Tag Archives: team growth

April 16, 2012

Training For Your Team Doesn’t Have To Be Boring!

Here’s a great post on training your team by Lily Kreitinger. Lily’s specializes in helping companies effectively train their team members. Follow Lily on LinkedIn. You can guest post as well! Read how to here.

In some organizations, people roll their eyes when they are scheduled to attend mandatory training and listen to a “consultant” read a bunch of slides. I think the technical term is “death by Power Point.” But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Here’s an example. I was asked by the sales manager of a Fortune 500 company to design a training program for his sales supervisors. Their key performance areas were evaluated, and it was found that the supervisors had poor written and verbal communication skills and poor reading comprehension. After we identified the gaps and needs, we designed a two-year training program for them.

We started with a one-week retreat on leadership skills and followed it up with monthly sessions for the next 24 months. The results were amazing. We did not present it as a remediation class. We explained that they had been selected to participate in this program, so they could improve their skills. They didn’t feel reprimanded. They felt acknowledged.

Those in the program read high-school level books on history, culture and art. Then, they had to present what they learned from their reading. Overall, it was really fun. We didn’t expect them to improve their scores by 80%, but they did. We didn’t expect that they would be so excited about learning that they involved their families in their assignments. But they did.

They took it upon themselves to visit the historic sites mentioned in their books and talk to their kids about them. They took one-day trips with their families and had the whole family involved in creating posters for their presentation to the group. A new culture of leadership and learning was born.

When people feel acknowledged, they will respond with enthusiasm. If you’ve planned it well, you will see, like we did, team members comparing notes on their reading during their lunch hour. They may stay a little late at work to read one more chapter. And you can smile and feel proud of them.

Question: How do you plan your vision, budget, time, and resources for training?

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42 comments | tags: business, Communication, EntreLeadership, Fortune 500, leadership, Management, Small Business, team growth, Train | posted in EntreLeadership, Leadership, Small Business

April 6, 2012

Leadership Lessons From The Racetrack

By Chris LoCurto

Leadership can be found in the best of places. This past weekend, I drove in two races at Carolina Motorsports Park. I’m proud to say that I had two second-place finishes. Even more exciting to me was the 30 minutes I spent fighting off a much, MUCH faster DSR.

I beat him to turn one on our start and kept him behind me the whole time. The stress of that car on my backside for 30 minutes was amazing. At every corner, every breaking zone, he was trying to get close enough to pass. And every time I made a .1 second mistake, I could see him getting a little closer.

If I took a turn too fast and got loose on the exit, he was there. When we started to lap cars, I could hear his main thought, Get stuck, so I can catch you!! I don’t think I actually exhaled for 30 minutes until I went under the flagman’s stand and took the checkered flag. I should have gone straight to medical to drain off the adrenaline that was coursing through my body!

What’s odd is that the second second place might not have happened if not for the day before. During the first race, I discovered something. I found myself slowing down as I passed cars.

When I was behind another car, I was all over him. I pushed him as hard as possible to get him to make the mistake that would allow me to get by. But the moment I cleared him, I stopped pushing as hard. About three cars later, this voice inside my head said, You, uh, you here for a Sunday drive? Just because you passed that car doesn’t mean someone’s not coming after you.

I realized if someone closed in on me, my slower momentum would have allowed them to slingshot by me. At that moment, I began focusing on how to go the whole race on the edge. I believe it’s what helped me fight for so long in Sunday’s race.

In the middle of that thought process, I said to myself, This would make a great leadership blog post. Yep! Flying around a racetrack with enough adrenaline in me to kill a Thoroughbred, I thought of you guys. It lasted about .0003 seconds before I realized I still had to pilot a FORMULA CAR!!! But it still happened.

I think in leadership, there are many times when we need to have our foot on the gas. We don’t always need to run wide open, but most of the time we do. And sometimes, we have a tendency to get comfortable and slow down—only to find out that someone behind us is about to fly right by.

In those moments, we have to remind ourselves and our teams that we can breathe as soon as we get to the checkered flag. It’s not that far away, and it will be there sooner than you think. Don’t give up. As one of my pit crew guys radios me when I need to hear it, “PUSH PUSH PUSH!!”

Question: Have there been times in your life where not pushing hurt you or times when you did push hard and succeeded?

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35 comments | tags: Auto racing, business, EntreLeadership, Formula Car, leadership, Motorsports, Small Business, Team Building, team growth | posted in EntreLeadership, Leadership, Small Business

March 27, 2012

5 Ways To Force Culture

By Chris LoCurto

How to implement culture is a subject I get asked about all of the time. It’s something so many people want or they want to change, but they don’t know how to do either. I can promise you this: You will have culture. It just may not be the one you want.

You see, wanting it and creating it are two completely different things. If you don’t make sure it exists in the form that you like, outside forces will create it for you. And then, it’s a pain to reverse.

How does culture get created at your company by others? When you hire folks and don’t lead them, they give you lip service but begin to create the atmosphere they desire. It’s not uncommon for them to begin to gossip and backstab to get their way. As dramatic as it sounds, they begin to spread poison throughout your team. Next thing you know, you have a atmosphere that is nothing like you want it to be.

How can you avoid allowing people to create their own? It’s simple:

Force It – “If it doesn’t fit, force it!” was a saying I heard as a kid. It’s meant to be a joke. But in this case, you really need to force your culture! You have to make your whole team realize that you will do whatever it takes to create the desired outcome.

Teach It - Whatever you want your business to look like, you have to spend time teaching about it in your staff meetings, team meetings, one-on-ones, etc. Say it so many times that your team can finish your sentences.

Recognize It - It is a well-known fact that people do what they get rewarded for. If you spend your time telling team members only what they’re doing wrong, that’s where their focus will be. But if you recognize that they are doing a great job by not gossiping, being team players and taking care of each other, then they will work hard to protect that culture.

Attack It - If you see something happening that’s hurting your business, go after it quickly!! Your team needs to know that you will attack anything that is attacking your culture. If you don’t, your team will eventually come to believe that you don’t care about keeping a strong culture for them.

Repeat It - You can’t implement culture and hope that it stays that way. You have to keep it in front of everyone ALL of the time. Again, bring it up from time to time in staff meetings. Celebrate it at big company events. Champions want to see that you will stand for that cause. When you do, so will they.

If you’re just starting out, forcing culture is easy. You just do it. If you’ve been in business awhile and you need to turn the ship, understand that it will take some time. However, being passive won’t make it happen. Roll your sleeves up and go to town, metaphorically speaking. Don’t actually go to town … well, except to go to work, if that’s where it is.

Question: What methods have you used to make your culture stick?

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36 comments | tags: business, Culture, EntreLeadership, leadership, Management, Organizational culture, Small Business, team growth, team members | posted in EntreLeadership, Leadership, Small Business

January 4, 2012

EntreLeadership Podcast Question About Required Reading

By Chris LoCurto

Here is a great question from an EntreLeadership Podcast listener about required reading:

Hi Chris,
A few years ago, I began giving everyone in my business resources to help them outside of their responsibilities at work. I believe that I may have started after learning about the required reading Dave has for everyone at his business. I just finished listening to the podcast with the John Miller interview and you mentioned, a few times, QBQ being one of the required books.

My question is this: How does that process work in your business? Is there any follow up after the books are given out? Do they confirm with anyone that they read them? Or more importantly, they got anything from them? I want to bump up the reading at my company even more. Is there more I can do to maximize the experience? Thanks. Keep the great info coming! — Jim Paulson

It’s funny. You can require your team to read books all day long. If there’s no culture inside your business that supports the information, though, it’s not going to matter. The reason we have required reading in our business is the books back up the culture that we already have in place. For example, QBQ—Question Behind the Question—is all about personal accountability and responsibility.

As leaders, we are constantly reminding our team it is their job to take care of our customers and our own team. There is no such thing as “that’s not my job.” If something needs to be done, they do it!

We just had an amazing day of ministry at GraceWorks, where we worked at warehouses loading and unloading trucks that were taking food, clothing, toys, etc. to families in need. When all was said and done, some folks grabbed the working end of a broom because they saw that we made a mess in the process. Now, most people would say the ministry could clean up the mess, since we came and did all of the heavy lifting. Not us. When you have a culture that is constantly discussed and reported on, people step up and follow.

In essence, don’t require reading just because it’s a fun idea. Make sure that you are choosing books that support your core values, and make sure you’re promoting those core values like crazy with the team.

As for follow up, we do confirm that they’ve read them, and some leaders take it a step further and discuss the books with their teams.

Question: What are your thoughts on required reading in your organization?

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57 comments | tags: business, Culture, EntreLeadership, EntreLeadership Podcast, leadership, Organizational culture, personal growth, Small Business, Team Building, team growth | posted in EntreLeadership, Leadership, Small Business

October 20, 2011

When Leaders Throw Team Members Under The Bus

By Chris LoCurto

This week, I’m teaching EntreLeadership here in Nashville. The topic of throwing team members under the bus is a common conversation. Here’s a post I wrote earlier this year on the topic.

As a leader, one of my pet peeves is watching other leaders not take responsibility. In fact, I think it’s ridiculous for a person to be in leadership if their only goal is to make themselves look good. And yet, I see it all of the time. I watch leaders who are very proud of the title but aren’t willing to do what is necessary to live up to it. They try to take on as many responsibilities as they can. When they fail, the first thing they do is blame one or more of their team members for the failure.

Worse than that, they throw those team members under the bus to their leadership in an attempt to get out of the line of fire. When you lead like this, you paralyze your team because they don’t know what you’re going to do to them next. They operate out of fear instead of respect and loyalty. And the funny thing is: This type of leader thinks that nobody notices that they are throwing people under the bus.

That’s not leadership! Nor is it for the leader above them, who doesn’t take the time to find out what’s really going on because they can’t handle drama. Guess what? In leadership, there’s going to be drama! It comes with the job. In fact, there should be a manual that you’re handed when you become a leader that’s titled, “Scotch and Psychiatrists: A Leader’s Guide to Drama!” (I’m kidding … You don’t need a psychiatrist! OK, you don’t need the Scotch, either. )

Leadership is the privilege and the authority to serve. The key word there being serve! It’s not my job as a leader to pass on blame. It’s my job to do everything in my power to make sure that my team is set up for success. And sometimes that means taking a bullet or twelve for them. In the end, if they don’t succeed, it’s my fault anyway. Somewhere along the line, I either didn’t train them well enough or I didn’t make sure they had everything they needed to be successful.

Get in there and be the type of leader who stands side by side with your team. Show them that you are willing to take the bullets with them. “But Chris, I have some real idiots on my team. I don’t want to take their bullets!” Then roll up your sleeves and do everything you possibly can to make sure that it’s not really you who is the problem. If you can say that you’ve done everything you can, and they’re still an idiot, then it’s time to let them be an idiot somewhere else. But, until you can rule you out, you’re the problem!

Question: Have you experienced this type of leader?

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31 comments | tags: business, EntreLeadership, leadership, Management, Pet peeve, Small Business, Team Building, team growth, team members | posted in EntreLeadership, Leadership, Small Business

October 19, 2011

Why You Can’t Stay Focused On The Past

By Chris LoCurto

As unmanly as it is to say, I actually like The Lion King. I know. I know. I can hear all of you saying, “But Chris, you’re so studly! How could you possibly?” So go ahead … tell me how studly I am………………(crickets).

I like it because it’s a great story, and it has some really classic scenes. One of the best is when the hyenas are gathered in a circle, and they keep chanting the great lion Mufasa’s name.

1st hyena: Mufasa!

2nd hyena: Ewwww. I hear that name and I shudder… Do it again.

1st hyena: MUFASAAAAAAAA!

That’s just good quality stuff right there. But my favorite part is when the lion cub Simba has run away from everyone because he thinks he is responsible for Mufasa’s death. Rafiki finds him in hiding and tells him that he needs to come home.

Adult Simba: I know what I have to do. But going back will mean facing my past. I’ve been running from it for so long.

[Rafiki hits Simba on the head with his stick]

Adult Simba: Ow! Jeez, what was that for?

Rafiki: It doesn’t matter. It’s in the past. [Laughs]

Adult Simba: Yeah, but it still hurts.

Rafiki: Oh yes, the past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it or … learn from it.

[Swings his stick again at Simba who ducks out of the way]

Rafiki: Ha. You See? So what are you going to do?

Adult Simba: First, I’m gonna take your stick.

The truth is that the past does hurt. We’ve all made some serious mistakes that we’re not proud of. (If you haven’t, it’s coming. Sorry.) And because of it, we have a tendency to run from the future. That’s right, we will keep ourselves from doing something that God has ordained because we’ve made a mess of something before. We become afraid of how bad we might screw up again. But you need to know that the past is the past! That’s why they call it that! It’s over, gone, done and done! We need to move on and not allow our past failures to control our future. Every great leader has quotes on how much you must fail to succeed. If they know it, why don’t we?

And God doesn’t want to leave you there in the past and taunt you about it day after day. One of the greatest examples of someone who messed up, but God redeemed, is Paul. Paul was Saul, a guy who used to kill Christians. We believe that it was he who held the coats of those who stoned Stephen. And yet, God turned him into the greatest evangelist. You never read that God was there every day saying, “Hey, don’t forget you used to be a murderer. That’s really kind of bad in my book.” Instead, He used him to help me to know about my place in Heaven.

The next time you allow the mistakes of the past to ruin your day, stop and think about Paul and how some of his days went. It’ll change the way you feel. As a leader, you need to be keenly aware of where your people struggle in the area of making mistakes. If it’s from the past, you won’t get them to take many risks for the future.

Question: How have you gotten over past mistakes? (No mistake details needed. )

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27 comments | tags: business, EntreLeadership, happiness, leadership, personal growth, Small Business, team growth, team members | posted in Leadership, Small Business

October 12, 2011

Good To Great Leadership

By Chris LoCurto

I recently had the pleasure of attending a conference put together by one of my favorite people on the planet, Howard Dayton. Howard is the founder of Crown Ministries, which he eventually merged with Larry Burkett’s Christian Financial Concepts. Howard has launched his newest venture of helping people change their lives with Compass—Finances God’s Way. Compass’ focus is to teach God’s financial principles through small group studies.

The Compass conference consists of a few days spent in a GORGEOUS retreat center in a castle in Colorado Springs. One after another, leaders and team members of Howard’s took the microphone and shared from their hearts. They discussed what’s going on in each of the areas of Compass, as well as plans and strategies for the future. Even Howard shared a little bit.

And that’s what jumped out at me. Howard shared … a little bit. The rest of the time, he sat back and observed his team. One after another, competent, confident, strong people took the podium and spoke. They made us laugh and they made us cry. But most importantly, they represented just how the company is a team effort.

In Good to Great, author Jim Collins writes about how great leaders always train their team(s) to take over if anything happens to the leader. In his research, he found that the great companies all survived a transition of leadership and continued to grow because the leader had set up their team. They could take the huge hit, bounce back and prosper.

Not that Howard is going anywhere, but it was incredible to see just how well his team operated while he sat back and watched. The best part is knowing that the team didn’t get there on its own. It took great leadership from a great man to make it happen. Now that’s leadership done right.

Question: Have you experienced this type of leadership?

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20 comments | tags: business, EntreLeadership, Good to Great, Howard Dayton, Jim Collins, Larry Burkett, leadership, Small Business, Team Building, team growth | posted in EntreLeadership, Leadership, Small Business

October 11, 2011

The Missing Link To Your Communication

By Chris LoCurto

If you know me well at all you know that I am crazy about understanding personality styles and the people they control. (Insert smiley face icon.) As I always say, if you’ve ever given someone direction on something and they just stand there looking at you with the deer in the headlights look, then you probably think to yourself, “I know this person is not dumb, why don’t they get what I’m saying?”

While we have a tendency to believe that the issue of understanding what we’re saying is the hearer’s fault, the truth is that it’s ours. We give information the same way we receive information. Therefore, if I give someone with a strong detail personality information the way I like it, (short and sweet, and in sound bites) then I am failing to set them up for success.

The reason I’m so passionate about personality styles is that once you understand how people, think, act, react, process, etc., you begin to learn how to some extent you can win with communication. Now hear me correctly on this, I’m not saying that you are a failure, (That’s for all of you high I’s and S’s in the DISC profile) I’m saying that you’re not fully reaching your potential. For example, about 8 years ago I hired a fantastic woman in a very stressful administrative type of role.

Actually it was admin on steroids…and…Jolt Cola. Each time I would give her a project to work on she would look at me funny, leave my office, and in 10 minutes she would be back letting me know that she didn’t understand what to do. After a few months of dealing with the same type of issue, I decided to pull out her DISC profile and read through it immensely. As I did I discovered that I was being a horrible leader.

There was no possible way she could do the projects I asked of her since I had not given her enough information to actually complete the tasks. Once I realized that, and decided to stop thinking of only me, I called her in and explained how bad I was doing as her leader. Without hesitation she said, “um, yeaaaaah…I agree!” Okay, actually she was still processing, but that’s what her eyes were telling me.

This doesn’t just stop at your team members. It carries over to your family, your friends, and your customers. If you don’t see how important that is, stop reading my blog and get back to playing your PlayStation. Even if you have taken the profile, or you’re really smart and you’ve had your team take it, I can tell you that I have met a couple of people out of hundreds who actually understand how to use them correctly.

Question: When have you noticed different personality styles causing communication struggles?

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36 comments | tags: business, DISC, EntreLeadership, leadership, personal growth, personality styles, Small Business, team growth, team members | posted in Leadership, Small Business

October 10, 2011

Hiring T.O.

By Chris LoCurto

There are many times in a leaders life that they ask themselves the question, “what the heck was I thinking when I hired that guy?!!” After the 17th person on your team tells you how difficult the new person is to work with, you start to realize there is something way more important than hiring a “star.”

You begin to understand that it doesn’t matter how talented a person is on his own. (Unless your like a tennis coach or something.) One of the worst days for leaders is when they realize they have dropped a death metal guitar player into the middle of their 40 piece orchestra. At first it looks like a fun and exciting change, but quickly everyone understands just how badly this is going to play out.

What does this have to do with T.O.? Well, if you have watched his career at all you’ve noticed that there have been some…..”bumps” in the road. There is no doubt that he is a phenomenal athlete who, when he actually catches the ball, can make some serious plays. The problem isn’t once he has the ball, it’s everything that goes on around that moment.

All I can go by is how I’ve seen him act on the field and what his teammates have said. It’s my opinion that he has done way more damage to teams than good. And the reason is simple, it’s a TEAM sport! A buddy of mine, Ron Cook, used to manage Kenny Stabler in his post career, and Stabler always said, “You can have all the talent in the world, but you will not win if you don’t have a happy locker room!”

On the other hand, hiring the right person is one of the greatest joys of any leader’s life. Building a team of right people, is as fantastic as the first time you wake up to find out that there really is a Tooth Fairy, and she left you a quarter! (Am I showing my age there? Aren’t kids getting iPads for a tooth now?) When you have a team that works together in unity, you can accomplish absolutely anything.

God talks about this in Genesis 11:6 when He said that since the people were of one mind, together in unity, nothing would be impossible for them. Just like MacGyver with a paperclip and some rubber bands. One of the keys to hiring correctly is to hire the fantastically talented, who also are equally talented at being team players. (Key word: talented!) As Kurt Russell said in Miracle “I’m not looking for the best players…I’m looking for the right ones!”

This doesn’t mean you slack on finding someone who can do the job better than anyone else, you still need to hire someone who will leave the cave, kill something, and drag it home. They just need to play nicely with the other hunters.

Question: Have you ever been T.O.ed?

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25 comments | tags: business, EntreLeadership, Ken Stabler, Kurt Russell, leadership, MacGyver, Small Business, Team Building, team growth, team members | posted in Leadership, Small Business

Chris LoCurto's Blog

Tag Archives: team growth

Training For Your Team Doesn’t Have To Be Boring!

Leadership Lessons From The Racetrack

5 Ways To Force Culture

Top Posts And Commenters Of 2011

EntreLeadership Podcast Question About Required Reading

When Leaders Throw Team Members Under The Bus

Why You Can’t Stay Focused On The Past

Good To Great Leadership

The Missing Link To Your Communication

Hiring T.O.

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