Develop Yourself to Develop the Team

What?

In Keith Ferrazzi’s Leading Without Authority rule seven his main talking point is how we are responsible for not only ourselves but others around us in terms of maximizing our capabilities. Ferrazzi compares this idea to hosting a giant party in the sense that the best way to ensure that everyone is taken care of is to enlist the help of your teammates in taking care of themselves and others around them (Ferrazzi, 2020). One of the practices in rule seven is to turn gossip into gold in which Ferrazzi describes how negativity, complaining, and venting is poison to cohesion and co-elevation with group members (Ferrazzi, 2020). Instead of bashing others for inefficiencies in their work, there is a golden opportunity that has presented itself to help co-elevate your teammates around you.

So What?

So why is it important that members or a group leader focus on co-elevating another person in their group? A quote from Ferrazzi in a Forbes article from 2020 caught my eye: "Your job as a leader is not to lead as an individual, but to foster the environment of co-elevation amongst your team. That’s the key, because your team needs to become co-elevators of each other.” That intrigued me because it changes how people should look at establishing trust and communication in group settings. In another Forbes article from 2014, they list several reasons why it isn't beneficial to complain or vent about other employees and their productivity at work. They include others believing you are unproductive yourself, trust is lost between you and other members, and lack of responsibility. They continue by saying that when you are venting and complaining about someone it shows that you are unwilling to step up and be a team player when others need it most. Ferrazzi adds in the textbook saying that being passive when someone is venting about a group member is just as bad as it is your responsibility as a leader to present the opportunity to co-elevate your team members (Ferrazzi, 2020). When you co-elevate with others around you, you create this sense of physiological safety and a greater sense of commitment not only to you and your group but the organization or project in which you serve.



Now What?

Co-elevation and cohesion among groups and group members are essential to group performance and communication. In management, especially in projects, I believe it is important to not only improve yourself but to help those around you whether that is assistance in a project or teaching somebody in the group a new skill. I think it is important to create an atmosphere that allows for the free sharing of ideas which can promote creativity and allow for other voices to be amplified. I also believe one of the best ways to learn and improve your skillset is to help others improve theirs. If you are not constantly changing and improving your knowledge and skillset you will get left behind whether that is in performance or technical ability, so its essential that you continue to elevate yourself and others. I have always loved the idea of what goes around comes around and that aligns well with the idea of co-elevation in which if you help others develop or when they need, someone will eventually do the same to you.

Caprino, K. (2020, May 26). Co-elevation: How to achieve positive leadership impact without pre established authority. Forbes. Retrieved November 1, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/kathycaprino/2020/05/22/co-elevation-how-to-achieve-positive-leadership-impact-without-pre-established-authority/

Ferrazzi, K., & Weyrich, N. (2020). Leading without authority: How the new power of co-elevation can break down silos, transform teams, and reinvent collaboration. Currency.

Rezvani, S. (2014, July 11). Why complaining is killing your reputation at work. Forbes. Retrieved November 1, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2014/07/11/why-complaining-is-killing-your-reputation-at-work/?sh=282f5a3e4bb9

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The trap of unethical leaders

Image
 What?     Accountability of not only our own actions but actions of authority figures around us is what keeps an organization or a community honest and trustworthy. As a leader, followers under you shouldn't have to question your objectives and orders on moral or ethical grounds. But also as a follower, it is important to have the ability to conflict with not just authority but also peers and those around you. In Chapter 7 of Intelligence Disobedience by Ira Chaleff, he discusses the changing dynamics of potentially changing dynamics of leaders, followers, and bystanders when it comes to confronting moral or ethical problems.  So What?     Followers are prone to many variables when it comes to executing plans or actions given out by the authority. If a follower is near an authority figure, even if unethical they are more likely to complete said actions. But the problem is no matter how close or how persistent a leader commands an unethical or immoral, on...
Read more

The six deadly excuses

Image
 What? What?     In Keith Ferrazzi’s Leading Without Authority rule two, he talks about how it is all on you to take on responsibility and take care of your key relationships with others. One of the practices he talks about is the six deadly excuses which are ignorance, laziness, deference, playing the victim, cowardice, and indulgence (Ferrazzi, 2020). These six deadly excuses are an easy way for us to just not do an assignment or project when we face difficulty. Everyone faces difficulties so, avoiding these six deadly excuses makes you stand out among the rest of the pack by pushing through them and not letting these challenges define your outcome. So What?     Ferrazzi describes the six deadly excuses as a way to overcome challenges and not be afraid of confronting conflict when it comes to a project or other work (Ferrazzi, 2020). Ferrazzi describes ignorance as an excuse that is inexcusable because you should know the processes and tasks that your work is ...
Read more

Not a Yes Man

Image
 What? As someone still young and early on in their career, how can you provide feedback and ideas to someone who has a lifetime of experience over you and potentially knows much more than you? What happens when you constantly make suggestions and get shut down by your leaders? Should you continue to look for new ways to innovate and make improvements in your workplace or be content with the status quo that is presented to you by those around you? So What? Providing feedback is essential to the growth and well-being of not only an organization but both leaders and followers as well.  Ira Chaleff  argues that it requires a large amount of courage to challenge our leaders in the pursuit of a common purpose. When we don't provide feedback to our leaders it deteriorates our relationship and continues to hurt the common purpose. If a leader doesn't want to be challenged or be given feedback, they can be perceived as a bad leader . On the other hand, there is a time and place t...
Read more