[MUSIC] You know probably the greatest thinker about teams in the last century is a chap called Peter Drucker, you may have heard of him. He basically said that whatever team you're on, all teams whether at home, at work, or play, all teams fall into one of three categories. It's either a solo performance team, where each person is part of the team, but they come up to bat as it were all by themselves, like a baseball team, or a cricket team. Then there's the highly choreographed team, where everybody plays together and functions together, but only because each person has a very preset role. And the team works because each person sticks in that role, but like an orchestra. And last there's the highly improvised team, here each person is assigned a preset role, but then they're expected to improvise like crazy along the way according to the needs of the moment of the circumstance. I don't know what of those three, which one you're on, which kind of team you're on. But trust me you are part of a team, and that means that your success depends upon the contributions of other people, and their success depends upon what you contribute to them. And that means that you're going to have to have a lot of conversations with people about what your strengths are, about which activities strengthen you, about where each person can rely on you the most. Now that sounds kina obvious, doesn't it? But gosh it's just amazing, how few of those strong conversations actually happened at work. In fact, in a recent poll I did I ask people, when you and your manager and your team discuss your performance with you, what do you spend most time talking about? 40% of people said we talk about my weaknesses, 35% said, we just don't talk about that stuff at all, and only 25% said we talk about my strengths. Now why? Why is that so hard? Maybe it's because you don't know what your strengths are. Or maybe it's because you just don't have the opportunity to talk about them. Just in just in a regular working day, it just doesn't come up. Or maybe it's because you don't want to come across like a bragger, someone who's just so high on herself, she has to prance around telling everyone how brilliant she is. That's kind of weird, isn't it? I mean, think about the last time you talked to someone about your strengths, and it didn't feel like you were bragging. Or the last time you talked to someone about your weaknesses and it didn't feel like you were whining. It's odd that, isn't it? And flip that around, if you find yourself on the receiving end of that conversation and someone comes up to you and talks to you about their strengths, you're not quite sure what to do, are you? I mean it's like you're going to go up to your boss and say, well I'm strong at this, or this activity strengthens me, and the chances are your boss is going to look back at you with a shut up and go back to the salt mines kind of expression. But whatever the reason, remember this, a team functions best when each player knows what they can rely on the other people for. And given that, you owe it to your teammates, to tell them what your strengths are. You owe it to tell them which activities strengthen you, you owe it to tell them where they can rely on you the most, and where your shoulders are broadest. If you like having a million things going on at once, then tell them. If you like functioning under really tight timelines, you're best under that pressure then tell them. If you love the challenge of winning over strangers and getting them to like you, then tell them. Not to claim that you're better than anyone else in there on the team, but so that they can know where they can rely on you. I mean your team needs to know where they can expect to see the best of you, where your shoulders are going to be broadest, and of course your strengths are the answer. So go have a strong conversation with someone, pick someone out. pick someone that you trust, someone who you know cares about you, someone who you're safe with, pick someone like that and then go tell him which activities strengthen you, tell them where they can rely on you the most. And when you're doing it, by all means ask for help, and I don't mean help as in help, I'm really busy, just can you take some of the stuff off my plate? I mean you could ask that if you want. But I mean help as in, hey look here are some activities that really drained me, that really frustrate me, that weaken me. And when these activities come around, I'm going to need a lot of help from you. Who knows, maybe this person is strengthened by the very thing that weakens you? Or maybe just by sharing what weakens you, this person will know, when you're going to be struggling a little bit. When they're going to need to be just a bit more patient with you. When you might be just a bit down, and you might appreciate a bit of a joke, and a bit of a laugh to poke you back up. And of course, by sharing that way with them, by being a little bit vulnerable with them, you free them up to be able to share with you where they might need some help from you. But whatever the form of this help, and whatever the form of this sharing, whatever place this conversation happens in, remember this, there's one level of power in your awareness of your strengths and weaknesses, there's still another level of power in their awareness of your awareness and even more power in your awareness of their awareness of your awareness, you got that? And if you're a manager, if you manage people well, you of all people, should be having lots of these strong conversations. Sit down and ask each of your people, hey, where should I expect the best of you? Where should I lean most heavily on you? Where am I going to see you at your very best? And then flip it around, I mean, where am I going to have to tread lightly with you? What are the activities that I'm going to have to help, sort of veer you away from? I'm not suggesting that every single time you'll be able to immediately say, hey, look, here's what we're going to do to veer away from your weaknesses. I'm not suggesting you're going to be able to do that, because sometimes you're just going to have to say to the person, look, I'm sorry, look right now, you're just going to have to suck it up and do it. But you probably should have a long term plan, as to how to move this person toward their strengths, and away from their weaknesses. I mean, in the end, that's what great management is all about, isn't it? Have you ever noticed that when you go into a really great restaurant, or a hotel, or a department, it just feels different. You can't quite pick up on why, but somehow in a blink of an eye, your subconscious tells you, that there's something different about this place, have you noticed that? Well, I've dug into thousands of great work places like that, and when you when you really get down into it, what's happening in these workplaces is that the people that work here are having lots of these strong conversations. They've reached a level of trust with one another. A place where they don't feel they have to protect themselves quite so much. Where they don't feel they have to pretend that they're all things to all people, that they're somehow perfect, that they're good at everything. A place where they feel challenged to volunteer the best of themselves, and where they know exactly where they can expect to see the best of somebody else. And the wonderful thing is when you reach that place, your whole physiology changes. You sort of sit up straighter, and you push your chest out, and you straighten your shoulders, and you breathe more easily, and you lose the hunch of the back and the fire of the brow. And we your customers, your teammates, we pick up on this. I mean, this is what our subconscious is registering when we walk into your department or your hotel, your restaurant. This is what draws us in, and what draws us back time and time again. So if you want to create this in your department, if you want to build this on your team, then go lead by example. Go tell someone where you have most to give, go tell someone where you need their support, go volunteer the best of you, and then go ask for support and help where you need it. Go make someone else aware, of what you're aware of. Go on, go share your strengths. [MUSIC]
