What’s the best team you’ve ever been part of?
You can think about this question in the broadest meaning. Not just business teams, sports teams, and perhaps a team of friends or family at home.
I classify people ‘working’ together as teamwork.
I often ask this question as an introduction to teamwork. … Read the rest
Imagine.
You’re the star of the company or team.
Thanks to your contribution, the company makes significant profits, is recognized as a leading brand, is admired by everyone in the industry, and is a heavily sought-after employer.
You know the results of the company (or team) would dive if you decided to leave or something would happen to you.… Read the rest
I wonder what percentage of companies have some version of teamwork in their values.
All the companies I was employed by had some form of teamwork in their values.
That last part of the sentence was intentional — ‘the posting on the walls’ part.… Read the rest
That was the argument from a traveler last Friday morning at 5.18 am when I was in a massive security line at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.
The lady was talking to a security assistant and making her case that she was about to miss her flight with her group if she would not be allowed to get to the front of the line.… Read the rest
I thought I would never write this insight.
Frankly, I still can’t believe that I do.
If there’s one thing I would expect that any team leader knows how to do well, it’s to run a meeting.
Recently I spent a few hours in one room with a highly visionary entrepreneur.
Frequently, I seek the company of visionary leaders because they’re a breath of fresh air in a world where target-driven managers dominate.
You’re attending a concert of your favorite band, and suddenly you discover that some of the band members do not know how to play their instrument.
Or they are not clear which song they’re going to play.
If concerts are not your thing, then replace the band with the people in the kitchen of your favorite restaurant, the players on your favorite sports team, or the pit crew of your formula one racing team.… Read the rest
It’s Easter Monday and a travel day for me. In the morning, a four-hour drive from my in-law’s home and a two-leg flight to Ljubljana in the evening.
A lot of time to reflect on some past events. One of them was the cup final my team lost yesterday evening.
I miss my Greek friends.
I thought about this when I was deliberating the content for my story about alignment, growth cue #6 in my playbook.
From 2011 until 2014, I worked in Bulgaria and was part of an international leadership team, including a few Greek colleagues.
Did you ever wake up after you had a bit too much to drink and promised yourself that you would never drink a drop of alcohol again?
Only to find yourself zipping from a glass of wine ten hours later.
Or you promised yourself never to be speeding again after a hefty speeding ticket, only to find yourself doing it again the next time you were in a rush.… Read the rest
Men don’t like rejection. Women aim to be perfect.
Did I catch your attention?
Here’s another one…
When men have to decide to apply for a job, they are more likely to do so when they meet six out of ten requirements for the role.
When women have to decide to apply for a job, they are more likely to do so when they meet at least nine out of ten requirements, but ideally all.… Read the rest
Yesterday the health minister in the Czech Republic got fired.
The official message was that he resigned, but everyone knows he was not aligned with the prime minister on the Covid vaccination strategy.
Up to the next health minister. Number four in one year’s time.
Number one ‘resigned’ because he didn’t handle the first wave well (lowest numbers in the EU).… Read the rest
Did you ever walk into a meeting with people you never met before, and you felt immediately something was off?
Nobody had said a word yet, and still, you knew what you were experiencing wasn’t right.
Then, well into the meeting, you suddenly realize what’s going on.
People are afraid to say what they’re thinking.… Read the rest
I love strategy. I studied strategy. I read and learn daily about strategy. I try to understand companies’ strategies and why they succeed or fail. Without a good strategy, you will never be successful. But a good strategy is not a guarantee for success.
Strategy is like playing chess. You’ll need to think a few steps ahead; otherwise, you’ll never win.… Read the rest
Yesterday evening Bayern Munich won the Champions League edition 2020. No worries, I’m not going to talk about football (soccer) in my blog. I’m just starting the blog of this week with a simple statement: the team that plays most like a TEAM wins.
You can build a team of stars, hoping that their quality, in the end, will prevail for the win, but more often than not, it’s the best team and not the group of best players going home with the trophy.… Read the rest
In my last two blog posts, I wrote about conditions that needed to be present for teams to maximize the potential for robust, sustainable, high performance.
First, a team needs to invest time to get to know each other well. Leaders need to build a foundation where team members trust each other.… Read the rest
Are you finding yourself in a healthy debate now and then? A fierce conversation between people who passionately fight for what they believe? Fierce to the extent that it may look to an outsider you’re fighting with your conversation partner. And when the conversation is over, you leave the room shoulder to shoulder as if nothing ever happened.… Read the rest
The past blogs I wrote primarily about self-development and awareness. Understanding self is the critical foundation for building better relationships at work and in our personal lives.
Those relationships only thrive when there’s trust between people. Without trust, no relationship, team, or business performs according to its potential. Billions (pick your currency) are wasted every year because there’s no trust between people.… Read the rest
Most of us have not seen anything like the impact the Coronavirus is having on the business we work at, or we may own. Not knowing whether what we’ve built up over so many years will survive, we need to come up with the right behaviors and actions to weather the storm and not drown.… Read the rest
