will view you as arrogant — you are only interested when there is vital information for you. Does that sound like you? Instead, realize that communication has many other, often more frequent, purposes: to lubricate or smooth uncomfortable moments, to greet and acknowledge another human’s existence, and to build relationships. You may not value these things. However, your future will depend on your ability to use communication to accomplish all of these things. They make living with other human beings smoother. Give it a try. Notice better reactions from others.

Be Positive

I suspect that the only emotions that show on your face are negative ones: impatience, annoyance, and boredom, for example. If this is true, check how you are talking. Is it always critical and negative? Try rewording in a positive way, and inform your face to follow suit. Again, communication is not all about information — most people use communication to connect and relate. Your "relating," if always negative, will make people avoid you. It constantly reminds them that their lives aren’t perfect. Make positive comments. Force yourself to try to say things that will make others feel good about themselves and about you. Notice your reaction to this kind of exchange.  Trust me, you will start to like this more and more!

Get Outside of Yourself

"Arrogance" is often ascribed to people who fail to ask questions about other people. They just make statements and demand information. Talk, talk, talk, talk … talk all about themselves! Start asking people about their work, interests, and lives. Ask genuine questions that relate to your interests. Find common points to build upon and show that you want to know about them and not just put yourself on display. Be open-minded.

Communication is a pattern of behavior. It is the way we portray ourselves to the world. It is the vehicle for establishing and maintaining relationships of trust. Choose to be a powerful communicator. Abandon ineffective communication habits and try each day to connect with others.

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We all pass through times in life when trials and tribulations seem insurmountable,  These times challenge our inner strength and ability to succeed.  We need to stay the course and persevere.

Stress is not what happens to us. It’s our response TO what happens. And RESPONSE is something we can choose.

Choose to live a life of fulfillment. Maximize your true potential in life and get THROUGH the challenges that life presents.  Remember, you are a diamond!