Raise your team’s batting average!

“Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.” ~Franklin D. Roosevelt

“I love to win; but I love to lose almost as much.  I love the thrill of victory, and I also love the challenge of defeat.” ~Lou Gehrig

2 quotes today, in celebration of Friday, as well as for the similar message they give.  Personally, I don’t love to lose at all (Sorry Lou – that’s just twisted).  That being said, when I do lose, if I can learn something from that loss, I can live with it, and maybe even, as the lesson will help me avoid losing the same way the next time.

Of course, winning is a lot better!  Achieving a win through creative effort not only increases the quality of your achievement, because various skill sets participated the best parts of themselves, but allows the winning group to celebrate as a team.  Winning together also allows you to see someone, possibly un-like you, show off a skill set that you may not yet have, and vice versa.  Take the time to compliment your team member on their skill, and learn a little about it.  Sharing strengths just might raise the “batting average” of both teammates, increasing the odds of their team winning the next “game”.

Speaking of thrills…

Rubes cartoons used with permission. www.rubescartoons.com

Fish can’t climb trees, dummy.

“If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” ~Albert Einstein

Good leaders give tasks to their staff that magnify their strengths.  Bosses, on the other hand, often spend a lot of time focusing on the weakness on their team.  Build a well-rounded team, and use those who are best at certain skills to not only do those tasks, but to teach those skills to the rest of the team.  Let the analytical gurus own the big spreadsheets. Give your creative souls the opportunity to be “closet marketers”, and let your detail people proof your presentations and documents.  Doing so will create a stronger, even more-well-rounded team of fulfilled individuals, as long as you’re not perceived as giving the cherry assignments to the “teacher’s pet”.  Communicating your reasoning should avoid the perception of favoritism.

We, as leaders, have the power to make our staff feel good about their job, or we can make them spend their whole career feeling stupid (or leave because they’re being used inappropriately.  Yes, there are certain competencies that are the bare minimum necessary to lead, and not everyone has them.  Once your staff have shown that they do have these competencies, use them as their strengths may best be used.

Speaking of stupid fish…

Rubes cartoons used with permission. www.rubescartoons.com