There is a great saying that “You can achieve limitless if you don’t care whom the credit goes to.” This statement is very true if you want to win as a team.
In our final year of graduation, we were taught to exhibit leadership skills in forthcoming professional life; even the same was underscored in my job’s initial training days. Thus, after the training was over, 300 leaders came out of the classroom to commence turning on different assignments. The result of various soft-skill training was fresh in mind, and we started demonstrating the leadership skills everywhere possible.
I started commanding at the office by leading the other leaders (my friends and batchmates); even they were doing the same. At that time, we thought leading meant dominating others. Then the agenda was not to be a leader, rather, be a better leader. All the leaders in the meeting could not resolve anything and argued more or less everything. It impacted the project, and several issues got escalated. Our manager intervened and checked about the issues with the entire team. Whenever we hear ‘manager,’ we misinterpreted it as a synonym for Leader. We trainees could not accept each other as leaders, but we accepted our ‘manager’ as a leader by default.
Our manager called for a meeting and began threatening us that we all would have bad appraisals/inspections, and our confirmation will be detained, etc.… I can remember my school days when my teacher scared me with a scale or duster; my manager was doing the same thing. I always thought ‘manager’ equals ‘leader,’ but after getting back from a long threatening session, I questioned myself, “whether managers are really leaders?” I landed in a confused state of mind and kept thinking that if so many years of experience could not give someone the sense of leadership, then how long will it take for the trainees like us to be good leaders in the future.
We used to have a quarterly Town Hall, and that was our first town hall when we met our Regional Head. He was in his late thirty, but young to lead a huge team and project accounts. We were very thrilled when he started addressing the town hall. Who says the experience is everything? Experience adds to overall values, but leadership is the key quality to be successful. Leadership is different from aggressiveness or the desire to dominate. He talked about organizational goals and addressed several queries. He spoke about leadership, and that session was a thoughtful session for many of us.
The first thing he said was, “We don’t need leaders; instead, we need team players; who will sustain the solitaire to convince, the creativity to indicate, and the courage to appreciate… They should treat the office and their team as the second family and kin. An employee can get a good year-end appraisal of his individual performance, but a team player gains both progress and leadership skills without making more enemies at work.”
To explain what leadership is, he said, “Leadership is to think, to be fair, to plan, to execute, to guide, to help, to respect, to appreciate, to have the courage to be criticized, to see what others can’t see and to lose the glory when failed.”
To explain the difference between a leader and a team player, he said, “A good leader is a good team player. A leader in a team need not wear a Crown. If the intention is the team’s well-being, to successfully finish the assignment in hand and add value by going the extra mile, everyone in the team is a leader. Leaders guide the team in the right direction and influence the right behavior. We all are leaders and can lead at least one quality in the team. A good team player appreciates leading qualities in the team, and by following the qualities, he gradually develops them and radiates his best qualities to the rest of the team. A team player is who helps the continuous development and success of the entire team without worrying whom the credit goes to.”
The town hall was a thought capsule for all of us, and every one of us was thoughtful after the session. I wondered whether there would be any real change in my team after the town hall, or is it the only me thinking to make some changes. I decided to be a little quiet in the meetings and listen to everyone before explaining my thoughts. I also decided to appreciate at least one team member of mine each day to contribute to the team.
The next day, I was late (as usual) for the daily morning meeting, and I saw the entire team was silently waiting in the conference room. The entire team was silent, and no one arguing in the room was a little strange to me. One of my friends in the conference room said, “we were waiting for you to start the discussion…”
Then, my manager in the room said, “this is the first time the entire team wanted to wait for everyone to start the discussion, but be punctual; otherwise, it would affect your appraisal!”
“OMG… again appraisal threatening!” I thought to try something different and said, “Let’s do one thing; anyone getting late to the meeting will bring a Pizza for the entire team the next day.”
My manager replied, “It sounds like a good idea to afford insincerity by paying some bucks.”
I immediately replied, “It sounds like none of us would like to be late as on our company’s pay no one can afford even a Pizza,” followed by laughter in the room.
My manager said, “… but I won’t approve this idea; I want everyone to be punctual; otherwise, it would affect your appraisal and review”. “Threatening once again!”
One of my friends said, “I will lead the activity to keep track of everyone coming late and make sure a Pizza from him/her is for the team. If the Pizza is not tasty, then our manager can do whatever he wants in the appraisal…”
My manager finally agreed on a Pizza for anyone getting late in the meetings. After that day, no one was ever late, and I was the only one to buy a Pizza for the team. I was happy to see how this helped the team to be on time to the meetings without any fear of appraisal/performance evaluation; rather, it was fun, and our team followed a positive habit to be on time.
In a few days, we saw many differences in our team. One of us was leading “Sincerity”; another one was leading “Discipline” in the team. Gradually we all started noticing that we all are leading the team in one or more qualities. We identified subject matter experts in our team; and used to go to a particular team member to resolve a particular problem. Our team grew stronger and stronger each day. Professionally and personally, we all started enjoying our Team and the Work we do.
But, the story does not end here… Our first year-end appraisal results came out, and we all got different increments. Some of us got promoted, and some of us did not even get confirmation. Some of us were happy, and some were not; by evening, everyone was sad as many of our friends did not get what they deserved. Our entire team performed well throughout the year; it was not an individual effort, but the varying appraisal confused us. Team spirit went down, and it was noticeable from the next day at work.
After a few days, we arranged hiking to celebrate one-year of togetherness as a team. Unfortunately, that day one of our friends met with an accident. We did not have any first-aid, and even there was no cell phone network at that place. There was no help around, but we managed to take him to the nearest hospital. That day we noticed how much we have grown as a person to help each other get him out of that place and admit him to the hospital. Our care and understanding of each other have grown to a different level. It was not an assignment at work; rather, we were working on life. All of us led the team in some way or other that day to save our dear friend. Something that day worked that day very well; most possibly that was the ‘humanity’ and ‘care’ that do not need any reward or appraisal.
A team at work had already been transformed into a group of caring friends.
A team grows both professionally and personally. There might be differences in the professional reward, but the growth that happens on the personal front gives us the reward of a lifetime. Professional growth might get shattered, but personal growth is cherished in the long term. Everyone in a team can be a leader in at least one quality, and it is important to be a team player to keep the leadership alive. I think leadership is a reward of good team play, which is done with the best intentions and honesty.
I am happy to be a part of such a team once.
