Guard a positive team spirit like a hawk. Nothing else matters if you don’t. File Photo
As my three-year W.K. Kellogg community leadership fellowship draws to a close, I've spent some time thinking about what I have learned about myself as a person and a leader. During the generous fellowship, which resulted in the amped-up Mississippi Youth Media Project (youthmedia project.com), I traveled to many "convenings," as Kellogg calls them, around the nation and used development funds to find and address many of my own weaknesses. I'm a work-in-progress.
It was exhilarating in my 50s to take classes and have smart people coach me. Here are a few lessons I've learned along the way that are helping me in how I run my life and business. Some may surprise you as much as they did me.
Take care of yourself first.
Driven people tend to ignore self-care because we think we have to do everything for others before taking care of ourselves. Think of the flight attendant saying to put your mask on before your child's, and you get the point. We can't help others if we're in danger ourselves.
For me, this meant more exercise (including a trainer), eating better and the usual healthy practices, which resulted in weight loss and better blood pressure, which is hereditary for me. It also meant learning to set better boundaries.
Hire slow, fire fast.
One of my coaches in the last three years—Deirdre Danahar of InMotion Consulting in Jackson—is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. But she leaned across the little table in my office many times saying, "You can't retain toxic employees." My friend and former operations manager, the restaurateur David Joseph, told me very directly that a manager must demand two things daily: high performance and a great attitude. Not one or the other. Both. Daily.
The cost to a great team is enormous when you allow negative people to poison it. That doesn't mean you don't give staff members a chance; of course, you do. You help, you listen, you offer help—for a reasonable time. If they don't want to improve, you must fire and hire a better fit. Try not to hire too quickly to ensure you find people who want to be in an environment with great attitudes and high performance. Will they be willing to support the team instead of just trying to stand out themselves? Think of the advantage of team-promoting Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott over showboating star athletes.
Hire well, then trust.
One you get the hiring and retention part right, meaning you have people you can trust even when you're busy with other things, then turn them loose to do a great job. You don't need to "micro-manage" positive, reliable people. If they're allergic to accountability, it's a bad sign.
Only hire and retain lifetime learners.
It sounds arrogant to say to only hire people who really want to learn what you have to teach—but it's not. And great team members also must be hungry to learn from each other. People with lifetime learning attitudes are more mindful, attentive, and eager to both teach and learn, and every team member must be that way. That's where excellence is born and thrives. But be sure you, too, have a learning attitude. Know-it-alls are thoroughly ineffective and boring.
Each one teach one.
You must provide a learning environment. My company has long embraced this, at least in theory. We turned staff meetings into workshops in which we teach and learn from each other. It's a good way to see who is, and isn't, a lifetime learner (eye-rollers aren't). My team is now amazing in workshops, fully engaged and giving each other permission to care deeply.
Forgive yourself when you screw up.
And you will. Leading is hard. Be willing to apologize, and learn from your own mistakes.
Take care of yourself first.
Driven people tend to ignore self-care because we think we have to do everything for others before taking care of ourselves. Think of the flight attendant saying to put your mask on before your child's, and you get the point. We can't help others if we're in danger ourselves.
For me, this meant more exercise (including a trainer), eating better and the usual healthy practices, which resulted in weight loss and better blood pressure, which is hereditary for me. It also meant learning to set better boundaries.
Hire slow, fire fast.
One of my coaches in the last three years—Deirdre Danahar of InMotion Consulting in Jackson—is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. But she leaned across the little table in my office many times saying, "You can't retain toxic employees." My friend and former operations manager, the restaurateur David Joseph, told me very directly that a manager must demand two things daily: high performance and a great attitude. Not one or the other. Both. Daily.
The cost to a great team is enormous when you allow negative people to poison it. That doesn't mean you don't give staff members a chance; of course, you do. You help, you listen, you offer help—for a reasonable time. If they don't want to improve, you must fire and hire a better fit. Try not to hire too quickly to ensure you find people who want to be in an environment with great attitudes and high performance. Will they be willing to support the team instead of just trying to stand out themselves? Think of the advantage of team-promoting Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott over showboating star athletes.
Hire well, then trust.
One you get the hiring and retention part right, meaning you have people you can trust even when you're busy with other things, then turn them loose to do a great job. You don't need to "micro-manage" positive, reliable people. If they're allergic to accountability, it's a bad sign.
Only hire and retain lifetime learners.
It sounds arrogant to say to only hire people who really want to learn what you have to teach—but it's not. And great team members also must be hungry to learn from each other. People with lifetime learning attitudes are more mindful, attentive, and eager to both teach and learn, and every team member must be that way. That's where excellence is born and thrives. But be sure you, too, have a learning attitude. Know-it-alls are thoroughly ineffective and boring.
Each one teach one.
You must provide a learning environment. My company has long embraced this, at least in theory. We turned staff meetings into workshops in which we teach and learn from each other. It's a good way to see who is, and isn't, a lifetime learner (eye-rollers aren't). My team is now amazing in workshops, fully engaged and giving each other permission to care deeply.
Forgive yourself when you screw up.
And you will. Leading is hard. Be willing to apologize, and learn from your own mistakes.
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