This week I was in between 
destinations and had Sunday to explore Chicago. It was also the day for the finals of the World Cup Soccer – football to the rest of the world. I figured that Chicago would have some outstanding places to watch the World Cup. Sure enough, the place to be was Chicago’s Soldier Field where they expected to have 15,000 to 30,000 people cheering their favorite team on to victory. To get to Soldier Field from O’Hare Airport, I had to ride the Blue Line train to downtown and then catch a bus, hire a taxi, or just walk the remaining five miles to Solider Field!
But, something happened on the way to the World Cup: I stumbled upon a group of ordinary folks playing various musical instruments – violins, flutes, horns and the like. Well, I didn’t really stumble and the men and women weren’t just ordinary folks. I had the good fortune to observe the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra practicing in an outdoor amphitheater.
As I sat in the early morning sun and listened to them practice, I thought of how many businesses I work with who have their own type of orchestra. They don’t realize the 'sound' they make (or are capable of making) with their team. The sounds on this Sunday from this orchestra were beautiful. These magical sounds were created by professionals who have dedicated their lives to a passion for playing a flute or a violin at a concert level, and as one team. Teamwork was essential. Can you imagine the timpani player going off on his own beat and saying this is my department don’t tell me how to do my job. It would never happen with an orchestra at this high level nor would it happen at a high school band level. Because of the sound it would make if teamwork was not in play. There would be discord – no harmony.
My mind began to wander with the music. What does it take to build a successful orchestra? And how does this compare with employee team building for a successful business? The similarities were obvious and amazing. Even more amazing is that business leaders have not asked themselves: How does our business ‘sound’? To an orchestra their sound is what the audience hears as a result of four key team building disciplines:
Discipline One: Define your success for your team. Begin by defining and then owning a clear vision of what your success will look like. In the music world, the concert is the culmination of interpreting and successfully practicing the composer’s written score. The musicians and the audience will know right away if the sound they have created is successful. Have you communicated your vision for success to your employees?
Discipline Two: Commitment of the individual player. The best performers know their role and responsibility as a musician or member of the orchestra. Each individual member understands the effect of their timing, their precision, and their accuracy. Just as important is the tuning and care of their instrument. And, there would be no performance without the musician’s understanding of the written score. These elements are essential to the success of the orchestra. Do the members of your team have a clearly defined role?
Discipline Three: Following the leader. Every orchestra needs a conductor; a leader and coach. Watching them practice, the conductor will stop them periodically and communicate what he expects from the players. The conductor does not accept mediocrity, he expects greatness from each and every musician each time they play. He communicates to each section or specific performer what is needed from them to reach concert level. Do you coach your employees to greatness?
Discipline Four: Practice for success. Practice certainly makes perfect. But, do you want to play perfectly successful or perfectly awful? Once you’ve got the best people in your orchestra (or on your team) they need to have a clear vision or understanding of what perfection will sound or look like. Then, you all know the old joke about how to get to Carnegie Hall: practice, practice, practice. But, one must practice the sound correctly. Practicing correctly makes the sound to your audience -- or customers -- a memorable experience.
The Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, for that short time on that Sunday, allowed me to be a part of their passion. They were masters of their craft and their discipline to practice and perform at such a high level was proof of their success. They were there on a Sunday morning practicing for beauty and success while some were watching the World Cup and still others were watching them! I never made it to Soldier Field that day to watch world-class soccer; instead I listened to world-class musicians. Just by chance on that Sunday, I was blessed to discover a team of masters who possessed a commitment to expect greatness in all they did and the sound was music to my ears.
Here is a challenge for you today, for every day: Ask yourself, how does my business sound? If you don’t like your sound, then check the four disciplines outlined above and make your adjustments. Maybe your team just needs a little more practice. Or maybe you need to take some time developing a more clear vision for your team’s success -- and help them understand what success will sound like. What do you need to do to help your employees deliver top performance? Stop and listen - you can tell by the sound.
Learn more about team building speaker, author and coach, Jim Jackson.
A personal vision statement gives you a map that can move you toward where you want to be -- and away from where you don’t want to be. What is blocking your life right now? What things do you keep doing that aren’t really what you want to be doing? What kind of vision could take you in another direction, away from those things that are blocking you?
Your personal vision can be anything from being the best truck driver, to the best father or mother, to the best student or employee. The important thing is that it makes your life more meaningful because it’s based on the things you truly care about the most—your deepest passions.
Now when you follow your passions and put your vision first, you don’t always know how things are going to work out! You may be doing something unconventional that hasn’t been done before or trying something new that you’ve always loved, but never had the nerve to put your faith in before. It’s exciting, but it can also be a little scary.
Being true to yourself seems like it should be the most natural thing in the world. But if it were, everyone would be doing it and, instead, most people are afraid to try. Do you know why? Because when you put your heart into something and invest in it with all your passion, you are taking a risk. You worry that you could be disappointed or make a fool out of yourself.
It’s possible. But what’s worse? Being disappointed -- or never even trying to live your dream?
Give me disappointment any day! If I’m disappointed, I can get up, brush myself off and try again. If I make a fool out of myself, I can do things better the next time. If I live a life with no passion and no vision … if I never take a risk on my deepest dream … if I never put my vision first … then life won’t hold much meaning for me.
To live a meaningful life, you have to identify your passion and create your own personal vision -- and then go after it with all you’ve got. Even if it seems impossible!
One of the best examples I know about creating a new, personal vision and putting that vision first comes from my friend, George. George and I worked together at the Pacific Institute. We called him “Mr. Results” because when George focused on something, boy did he get results! Customers loved that. George was constantly getting job offers from outside the Institute. One of them came from MCI -- and George took the job.
As expected, George was on the fast track at MCI. But he had a wife and three children at home and he wasn’t getting to spend time with them due to the travel demands of his new job. So, George soon realized he’d have to make a change. He wanted to spend time with his wife and be the loving husband he felt called to be. George had a vision of being the best husband and father he could possibly be.
Now, George lived in Lodi, California, a small town of 52,000 people. There’s not a lot going on for MCI in Lodi. George knew that. But he told MCI that he’d be happy to keep working for them, but he was going to be staying in Lodi. MCI said they needed him to travel, so they parted ways.
This meant George was going to have to start from scratch. Since he knew the performance coaching business, he thought, “Why don’t I become a performance coach from Lodi? I can put a certain amount of time every day into work and the rest of my time will be focused on fulfilling my vision to be the best husband and father I can be.”
The thing is, there’s really no reason to think you can be a successful performance coach in a small town like Lodi. Being a performance coach myself, I can tell you that, when I heard about George’s plan, I was skeptical. It’s always been my belief that you have to travel to be a performance coach. You have to go wherever the business is.
George proved me wrong. He changed the paradigm, because his vision was strong. He put all his passion behind his personal vision statement. To be the best husband and father he could be, he needed a job that would make enough money to maintain his family’s lifestyle, but also give him more time to spend with them!
And do you know what? George has exceeded his personal vision. He continues to spend quality time with his family, year in and year out. And he has more business than he knows what to do with!
George is very successful to this day. He turns business away and keeps raising his prices. Why? Because as much as he is committed to his clients, he is more committed to his vision—to be with his family. He’s living with integrity, putting first what matters most. What About You?
Learn about author and professional motivational speaker Jim Jackson.
The Impact of 'Zingers' on Employee Motivation
When it comes to employee motivation, one of the most powerful tools managers have is their words. Words can inspire and motivate -- or they can destroy morale and create a negative environment.
Managers with strong leadership skills know how to coach their employees to inspire performance -- with positive words that encourage people to go where they didn’t think they could go, exceed expectations and become highly competitive in this ever changing market place.
In a positive environment in which everyone is working together toward a vision they can believe in, enthusiasm -- and productivity rise dramatically.
If you introduce 'Zingers' (negative words or comments) into this setting, you create a negative undertow. You may still make progress, but now you're working against the tide.
Zingers have a direct impact on the ability of your business to succeed. They make people become unwilling to invest in your vision and they undermine the trust and safety that is such a vital part of your workplace.
Imagine this situation:
An employee comes to work on time every day and does a good job. The employee hasn't talked to his manager in a while, but assumes that if anything were wrong, he'd hear about it. In fact, the manager is quite happy with the employee's work, but he doesn't know how to express this. Maybe the manager is not as comfortable with people as he'd like to be or maybe he is uneasy because he doesn't know this employee very well.
Instead of saying something positive and supportive when passing by the employee's desk, the manager tries to be funny by launching a zinger. "Look at that stack of papers on your desk!" he laughs, "I can't believe you ever find anything."
It's meant as good-natured teasing, but from the employee's point of view, it's the only thing the manager has said to him directly all week. And it's received as criticism: "Your desk is a mess.” Of all the things the manager might have said when he walked past, he chose to say, “You're a slob."
Even if the employee doesn't take it to heart and worry about his job security as a result, the first interaction he's had with his manager is a zinger - and this just doesn't feel good! Managers who interact with their direct reports on the basis of zingers usually have no idea of the repercussions to motivation and morale. Not only have they set up a negative interaction with the person they're zinging, but they've also established themselves as someone to be avoided -- and they've missed an opportunity to say something inspiring.
Here's another scenario:
An employee goes to the coffee room to refresh her coffee. Three other employees are taking their regular 10 minute break in the coffee room at the same time. The manager, Frank, walks in and says, "So, Julie, you're spending the work day on a break again, I see... I hope you're having fun. That's the important thing."
Julie may know Frank doesn't mind her getting coffee. He may have told her minutes earlier that he appreciates all the hard work she's put in this week, so she realizes he's kidding, when he implies she's goofing off.
But the other people in the room don't know that. All they see is a manager who won't cut his employee any slack. She gets up to refresh her coffee and he ridicules her for it. The rule is that a positives statement makes for a high performance employee and teams that produce quality products. A negative statement does the opposite.
Ask yourself: do you get fired up when you get great reviews or do you look forward to someone saying to you "Take a look at this. It's written so simply, even you should be able to understand it." That was a zinger. How would that make you feel?
Learn to coach people forwards towards the desired end results with positive reinforcement. Zingers don’t motivate. They destroy self-esteem. Are you getting the results you want? Or are you blaming others to make yourself feel better about the bad results? Are you zinging the very people you need to have on the success bus?
To learn more about the power of coaching download a free chapter from my book, Power to Change and discover how you can be a positive influence in your work and your personal life.
Learn more about how to motivate employees here.