I recently visited my elder mom at the Life Care Center of Sarasota, a rehabilitation center. Mom had fallen and broken her hip in four places, and after intensive surgery, she was recovering slowly. I was comforted by team members who were friendly, positive, Johnny on the spot, and who took time to talk to me and asked: “Is there something I can do to help?” Team members said they liked to work at LCC, because the owner-leader at the center began the business when he couldn’t find a good place for his mother to heal. “Would you send your mother here?” is the mission focus. My answer is a booming, “You bet your bipper, gipper!”
THE MOST COMMON REASON FOR SUCCESS IS THE ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE POSITIVELY AND EFFECTIVELY
What makes all the difference between a low-performing and a high-performing team? Ever think about that? Put more personally: How can you or I wreck good communication. How can we together build a high-performing team, one that produces positive customer results? Here’s how:
COMMUNICATION WRECK #1: SET MEDIOCRE GOALS.The high-performing team sets high goals with a smile, will go the extra mile to accomplish them, and will steer clear of feeling smug while failing to set big enough goals.
COMMUNICATION WRECK #2: IGNORE PROBLEMS.The high-performing team solves mouse- and elephant-size problems alike, and steers clear of ignoring or justifying either in any room during dark or bright times.
COMMUNICATION WRECK #3: BE LAZY. The high-performing team works hard, but hardly feels the time fly by, and steers clear of being a sporadic mood-driven worker.
COMMUNICATION WRECK #4: FEEL INSECURE. The high-performing team projects confidence and exudes warmth, and steers clear of being too low or too high in self-esteem.
COMMUNICATION WRECK #5: CARRY A RIGID MINDSET. The high-performing team uses a resilient mindset and carries a coping flashlight, and steers clear of pessimism so good ideas will take flight and light up the night.
COMMUNICATION WRECK #6: STICK WITH THE TRIED-AND-UNTRUE. The high-performing team doesn’t keep doing more and more of what isn’t working, and steers clear of ditching new brainstormed solutions to old bothersome problems.
COMMUNICATION WRECK #7: BE A ‘YES’ PERSON. The high-performing team isn’t afraid to say “no” or “yes” or “maybe so” when occasion dictates, and steers clear of “nicey-nice ‘yes’ men and women” who exchange wishful thinking for reality.
COMMUNICATION WRECK #8: DISHONESTY. The high-performing team speaks honestly and ethically, keeps its’ promises and effectively doesn’t change the rules of the game when behind.
COMMUNICATION WRECK #9: CAN’T TRUST YOU. The high-performing team is trustworthy, accountable, humble, fun-loving, respectful of blind spots, dependable, personal, doesn’t take failure personally, encouraging. It’s a bunch of quiet leaders who are quite stunning performers when led by a like-minded leader.
COMMUNICATION WRECK #10: SPREAD STRESS AROUND. The high-performing team handles stress well, and uses joking, teasing, acts of random kindness, sharing personal stories, checking up on team members who feel down, and getting ahead by going ahead; they aren’t afraid to laugh at fear in the face.
Relationship-centered teams are trustworthy, effective and ethical. In short, TEAMwork is a far different call of the wild than MEwork.
THE MOST COMMON FAILURE OF TEAMS TO THRIVE
The most common reason for failure is the inability to communicate effectively and positively, which keeps the team engine tuned up periodically and humming and purring along smoothly. Employees lose morale when they feel treated like losers or are made to feel like a bucket of old rusty bolts that are good for nothing.
ABOUT DAYTON, OHIO, CORPORATE TRAINER DENNIS E. O’GRADY, PSY.D.
Keynote speaker, corporate trainer and communications psychologist Dr. Dennis O’Grady teaches leader managers and teams to use the “Talk to Me” system to achieve high-performing communication results. By knowing your communicator type, and knowing the type of your opposite whom you have difficulty with, you will be more likely to produce the positive results that persistently and consistently keep you and your company on the winning track, and off from the whining rack. The Web page of Life Care Centers of America at Sarasota is www.lcca.com who live the belief that “The sun setting is no less beautiful than the sun rising.”