FIX YOUR BROKEN TEAM CULTURE INTRO VIDEO 1 - STRATEGY IS NOT YOUR PRIORITY

Hello and welcome to How to Fix Your Broken Team Culture, where you are going to learn how to lead your team more effectively by creating a far more profitable, productive, and positive team culture. The content in this video is based on a leadership parable that I wrote a few years ago entitled Rapid Teamwork: How to Transform Any Group into a Great Team. What I found is that those readers and audience members who enjoyed the live events I presented, whether it was a conference keynote or a custom team building event, wanted more than just the insights and solutions I was able to share in the brief time we had together at those live events. I didn't always have the opportunity to go deep into implementing the ideas that I shared in the book. That's why I finally put together this collection of information to introduce leaders like you to a system for leading teams far more effectively. Now, one of the many things that I've learned over the years in working with leaders is that leaders in many different industries all see the same issues popping up on their teams. And whether I'm working with people in banking or education or construction or manufacturing or any other area, managers and administrators and principals and leaders are all working with people. And so teams in every industry experience the same issues: lack of trust, drama, apathy, gossip, poor communication, lack of accountability. And egos. And what you see on your team is honestly the same thing that leaders in most every team have to deal with and try to overcome. The problem is that very few have a comprehensive system that allows them to successfully deal with these issues by creating a healthy team culture. So if any of these issues feel a little bit too familiar, then it might be good to know that there is a way to deal with them that involves more than just putting a band-aid on issues. You need more than just band-aids to be a great team leader. That's why we're here. My name is Sean Glaze, and I am absolutely thrilled to have you here to learn why strategy is not your priority as a leader. See, in a perfect world, you wouldn't need to search for solutions to problems like the ones your team may be experiencing. And I'd wager that you're here now because this is the team that you want. Okay, not that you want counterfeit stock image smiles and high fives every day, but I'm guessing you do want a high-performing team where all your people are committed and pleasant and dependable and collaborating to achieve a compelling common goal that they can celebrate. The reality is we don't live in a perfect world. See, in the real world, you've probably been putting out daily fires and dealing with issues that take your attention away from more important things. And while a good leader can effectively deal with those issues, a great leader has the understanding and skills to preempt and eliminate those issues before they become costly over time. I was reminded of this a few weeks ago when my son gave me a call about his truck. At 17 years old, he drives a red Ford Ranger pickup, about a 20-year-old used vehicle with over 100,000 miles on it, and he had driven it to school for weeks. Then after basketball practice one day, he called me and said with a little bit of concern in his voice that he had pulled over and didn't know if he was going to be able to make it home. Dad, the check engine light is on. I don't know what's wrong. And I realized that the fear and anxiety that he was experiencing is something that is shared every day by a lot of team leaders. So you're going through your normal routine and Something pops up, an issue, a problem, a behavior, that check engine light comes on, and you know that your team has an issue. You know there's something wrong that needs to be addressed. Now, if you're driving a 1988 Ford pickup truck, you're gonna call somebody, you can suggest you go to a service station, have them hook it up to a computer to diagnose exactly what the issue might be and what needs to be done to fix it. The problem is that with teams of people, you don't have that diagnostic tool. So as a leader, oftentimes you try to put Band-Aids on issues, but you don't always know what the real issue is. And so you spend time and energy developing the ability to deal with issues, or you look for somebody with an expertise who can take care of that check engine light and to get you and your team back on the road to your destination. That's exactly what I've been doing as a coach, and as an author, and as a speaker for decades. My name is Sean Glaze, and I am the owner and founder of Great Results Team Building. Today I help leaders like you to create more positive, productive, and profitable team cultures. But before I became a speaker and author, I worked with and led teams for over 2 decades, and it was those experiences as a high school basketball coach that It helped me to develop solutions and systems that I've been able to implement and share to help smart leaders turn underperforming groups into more connected, engaged, and successful teams. And whether it was a women's program with a history that had experienced a few bad seasons or a men's team that had never had a winning record before, championships are always a symptom of talent and exceptional cultures. And the same steps and systems and culture we implemented as coaching staff to turn around those programs have been implemented to help successful leaders in a number of different industries with their people. See, most leaders work with the same team for many years, and some leaders only work with a few teams their entire career. And while the team may change according to different projects, leaders don't get a lot of chances to make and learn from mistakes. As a high school basketball coach, I had multiple opportunities to lead and to learn. Because of those experiences, I was able to experiment and fail and eventually improve as I saw what worked in building a culture that got the best out of the people involved. But you can't afford to make the number of mistakes that I made. You don't have time to struggle through unsuccessful attempts leading your team effectively. I've been humbled to get the emails and calls and handwritten testimonials describing the positive impact that the ideas and tools and experiences I've shared have had with past clients, and I'm excited to share the same with you. So let's start with the question. I'd like to address your check engine light, and I want to ask you to honestly answer: Where is your team now? If you were to think about your team and rank their current performance on this scale of 1 to 5 based on their effectiveness and collaboration and the results they're getting, where would you place your team on this scale? From 1 being a team full of drama and disappointments or dysfunction, to 5, which is a team that has total clarity and confidence and commitment to work together. Where on that spectrum would you currently place your team? Now, as you think about that question, let me suggest that anything less than a 5 would probably be identified as underachieving in some way. Now, no team is going to be perfect, and there are certainly high-performing teams that have figured out a number of the things that I'll be sharing with you today. But the issue is that a majority of teams that I've worked with and leaders that I've spoken with have identified some neglected aspect of their team culture that is currently sabotaging the results their strategy could be getting if only they could build a better culture. That's why I'm excited to welcome you to this video about why strategy is not your priority as a team leader. Because although many organizations do focus on and invest resources in clarifying and communicating their strategy, the truth is The effective implementation of strategy is always affected by the quality of your team culture. Strategy is what you want to get done. Culture determines how well your people will do it. No matter how hard you push your strategy, no matter how brilliant and bulletproof it might be, it will always be influenced by the quality and commitment of your culture. In this video and the ones that will follow, I want to share with you how you can take specific steps, starting today, to find and fix what might feel broken in your team culture. Which leads me to this very important question. Now, I've asked hundreds of leaders this question over the years, and I've gotten answers like courage, honesty, ambition, or charisma. But the truth is, while all those are important, I think the most valuable leadership trait is this: awareness. As a leader, you can't be courageous if you don't realize there's danger. You can't be honest if you don't know the truth, and you can't be confident if you don't know that you're competent. And so all those other things largely rest upon the foundation of awareness. Bob Burg, author of The Go-Giver, writes that all self-improvement begins with awareness. It's only after you recognize an issue that you're in a position to improve it. And what I've learned over the years in working with teams is there are basically four different stages of awareness for leaders. And even for your teams. In the first step, people are unaware. This is a leader or a teammate who doesn't even see that there are issues, who goes about the day completely oblivious to the fact that there are symptoms or issues that need to be dealt with. Most good leaders don't fall into Stage 1. The second stage would be symptom awareness. It's probably the reason you're here today if you're symptom aware. You recognize that something's wrong. You see the check engine light coming on for your team, but you've not necessarily diagnosed exactly what may need to be addressed. Now, the third stage is problem aware, where you recognize that there's an issue and you're aware of exactly what it is that's causing that problem. And once you're aware of that, then you can actually move on to stage 4, which is finding a solution to address that specific problem you've identified. That ultimately is why you're here today. See, once you're aware that there are symptoms and you can diagnose the problem, you begin to search for a proven prescription that will solve those issues so your team can move forward and get the results that you want. Because ultimately, your job is to create an environment that promotes teamwork. And teamwork is the coordinated activities of a cohesive group that contribute diverse skills and resources to accomplish a compelling common goal. But that doesn't happen on its own. Just like you never seen a turtle on a fence post without somebody having put it there, you're not going to see a group of people becoming a team and coordinating their activities and talents and understanding how to collaborate and contribute those skills and resources and committing to a goal unless leadership makes it so. And if you want better results, if you want to see your strategy succeed, that begins with making this commitment as a leader. I firmly and passionately believe that our number one goal as leaders, regardless of industry, should always be this: to serve and care about and encourage and support our people. Our job as leaders is to develop those around us. So when you're considering where to invest your time and your resources, strategy isn't your priority. Your team culture is. Strategy is what you want to get done, but culture determines if and how well your people are going to do it. So how do you change team culture? Well, if you've got a great strategy but you're struggling with changing the culture, strategy is going to fail. So the key component to your success is focusing on team culture. And culture has really become kind of a buzzword. Regardless of the tens of thousands of definitions you may have heard out there, I can tell you that culture is a very easy concept. Culture is nothing more than the behaviors that are allowed and repeated in your organization. But here's the thing: culture is something that you can coach and change and improve and transform because culture is just a set of behaviors, and behaviors are always a result of individual beliefs. And the beliefs of the people on your team are a result of their awareness, and their awareness will always be a symptom of the experiences that they've had. See, you believe what you believe and you act the way you act because of the experiences that have informed your awareness. And so if you give people different experiences, if you give them better information, if you let them go through a new activity, then that changes their awareness. Which changes their beliefs, and their behaviors necessarily change, and that's what creates a better culture. So your job as a leader is to give yourself first the experiences and awareness that will change your behaviors, and by changing your behaviors, you then give your team a different experience, which will place them on the same path. But the insights and activities and tools I'll be sharing are not just theory. My experiences as a leader allowed me to learn what works. It turns out the same things that built a successful culture for many basketball teams works in businesses as well. The system of solutions and easily repeatable steps that you're going to learn about are a deep dive into the issues that I shared in my first book, Rapid Teamwork. Building a culture that encouraged teamwork is something that I struggled with for years. And after I put together a rough idea of what it took to build an exceptional team culture as a coach, my family took a trip down the Nantahala River. And that rafting trip was something we did when our kids were still young. So we decided to go whitewater rafting for the first time, and we identified a company that provided rafts and guides, and we drove up on a pretty summer Saturday afternoon for a fun family adventure. What I didn't realize was that our guide would give me the framework for a story that shared the lessons and ideas that are essentially the things that you're gonna need to turn around your individuals into a committed and connected team. It was the recognition that you're going to get through different rough waters and uncharted territory to get to a place you haven't been before, but the best thing you can have is is a knowledgeable guide who's been there. That's what I want to do for you. So we've covered why strategy is not your priority as a leader. We've discussed why awareness is the most important trait that a leader can have. And we've identified what culture truly is and how experiences and awareness ultimately create the repeated behaviors that are going to rebuild your team culture. That's all for now. But coming up, you're going to end up getting access to Video 2, where you'll learn the 3 traps that great leaders can avoid. And in Video 3, you'll learn 5 fixable reasons why teams underachieve. You're on the way right now to fixing your broken team culture, and now you know why strategy is not your priority as a leader. I'm Sean Glaze, and I look forward to helping you lead your team.