Posts Tagged teams
“My Performance Sucked”: Leadership at the NFL Playoffs
Posted by Kristina Marzullo in Feedback, Leadership, Motivation, Performance, Teams, Trust on January 25, 2012
Empowerment is what leaders give to their people.
Today’s blog post was written by guest blogger, Doug Trainor, Consulting Associate with The Ken Blanchard Companies and Co-founder of Leadership Vanguard.
I know that many of you reading this might be Baltimore Ravens fans. For those folks, I’m sorry about the playoff loss on Sunday. I hope you will bear with me despite the fact that the leadership I am writing about comes from Tom Brady, quarterback for the Patriots. After the Patriots win in the AFC Championship game Sunday, Brady was being interviewed and the reporter mentioned how great Brady played, leading his team to a fifth Superbowl while he was quarterback—and tying a record doing so. To which Brady responded, “I sucked today—fortunately the team did better than I did.”
Is that leadership? Yes! I think we need more of that type of leading in organizations across America—both public and private sector. So please tell someone you were a poor performer today! It may sound a bit funny but there is something to it. A lot to it, actually. The first thing is candor. We need candor to make our agencies and departments better. Leaders address reality—even when it is tough to do and with upcoming budget pressures and the sometimes extreme political dialogues we hear on TV—candor will serve you well with those you lead.
The next quality Brady displayed with his comment was accountability. He took personal accountability for his performance and he did it publicly. When leaders do this it builds credibility with those they lead and with the customers they serve. It can be a powerful way to increase the trust in your organization. A side benefit is that makes it easier to give difficult feedback to people around you when you admit your own failings. Something that makes feedback easier? Who couldn’t use some of that?
Last, but not least… it promotes humility. Humility is a leadership quality that will serve you well in every way. Not thinking poorly of yourself; but realistically. And realizing our teams are the reason we succeed in our leadership roles and giving credit where it is due.
Let Me Help You
Posted by Kristina Marzullo in Collaboration, Communication, Leadership, Relationships, Teams on September 16, 2010
Collaboration is, yet again, prevalent across the news, blogs, and industry publications. Government Executive magazine featured an article in the September issue about agencies working with and supporting other federal government agencies. The article focuses on how interagency collaboration has the potential to bring teams together that demonstrate the know-how to get things done efficiently and successfully.
High performing teams execute better and faster than traditional hierarchies. People with collaboration concerns are focused on coordination and cooperation with others. They want to get everyone on board because they are convinced the change is making a difference. Questions that arise with these concerns are: Who else should be involved? How can we work with others to get them involved in what we are doing? How do we spread the word?
In order to promote highly effective teams, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is concentrating on goals that call for collaboration of multiple agencies and programs. These efforts can also promote key practices that can enhance and sustain collaboration. The U.S Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a testimony on strategies to improve collaboration in the Federal Government. A few of the strategies include:
- Establishing common strategies
- Leveraging resources
- Agreeing on roles and responsibilities
- Developing compatible policies and procedures
How can you leverage other agencies to become a more effective team? To find out how, click here to read a whitepaper on the role of teams.
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