James Laughlin shares three ways to energize your team: be clear about your vision, lead by example through small acts like the All Blacks sweeping their own sheds, and give people autonomy by building their skills and trust.
I want to share with you three ways to fire up your team. Look, I'm so fortunate that I get to work with high performing teams, whether they're professional athletes, sports teams, you know, organizations or CEOs themselves that get to really connect in and see what works to fire teams up or the opposite. When we look at lackluster teams, there are certain things that are happening. So I want to share with you three things that you could do to really make a difference. And your team is either a high performance team or. Or it's not. And guess where the responsibility falls? Falls on you. So here's three ways for you to really fire them up. Number one, be radically clear. Yes, you heard me right. Be radically clear on your vision. If people don't know where you're headed, then they're not going to want to be a part of that. There's so much uncertainty. The first core human need that we all need to meet is certainty. And if you're not helping your team members with their need for certainty, they're going to look elsewhere. I was actually recently delivering a keynote, a leadership keynote, at one of Australasia's largest banking firms. And it was all of their senior leaders. And I asked everyone in the room from the stage, hey, hands up. Who could clearly articulate the vision of this organization? Guess how many hands went up? One. That's right, one hand went up. Shocking. What wasn't surprising was before I spoke, they had a lunch break and I got connected and chatted to a few individuals about what they were doing. One person said, could I speak to you afterwards, privately? I'm thinking of leaving. I was like, wow, how long have you been here? And it was multiple decades. A top performing individual. I says, of course we can speak, but why do you want to leave? The individual said, I just don't see a clear vision of where we're headed. And then when I asked that question, hands up. And one went up, that answered it all. People don't want to be on a ship that's headed nowhere. They want to know exactly where they're headed. So how clear are you on your vision? If you want to fire your team up, get clear on your North Star. Number two, be a walker. You heard me right, be a walker. Right? Leaders walk the walk. Whatever they're talking about, they're walking that talk. So what do you do in that regard? Here's a good example. The All Blacks are arguably one of the world's most successful sports teams. They're New Zealand's national rugby team. They're multiple time world champions. They have incredible culture. They have this one thing called sweep the sheds. That's when they go and they are in foreign countries competing and playing. They bring black rubbish bags with them and they bring brushes. At the end of a game when the changing rooms and the sheds are full of muck and dirt and empty cans, they sweep the sheds so that when the caretaker comes in, it's already done. Now that to me is a leadership. That's influence to me, that would fire me up. I'd want to be a part of that team when I could see that the leaders are willing to sweep the sheds. What are you doing to sweep the sheds? What could you do to sweep the sheds? Is there anything you could do that maybe other leaders in your position think it's beneath them? Those are the things that you want to do. Clearing the rubbish, shouting the coffees and going get the coffees and bringing them. It doesn't need to be really huge, big offerings, but tiny, thoughtful moments. Be a walker. Last but not least, give people autonomy. People do not want to be micromanaged. Do you remember the last time you were micromanaged? I bet you didn't like it. Look, if you are having to micromanage people right now, that is your fault. That is your responsibility. We only micromanage people when we don't trust them or respect them. We've got to build trust and respect before we can give independence. What do I mean by that? You need to trust that they know how to do the job. So if you're not there yet, it means you haven't given them the skills and you haven't been there and stood alongside them until they were confident enough to fly solo. And when you trust people, then you can start to build the respect. But if you're constantly feeling like you're the micromanager, then that's a you thing. You've got to equip people to allow them to fly solo. Look, if you're enjoying these short leadership sessions, please hit that subscribe button. If you're here on YouTube and the like button and also if you're over on our audio platforms, please share this episode with a friend. But for now, please get out there and lead your life on purpose.
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