“The diversity of people, thought, and experiences of your Team is a superpower” was one of the lessons learned from my time with my friend Aaron at the Bloody Knuckles Garage (BKG). While I worked on cars, others worked on home projects. We were different people with different skills and experiences. Aaron knew how to leverage the Team. My time at the BKG continues to shape my perspective and offer lessons. It is fitting that we celebrate diversity today, September 15, 2021, the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month. How are you leveraging the superpower of your Team?
I’ve said before that I have been on some great athletic, Army, national security, and leadership Teams. Lately, I have been thinking a lot about my DHS Team and my Joint Team in Iraq. In both cases, we formed the Team by combining a few smaller Teams and adding select individuals. These two Teams had a profound impact on me.
“Sometimes you have to go to war with the Team you have.” I don’t recall who said that, but I’ll respond with, “sometimes you form the Team on the ground when you get there.” We formed our Team on the ground in Iraq. Lucky for me, not only did I have racial and gender diversity, but I had service diversity too. Their different ways of thinking combined with their varied experiences are what made our mission successful. At DHS, I enjoyed racial and gender diversity along with exceptional thought and experience diversity. While there were tremendous challenges, there was no mission too difficult for this Team. The diversity of these Teams was my superpower.
Here is how you can tap into the superpower of your Team.
- Be authentic so that you lead as your best self
- Make your people your purpose; value their diverse thinking and experiences so that you get the best ideas while getting to know what makes them tick
- Connect the Why so that everyone knows exactly how their work contributes to Team success
- Follow the three core principles of trustworthiness, respect, and stewardship so that people believe in you, bring out the best in each other, and your Team gets better each day
- Listen more and learn to appreciate the intelligence and genius of your Team so that you boost your "superpowerness"
When you have commitment and trust with the same behavior, whether you are present or not, you have hit superpower status.
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