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Unleashing Your Remarkable Potential
Issue 4.17 - April 23, 2007 - ISSN: 1551-6571

In Kevin's Own Words

The Holy Grail of Full Team Engagement

“If I could just get my team really engaged in this project . . .”

“The problem is that people don’t seem to really care. If they were more committed to this work, we’d get better results. . .”

“You can’t get people to really work hard any more . . .”

I’ve heard all of these comments, and many like them, and so have you. You may have even thought or said them yourself.

Every leader wants to have his/her teams fully committed and engaged in their work. Why? Because we know that when people are fully engaged miracles can occur. Projects will be completed ahead of schedule. Customers will be delighted. Budgets will be met. Morale will be high and turnover low. Productivity skyrockets.

Miracles, indeed.

And no matter if you have personally experienced this magic, you likely know that engagement and commitment are the keys. So you continue to look for the idea, the technique, the tool, or the potion that will lead you to full team engagement.

There is no tool, technique or perfect process. In fact, you can’t fully engage teams at all. You can only help individuals become fully engaged.

The good news is that when each individual becomes engaged, the team becomes engaged.

Tip #1 – Don’t engage teams, engage individuals.

Engaging Individuals

The good news is that you are an individual! So, if you reflect on what engages you, you will have major clues as to what will engage others. Let me help you think about this. There are three major things that we need for complete commitment or engagement in anything. We need to:

• Understand it.
• Own it.
• Believe it.

Let’s explore each of those components.

Understand It

How can you be fully committed to something you don’t fully understand? How many people on your team fully understand the task, their roles and, most importantly, the purpose of their work? How well have you communicated these things to them?

There is a major lack of communication in organizations today. Without this clarity of role, task and purpose we can never expect to get to the levels of commitment where magic can occur.

Tip#2 – Communicate, communicate, communicate. Help people understand the task, goals and objectives of their work.

Own It

How does it feel when you own something? There is pride. There is desire to maintain this thing, to care for it, right? When you feel a sense of ownership to something, what happens to your level of commitment?

For people to be more fully engaged in their work they have to have a sense of ownership. How do you create that ownership? By letting them own it! People can’t become committed until they are truly involved.

Tip #3 – To build ownership, let people own it. Commitment can’t be achieved without involvement.

Believe It

Are you committed to things you don’t believe in? Will your team members be committed to things they don’t believe in?

People may not always agree with the details of the plan, or the exact work process. But people can endure any approach (and they will likely work hard to improve it), if they believe in the reasons why they are doing it in the first place.

You will create engagement when you help people see the big picture for their efforts. How will people be served? How will the world be a better place? How will their work and the end result contribute? Helping people answer these questions will help them believe.

Tip #4 – Help people believe. Help them see the biggest possible picture and how their work contributes to that picture.

How will you know when you are there?

This week, a friend of mine said, “When you are committed, there is no decision, you just do it. If you are questioning and deciding each time, you aren’t yet fully committed.” He’s right.

Fully engaged teams may argue and discuss things at length, but they aren’t discussing if they are going to reach the goal or if it is valuable to reach the goal. They are talking about the best ways to reach the goal! Reaching it is a given.

These three steps lead to individual commitment and engagement. Help every team member understand, own and believe in their work and you have reached the holy grail. It sounds simple, and it is. But it is far from easy.

Humans are complex beings, and teams are significantly more complex. Taking these steps will help you navigate these complexities and lead teams to be more committed, and therefore more productive.

Potential Principle – You engage teams by engaging individuals. When people understand, own and believe in the direction of the team they will be engaged. When every person on a team is engaged, you will have an engaged team.

Kevin's Recommends

It’s Called Work for a Reason – Your Success is Your Own Damn Fault
by Larry Winget

This book isn’t your normal self-help, business improvement book. The title probably gives you a clue. And, if I told you the author is called "The Pitbull of Personal Development" that might give you a further clue.

This book is brash, bold, and in-your-face. After reading it for awhile you’ll feel more like you are watching The Jerry Springer Show than you are sitting in a library comfortably learning something.

But make no mistake, if you can get past (or if you love) the in-your-face style, you will find much to learn in this book. I bought the book because I saw Larry speak at a National Speakers Association convention once and I realized that he is both unique and very smart. My feelings about him haven’t changed after reading this book.

Larry tackles a variety of business issues in this book – from leadership to ethics to sales to personal accountability. All are approached in a practical and possibly somewhat controversial way. Each chapter closes with a summery of his key points. Here are a couple of Larry’s insights randomly selected to give you an idea of his writing style:

• Some days you must put up with 90% of your job so you can get to the 10% you really enjoy.
• Work fast.
• Mind your own business. Do your job and leave the idiots to themselves as best you can.
• Anytime you give less than your best effort you are stealing.
• Beware the self-professed team player.

Perhaps this list doesn’t do the book justice. I share it to help you see that you will get some fresh insights, but you will also get some things you already know, shared in a very different and largely entertaining way.

The book is different in style than most anything I’ve read, and certainly than of anything I’ve recommended in this newsletter, but I do recommend it.

Learn more and purchase the book at Amazon.com.

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