Team. Where is the "I" in Team?

Look no further than the San Antonio Spurs and you will find the "I" in team.  But, the "I" does not proceed the TEAM or stand apart from TEAM.  It gently emerges from the culture of the TEAM.

What principles guide the Spurs?

1. Recruiting.  They have an eye for talent.  They don't chase the superstar.  They find talent and develop them.
2. Find player who fit the culture of the organization and the team, which implies your organization must have a clear identified culture.
3. Retention.  This culture produces loyalty, commitment, and experience.  Tenured leaders come with knowledge, credibility, trust, and a strategic outlook.
4. Tenure.  Tenure produces experience, maturity, professionalism, and leadership.  These are key drivers in bringing other players into the organization where they are taught the system, professionalism, and how to be successful. 
5. "Team First Mentality." They play for the name on the front of the jersey not on the back of the jersey.
6. Buying into the team system.  Trust creates buy-in.  Team systems treat people well.  These systems are honest with players and create chemistry.

Morgan Hoogvelt says it well,

Take a lesson from the greatest sports franchise in America and see if you can create a team, a department, or even a company where you recruit not only the best, but those who fit your culture and have that team-first mentality — then develop them. Create a retention program where you can identify and keep your key leaders and team members in order to create an environment of knowledge, credibility, trust, and strategy.

Read more of Morgan's post here: here-is-no-i-in-team-but-theres-a-team-in-spurs/ 

3 UNPOPULAR Habits for Truly Successful Startup Leaders

Every leader has to do some rather routine habits, daily, in order to accomplish their goals. These are the topics of conversations at conferences, blogs, etc.  But most leaders who achieve some sort of success always pursue some rather UNPOPULAR habits as well.  These habits, though not glamorous, are a must to achieve your organizationspathways to success.  This article comes from Under30CEO and the article starts like this....

In this post I highlight three of the less glamorous habits that you just don’t hear about as much. These aren’t bad habits, they’re just tough and they’re some of the most essential habits to an entrepreneur’s success.

Here they are:

1. SYSTEMIZING - these are the systems you put in place to accomplish the big idea of getting the  business/non-profit off the ground and flying.  For example, what system will you put in place to make dicisions?  What system will be in place to hire new people? What system is needed to develop leaders?  What system is needed ____(fill-in-the-blank)____?  This is essential work but not as glamorous as coming up with the BIG idea! This will shift will help you go from,"working IN the business to working ON the business."
2. Saying, "NO" - “Strategic quitting is the secret of successful organizations.” ~Seth Godin, The Dip.  Saying, "NO"can turn into an opportunity when you focus on what you CAN do instead of what you CAN'T do or shouldn't do.
3. MINDSET - "There are so many demands on our time and mental energy that if you don’t take the time to fill your mind back up with good stuff you’ll inevitably burn out. I learned a very simple but effective way of doing from my buddyJohn Morgan. He taught me to start every morning with something positive that helps set the tone for the entire day. Whether it’s a book, devotion or podcast, just 15 minutes can be the difference between an insanely productive day and a miserable one."

Read more here:  

3-unpopular-habits

Supported

“Employees in great places to work feel supported.”Amy Lyman Cofounder of Great Place to Work®.  

If you want to create a volunteer system or a top-notch staff, you must develop a significant SUPPORT system.  In my work in the NW, I have never had a big budget to entice the "best" talent or to offer lucarative salaries, BUT I did have the capacity to offer and provide the best support system I could possibly deliver. You can too!

Volunteers and paid staff all need to feel the support of the organization. If you want to maintain the best volunteers and the best staff, a great support system will be the difference between them staying with you or them going to volunteer, serve, or work for someone else.

Here is one TREND the top organizations in America are doing to SUPPORT their employees:

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT!

Invest in the long-term growth of all those who are related to your organization.

Read more here:
http://www.greatplacetowork.com/publications-and-events/blogs-and-news/1632-leadership-development

Consider this resource to help give you some guidance: