Saturday 31 March 2012

Why Being a Servant Leader Works, at World Financial Team Inc. and Elsewhere

Go to any playground, classroom or backyard where young children gather and you can locate a teacher or a parent trying to instill the importance of sharing. From toys to snacks, to our time and resources, we learn from a very early age that sharing is a virtue. It's a fundamental childhood lesson drafted to make us better people and better members of society. Leave to many boardrooms, office buildings and cubicles within the corporate world and, for the highest many part, you can locate sharing is a lost art. People aren't bad, but general corporate race and processes fail to encourage real teamwork. Most people are out for themselves, trying to outshine and outdo one another for promotions and recognition in cutthroat competition that encourages confrontation rather than collaboration. The good regarding the business is a byproduct of this behavior, not the goal. There exists teams within the corporate world; many of them are successful. But too many managers and team leaders take the credit for their team's hard work – creating use of "I" more often than "we" when describing success. And as the old saying goes, "There is no ‘I' in teamwork."  I located this to be true in my own career. I first joined the working world within the real estate sector when I joined my father's company. I was excited to work in a team environment and develop an exciting business in what I thought was a collaborative profession. Was I ever wrong. Each real estate broker was interested only in his or her own accomplishments; the success regarding the team wasn't even a consideration. I grew the family business and soon located myself in a leadership position within the company. I thought if I were in charge, things should be different. I dedicated myself to fostering a team environment, receiving the time and life to invest within the people I brought on board to help them and our business grow. I believed that if I developed a supportive, collaborative workplace, no one should ever should leave. I worked on being what I regarded a servant leader – giving completely of my time and my knowledge to my colleagues and the business, believing we all should benefit from this practice. Wrong again. Some regarding the top people I trained and brought along left the brokerage and became my direct competition. At one point, I realized I was responsible for helping build many brokerages within the Los Angeles area, all started by my former colleagues. I could not trust what was happening at the time. I thought I had done everything right. Upon thinking about it, I realized my strategy had a fatal flaw: While the environment I created encouraged teamwork with me, it did not encourage teamwork between everyone on the team. I took the time to coach and help people like a servant leader, but the processes we had in location did not reward others for working with one another while recognizing lone achievement. Teamwork is higher than basically assembling a team of people together with a goal; true teamwork requires tough leadership, an usual vision and a race that reinforces and rewards collaboration. In my years in business, I've identified "Nine Cs" that every good servant leader should master to build a successful team:







Culture. Teamwork does not just naturally happen. You should make a business race that encourages and rewards it at every level. You should systematize teamwork — engrain it in every facet of your business. Recognize not only the top lone but also the top team in your office. Tie teamwork to bonuses and promotions, not just the bottom line. Without a supportive race in place, teamwork should be a phrase rather than an action.
 
True teamwork
requires strong
leadership, vision
and a culture
that reinforces
and rewards
collaboration. Cause. Successful teams are inspired teams. You do not inspire teams with tasks; you inspire teams with dreams. Release them a reason bigger than themselves to leave out there and release 110 percent. At World Financial Team Inc., our cause — our crusade — is to help middle-income families who have traditionally been underserved by the e&l insurance services sector to obtain on track to their futures by educating them about money. That is a dream people can get behind. When my teammates leave out and help a family, it's not just business to them. Their actions have meaning and purpose, and they get a sense of satisfaction that they have helped make a difference in someone's life. I take this so seriously that I play on my final name and tell everyone I am a "cruzader" for our mission. Servant leaders should convey the "why" to their teams. And that leads me to my next point. Communication. A servant leader keeps in constant communication with his/her team. Share successes. Make them component regarding the business by being transparent, reveal and honest. Good and constant communication builds a foundation of trust. Trust fortifies the bonds compulsory for teams to flourish and businesses to grow. Collaboration. Locate opportunities for people to work together and play to their strengths. Combine up the players on your team so people hold a chance to work with everyone. Changing things around breeds new perspectives and new ideas. Coach. Make an environment that encourages and rewards people for sharing and teaching others what they know. The general corporate world seems to discourage this. By tying promotions, recognition and rewards to lone accomplishments, employees tend to hold their skills and abilities to themselves rather than teaching others for the common good. When you build a business that rewards mentoring, experienced professionals shall share their skills. We do this at World Financial Team Inc. As an associate with our company, you have knowledge of access to multiple experienced professionals/coaches. No reason where you can be in business, you have knowledge of someone to mentor you. This practice builds a successful business and a strong, confident, growing team driven by a nurturing business environment. Commitment. Servant leaders should lead by example and display other teammates at every turn they can be committed to their lone success and the success regarding the business. They should release their time and talents to helping others, and in turn, this shall help the business to grow. The commitment position you give, is the commitment position you get return from your team. Compassion. Good servant leaders do not just speak they like about their teammates; they display it. Take the time to obtain to have knowledge of each and every team member, their families, their goals and dreams. Understanding your teammates and getting to have knowledge of who they truly are shall help you be an improved leader.
Create an
environment of
giving and everything
comes return to you
tenfold. Challenge. Evaluate the company's business goals regularly and work with team members to develop lone and collective milestones to obtain there. Good servant leaders hold the team members in tune with business goals and stretch the team's vision so they can achieve what they not ever thought they could. Your ultimate goal is to challenge your team members and build other servant leaders. Cheerleader. A servant leader shall also be the cheerleader, giving the team the dose of motivation they should leave out and do their jobs to the greatest of their abilities. Encourage your teammates with frequent calls. Reward their initiative and accomplishments in front regarding the entire team. As team leader, you can be the director of motivation, a job you should take seriously. By affiliating myself with a business that understands and values teamwork, my team members and I have built a tough financial services and insurance business that has helped so many people. We eagerly share our knowledge with each other and focus on helping families in a collaborative, inviting environment that people locate enjoyable and rewarding. People speak walking into our World Financial Team Inc. office is like walking into a building where people really like about one another. That is the professional race I always wanted to be a component of and howcome I like going to work every day. I truly trust that life is regarding the give, not the get. Whether you make an environment of giving, everything returns return to you tenfold.
©World Financial Group, Inc. Reprinted with permission. This post was edited for electronic use.

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