Creating Space
When watching sports on television you will frequently hear the announcers use phrases such as “he is difficult to defend in open space” or “they ran that play to get him the ball with plenty of room.” These phrases are meant to describe a talented athlete receiving the ball without a crowd around him. Skilled players possess great potential to help their team when they have room to maneuver.
I wonder if we need to evaluate if we are providing our most talented/productive (those may not be the same) team members plenty of room to do what they do best. As an organizational leader are you creating “space” for your team members? Are there opportunities for your team members to:
- Experiment with new solutions
- Innovate
- Collaborate with team members and people in other areas
These opportunities for your team members to work in “space” may facilitate your next “big idea.”
Let’s create space for our most talented team members.
Read MoreFinish Lines
The finish line signifies the end of the race. In life, the race keeps going so we need to create some finish lines. This past Friday was the finish line for my wife Emily and I. We have been in a particularly busy season so three weeks ago I declared Thursday night the finish line. We reserved Friday to spend the day together. I can’t tell you how many times in the past three weeks we have mentioned the finish line, our Friday together.
We all need to create some finish lines for ourselves and our families. Finish lines look like:
- A family weekend
- Family vacation
- Personal retreat
- A day for you & your spouse (even better, a few days)
Finish lines are intentional. We have to create them and honor our commitment to slow down, pull away from the busyness, rest and reconnect with those we love.
Do you need to create a finish line for you and your family?
Read MoreGoing For Your Dream
Do you have a dream burning inside of you? Perhaps it’s a business idea that you continue to revisit. Maybe it’s an idea that consumes much of your thoughts. I love hearing people’s dreams or even better, people who went for and achieved their dreams. Certainly to achieve our dreams it requires more than passion. It requires a business plan, preparation, doing our homework, getting counsel from knowledgeable people in key areas, etc. It requires more than a dream, but for the moment I want to focus on the dream.
My friend Marta Crass recently launched a new business. She took her dream public with the grand opening of C is for Cardboard. Marta is bright, talented and extremely creative. She took what began as a hobby – creating custom designs out of cardboard (click here to see) – and has turned it into her own business. While I am inspired by the cardboard creations (I have no artistic ability) I want to applaud Marta for pursuing her dream. No doubt Marta and her husband Evan worked through all the details before they took the plunge. However, even after doing your due diligence there is a moment of truth that requires the courage necessary to go public, risk failing and go for your dream. Way to go Marta! I am hoping C is for Cardboard is a huge success.
What dream would you like to pursue?
Read MoreIs It Possible For A Team To Have Too Much Talent?
Think about that question for a moment.
What do you think? Is it possible for our teams to have too much talent?
I have heard leaders make comments like the ones below when they are asked about the reasons their teams failed to achieve their goals:
- Too many prima donna’s
- Too many chiefs and not enough Indians
- Not enough shots to go around(basketball coaches)
Do these comments really reflect a team with too much talent?
More accurately those comments are about chemistry, hiring/selection and leadership.
1. Chemistry
- How well do the members of your team fit together? We must consider this when hiring/selecting.
- I place great value on talent, skill, capacity, etc.; however, I don’t want to under value chemistry in the process. In my experience, when I have added a team member (even extremely talented team members) without considering their fit on the team, I usually had a challenge to our chemistry which impacts our overall success.
- Chemistry counts. Great chemistry not only helps a team reach its potential but when team members receive other opportunities they are less likely choose to leave.
2. Hiring/selection
- Consider character, competency & chemistry.
- I generally make quick decisions and overall enjoy a brisk pace of forward progress. While I have occasionally made quick hires, it’s been rare. Hiring/selecting is a significant decision in which we will invest time, energy and money. Good hires add value. Poor hires cost.
- Look for growers (Stovall Weems). People who can:
¨ Inspire to a vision
¨ Build teams
¨ Solve problems
¨ Produce results
- Have a systematic hiring/selection process. Use multiple interviews, check unlisted background sources, use an instrument like the Caliper to gain further insight on a candidate’s leadership strengths, work patterns, personality, etc.
- Add the right people to your team. If you miss (and you will occasionally) move them off your team.
3. Leadership
- Leaders take responsibility for their teams chemistry
- Make sure when you go after people with high capacity you have a role to match. High capacity producers will get bored (and unfortunately) often create chemistry issues (not because they are bad people) because their role is not challenging. Chemistry benefits (like everything else on our teams) when capacity and roles match.
Can your team have too much talent?
I don’t think so.
What do you think?
Read MoreMarriage & Parenting Small Groups
Faith Promise Church is offering several Marriage & Parenting adult small groups that are scheduled to launch this week. These groups are a great opportunity to invest in your Marriage & Parenting and also enjoy connecting with other group members. Checkout the following Marriage & Parenting groups:
Marriage: Close Encounters
Focus: Intimacy
Tuesdays at 6:30 pm – 6 weeks
Parenting: How I Met Your Mother
Focus: Biblical & practical parenting
Thursdays at 6:30 pm – 6 weeks
Marriage: Chase What Really Matters
Focus: Financial Freedom
Wednesdays at 6:30 pm – 6 weeks
Marriage: Taking Your Questions
Focus: Answering common marriage related questions
Thursdays at 6:30 pm – 6 weeks
I encourage you to take advantage of these opportunities to continue to grow in your marriage & parenting. Please contact Evan Crass at evanc@faithpromise.org in the groups office if you are interested in attending one of the groups listed.
What group would you like to see offered in the future?
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