Make hard team decisions - no d!ckheads
A few months ago, I wrote some articles sharing some lessons from the book "Legacy" by James Kerr which covers lessons in leadership that can be learnt from the game of rugby. The book discusses how the All Blacks achieved greatness and applies some of these lessons to the world of business to help make us better business leaders.
I unfortunately then had some personal issues that took me away from blogging for a while but now that I am back, I thought this was an important topic worth writing about.
So this is the lesson I want to share today…..
No d!ckheads
The book describes how birds flying in formation, in a v-shape, follow the spearhead. When one bird falls back, another one will take over and the formation is preserved. All the birds work together in a harmonious way which is 70% more efficient than flying solo. There are no egos involved, it is all about the team.
Rugby is similar, where one of the players takes the lead with the ball, the rest will follow in support. When the ball is passed on then another player takes the lead.
Fly in formation. Be of one mind. Follow the spearhead
Legacy - Chapter 6
To get the team working harmoniously together, the All Blacks worked by the mantra, "no d!ickheads". One player with a selfish mindset won't bring team results. No one is bigger than the team. By reinforcing this mantra, the All Black created a culture that ensured everyone was a team player knowing that the wrong attitude of one person, weakened the overall team.
For the strength of the pack is the wolf,
and the strength of the wolf is the packRudyard Kipling
We can see how this mantra from the game of rugby can be applied to how to run successful teams in business. It just takes one rotten apple in your team to weaken the overall team and bring the whole team down. Your team are stronger when they work together, flying in formation, working with the other team members. The selfish mindset of one of your business team members is not going to help overall productivity and effectiveness.
In business, you need to work to establish a good culture where the team members support each other. If you have d!ckheads in your team, you need to do something about it. As a leader, you will need to address their behaviour directly. If they are not willing or able to change, then getting rid of them will be the only way forwards otherwise they will bring the whole team down. The other team members will support this if they feel that they are always being let down by one egocentric selfish team member.
It's better to have a thousand enemies outside the tent than one inside the tent
Rudyard Kipling
Don't let your weakest link be within your team - there are enough challenges our there in the world that your business will have to deal with.
How are you working to build the right non-selfish culture in your team? Would you get rid of someone if you felt they were a "d!ckhead" in your team?
Certainly friend @awah sometimes a single "idiot" is capable of ruining the entire effort of a complete team, I have had many times to try to deal with these types of characters, I usually get that despite their "idiocy" end up adapting to the philosophy of the team, but the truth is that there are times that the best thing both for the team and for the "idiot" himself is to move him away from the team in such a way that neither he can continue to hurt, nor the rest Also feel unaffected by this type of behavior.
Very good post, greetings !.
It os not nice having to remove someone from the team and I am all for giving feedback and second chances. However, as a leader, the team look at you to make difficult decisions and sometimes we need to act.
Thanks for your comment 👍
hello @awah,
The ant is an insect that teaches us that strength is always in the union and the sum of individual forces that makes a small animal can cope with large tasks, on the other hand who leads a team must be a kind of parent and teacher who is at the service of the team, the leader must always ensure the health and welfare of the people who make up the team without personal preferences and with a sense of justice well developed, No one is bigger than the team and everyone supports each other, no matter the circumstances, that should be the goal of any team leader, now if there is a person who is not willing to follow this mantra it is best to let it go before the individualistic mentality contaminates the team.
hi @trabajosdelsiglo - I like your message about the ant and it is quite right. Thanks for commenting on my post.
I have eliminated them every time they show up, idiocy and mediocrity do not go hand in hand with these businesses nor within the life of this one.
thank you for worthwhile lessons
It is not always easy but it is sometimes the right thing to do. It otherwise let's the whole team down and is unfair on those who do work hard and work fairly with the rest of the team.
Thanks for your comment.
I'm currently managing a team and it's like you say, it's not easy. Many don't understand the team concept and what they do is make things worse with their attitude. It is better to get rid of the idiots before they damage everything.
Very sobering post. Thanks for bringing it up.
Thanks for your comment. I always give feedback and second chances. However, despite trying we sometimes know it is just not working. As leaders we have a duty to make hard decisions.
You're right, many times people don't know how to make a difficult decision regarding another person, and it seems unbelievable and even if you don't believe it, they worry more about what people will say, instead of worrying about themselves.
I liked this phrase very much.
It's better to have a thousand enemies outside the tent than one inside the tent.
I love that saying too. Many teams or businesses are brought down by the people on the inside and their behaviours. It is not always down to external market forces, although often it is easier to blame external factors. We need to deal with our team members that cause disruption.
Thanks for your comment and take care my friend 🙂
Hello @awah
The title of your post is very bold "Make tough decisions as a team, without idiots" lol. Making decisions as a team is not easy at all, but over time I have realized that if you can reach agreements, since working together allows you to get better and faster results, indeed the strategies that are designed in Rugby are a clear example that if you can achieve victory or goals working as a team.
Best regards, be well.
Hi @lupafilotaxia
Yes, it is bold and I didn't want to offend anyone. That is one of their mantras but I do think it is an important concept. Some people are always disruptive or seeking their own personal agendas over that of the team. We can and should try to address their behaviours but sometimes it goes past the point of no return.
Thanks for your comment my friend 🙂
Greetings @ awah
Removing a team member or company will always be complicated. However particularly I have managed work groups and first exhausts the diplomatic way of communication by expressing the differences and difficulties for which no progress is made as a team.
If the same attitude and aptitude persists, without a doubt I will remove him/her from the work group without warning and without protest.
We must always have a second chance in life, that is my motto.
Thank you very much for sharing your publication
I agree, I always give second chances and provide feedback that can be addressed. Most people will take feedback on board and address their behaviour. Sometimes we are left though with someone who just won't play ball with the rest of the team.
Thanks for your comment buddy. 👍
Excellent reflection my friend, and what better example than with a rugby team as you mention, in general the games that are played in collective to be managed with a great synergy taking into account that each one has a skill that allows a great gear to achieve the triumph. Undoubtedly we can extrapolate this to business to achieve success, for this, we must have a proactive leader with a sense of integration, to diagnose the skills of each of its employees in order to delegate the functions in a more effective way.
See you later brother, great article, have a great start of the week.
I like the analogy with rugby as it is a game where different players have different roles which is often similar to business teams. We have a plan of how we are going to work but if one team member is trying to run after their own objective then they let everyone else down.
Have a great week too. 😀 Thanks for your comment 👍
Hi @awah, this situation you raise is somewhat difficult for some people to address. Well, not everyone has the virtue to lead a team, I will tell you what my dad says "There are those who are born to command and others to serve". So if you don't know how to make decisions, you will have to work with that kind of people.
However, my particular opinion is that if I cannot help that person to perform his job better, I would do it before making the decision to fire him. Regards
It is not easy to lead. The team look at you to make the difficult decisions which are not always going to be popular with everyone. I keep focused on our objectives and goals, then look at myself and ask am I making this decision for the right reasons.
Thanks for dropping a comment.