A little competition in the workplace is good, right?
Have you experienced a competitive work environment? How did it feel to watch others win or lose? How do you think that made your coworkers react to your winning or losing?
I’m reminded of a meeting I was in years ago where a leader lost his temper with another attendee. Big decisions were being made for the organization and he reacted badly to another person’s extra knowledge of the situation. It was incredibly uncomfortable and disrupted the remainder of the meeting, along with damaging the working relationship between those two people.
I’d like to offer another idea that builds healthy high performing teams that doesn’t include competition…working inside an agile collaborative environment.
What does that mean? It means that in today’s working world, leaders cannot continue to hire talented people who compete against each other as was the way in the Industrial Age.
Last week I shared with you about the new way of leading people in the Digital Age. To expand on that idea, one must understand the importance of harnessing the power and gifts of all the people on your team. Learning how different personalities contribute different things creates a collaborative environment.
In our modern world, individual team members no longer need the capacity to know all the answers and be an expert in one thing. Technology is integrated into everything we do and has allowed us to simplify systems and processes.
The complexity of problems and challenges your clients and customers are bringing your organization requires more than one person on your team to solve. Can you work together to solve complex problems? Imagine what your team can do by harnessing the strengths and knowledge that each one possesses.
To build a collaborative environment that allows everyone on your team to bring their best begins with you learning your natural skill sets and tendencies and knowing yourself so you can lead yourself. That is what differentiates the leaders who succeed in the Digital Age. Talented individuals who no one gets along with will not survive.
“Look to your left, look to your right: How quickly can you discover the unique talents, knowledge, and expertise that each one of you brings to the table? How quickly can you convey to others what you bring?” - Harvard Business Review article