How Does Your Team Play?

It’s interesting to watch Leadership Teams in action.  Wow, did I see some action last week with a high-spirited, fun team!    The team was working on identifying its core values and decided to spice up the day with an hour’s worth of indoor Go-Kart speed racing – including me. Well, as a rookie to this world of racing, it was with a bit of trepidation that I slide behind that steering wheel.  Buckled in, helmeted and perspiring, I slowly edged out onto the serpentine course.   “Slowly” is the operative word.  For within seconds my Kart was smoked by four others and as I realized a key value that this team embodies – WINNING!  Lap after lap I heard the squealing tires and watched with white knuckled excitement as executive after executive sped past me grinning and hollering with joy and fierce concentration.  After each heat the drivers hopped out of their karts and hustled over to the results board.  There they chided and teased one another over their results – often only milliseconds apart.   On the other hand, I simply was relieved that my Apple Watch’s Heart Rate Monitor had stopped beeping.  It was a little embarrassing.  Anyway, later that day we sat and identified what that team valued at its core.  Guess what was #1?   Competing to Win. It’s that simple.  So, watch how your team plays. Are they hyper-competitive?  Are they helpful and kind?   Do they cherish harmony?  Do they cherish victory?   What do they value at their core?     Once identified, these values form the foundation of a firm’s culture.  And every EOS Leadership Team I’ve coached has its own unique and powerful values.  The best use them regularly to hire, fire and reward and, in doing so, create astonishingly great cultures. So, get out there and play with your Leadership Team and discover what they value!