As the team came together for an office day (swapping the WFH pajama pants for jeans) we looked out the window to see a house being torn down and in a matter of 15 minutes this house once full of memories, was completely gone. And in this moment, we started exploring how building a team is pretty similar to that of building a house, even though they seem like two completely unrelated activities. They do however share the same principle. Both need a strong foundation to build a sturdy house or to build a successful team.
A leader has to put a lot of effort into building a strong foundation, or as we saw today, it can be torn down in a matter of minutes. Everything you’ve worked so hard for, gone before your eyes. But just because you started with a strong foundation and built sturdy walls doesn’t mean you can ignore upkeep over the years. A home can deteriorate if not maintained and cared for over the years.
Our team’s house, is only as good as our leadership’s house and our commitment to building a bright future, is only as good as the foundation we built – through communicating and living our values and not avoiding the small cracks in the corner. This philosophy can’t just be implemented when we first put a team together, the regular care and maintenance of each member, the whole team and the culture they can thrive in, must be a priority for the organization, leaders and of course team members. We must invest in each other’s overall health and well-being if we want to maintain a strong foundation.
At Hasbro, they have a great concept about setting new floors not focusing on setting new ceilings. If we set new ceilings, we’re automatically putting limits in place, but if we set new floors, we’re giving ourselves a solid place to launch from and it prevents us from sliding backwards into old ways of being.
As leaders, not only do we have to build our foundation with the right materials and techniques, we have to carefully plan, execute and be agile to handle any change in plans that come our way. We build strong floors with the way we work and with the people we work with. With strong floors we give ourselves a solid place to launch from!
A Team Human Conversation
Fight workplace zombies in your organization and join Team Human! Gather a group of fellow workplace zombie hunters to discuss our most recent blog post. Use the questions below to kick start your conversation.
Have we taken the time to build a strong foundation? Why do you feel that way?
What can we do to fix the cracks in our foundation?
How can we work together to create new ceilings and not puts limits on us?
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