The time has come to announce the winner for my Patrick Lencioni Ticket Giveaway Contest! The guru of healthy team dynamics is coming to Calgary on Thursday, April 18th and I bought 2 extra tickets to share with you. All contest entrants shared a paragraph about their experience of healthy teams in the context of Mr. Lencioni’s work. I have pasted the winning paragraph below.
I have had the fortune of working with one particular leader who was outstanding. Her leadership approach inspires me to this day. I will try to keep my summary of her approach brief. Within weeks of joining our disorganized, unaccountable and unproductive team, our leader met with everyone to hear our perspectives. She finished her research by connecting with our internal clients and external contractors. To start to effect change quickly, she processed the information and reorganized the group within just a few weeks. Her new structure created focused teams that were accountable for delivering the different parts of our service offering. To provide clarity, and to engage us and our clients, she started by sharing our new purpose and structure. From this point forward, she consistently followed four important practises.
- She led by example and “walked her talk”; she verbalized her expectations, but also lived them.
- She provided a consistent flow of information; I always had the information I needed to be successful.
- She empowered me to problem solve. If there were challenges or issues she would bring them to me first. She created the opportunity for me to think, to plan a solution, and then implement – with her support.
- She encouraged the unit leaders to work together to formulate our future strategy; we had to work as a unified team.
- She shared positive and negative feedback in a timely fashion. Knowledge is critical! If you don’t know, how can you possibly address issues or celebrate!?
The result was constant learning and a trusting relationship, which led me to be highly motivated and productive. Under her leadership we improved our service offering and our team’s reputation started to grow.
Congratulations Hilary McMeekin!! I look forward to sharing my experience and learning with you on Thursday in Calgary.
