The Glue That Holds Teams Together
As a team building motivational keynote speaker, I know that we are in the midst of an unprecedented time.
Indeed, there have been three phases to this time. Hubert Joly, writing for the Harvard Business Review (May 8, 2020) wrote that these phases are: The Shelter-in-Place Phase, the Re-opening Business Phase, and the Post-Covid-19 Phase.
Joly explained, “The best companies are rallying to lead their organizations out of the first phase, through the second, and eventually, through the third.”
What does “Rallying” Mean to You?
Pep talks come easy but has your very life ever depended on a team? Mine has.
After a horrific automobile accident, I awakened to find myself as a quadriplegic. In less than a minute, I went from an athlete and martial artist to a physically helpless person. As those first days passed, I realized I had to assemble a team around me as dedicated to my wellness as I was.
Hubert Joly wrote that “much of [the team’s efforts during the pandemic] must focus their efforts [on] open and transparent communication, mobilizing to [link with] support workers, and connecting the company’s purpose to personal meaning.”
Joly echoes exactly what I had to do with my hospital team. I had to to be open and transparent in what I needed.
From my bed, I needed to use all of my physical and mental strength to mobilize everyone on my care team in the hospital to believe that I would get better, and to connect every aspect of the hospital’s tools, from machinery to physical therapy to push me and make me as strong as I could be.
It was in the hospital, that I developed my philosophy of “Vision, Mindset and Grit.”
Your Team
Right about now, your team has been forced to think and act as individuals. What once may have been a cohesive unit now functions through video conference calls, texts and email. When we do get into a Post-Covid-19 phase (and we will!), what will your team look like? Will you emerge stronger, or become strangers? Will you come together or become strangers?
Are you determined to develop a vision of team cohesion no matter what lies in the months ahead? Does the team have a collective mindset of overcoming every obstacle in their way? Does everyone on the team have the grit to tough it out?
In time I emerged from the hospital and rehabilitation stronger and more confident than I had ever been in my life. I hope I helped show everyone on my team what a patient could do who was fully engaged in his wellness.
However, the important point is that I could have not done it alone. Anything I accomplished, every inch of progress I made, any daily goal I reached, was not due just to myself. I owed my team more than I could ever say. They cared about me, they had my back, they fought with me, by me and for me. And that is exactly what I wish for your team.
The glue that holds teams together is the energy of the team itself. Each one of you is unique, strong and powerful, together you can rise from the biggest challenges you are now facing and together you can achieve greatness far beyond your wildest expectations.
Scott Burrows, Team Building Motivational Keynote Speaker is booking appointments for in-person and virtual meetings and events. Contact Scott today through this website today or call: (520) 548-1169