The Value of Your Team
2
NCRWA.COM |
Winter 2014
from the executive director
“A
lone we can do so little; together we can do so
much.” Inspirational words from the early 1900s
by the well-known author, Helen Keller. A lady
that not only graduated from college with honors,
authored 13 books, and had countless published
articles, but one that also accomplished all of
this after being left blind and deaf by a childhood
disease before she was even two years of age.
Oftentimes, in the busyness of our own daily
routines, we overlook the value of those around
us, our team. We go about our days just trying
to “stay afloat” or “keep from drowning” as each
item checked off our own to-do-list is quickly
replaced with three more new items. We close our
office door, send our phone calls to voicemail, and
sign out of our email in order to isolate ourselves
from distractions so that we can capture just a few
minutes of focused effort on our top priority.
While this focus on our individual list of priorities
must take precedence from time to time, we also
must realize that the organization depends on you
being a part of the entire team. As a manager,
you may not always consider that while you sit
in your office pouring through the next year’s
budget, there is a team of specialists ensuring
that water is being treated, meters are being read,
and payments are being collected. As an operator,
you may not always realize that while you are
working at the treatment plant, there are people
at the office bidding chemicals for the upcoming
year, ensuring that compliance reports are signed
and submitted, and payroll is being processed. As
a customer service representative, you may not
realize that a distribution or collection crew is out
setting up a work zone so that a new tap can be
installed or replacing a pump in a lift station. All
are very real people doing very real jobs, and all
are being performed simultaneously. No one part
of the process or organization is any more or less
important than another as the entire system fails if
any part is not accomplished. All are susceptible
to one.
How do we ensure that this group of individuals
works as a team? How do we ensure that we have
shored up our weakest areas? How do we ensure
that failure does not occur?
There is an abundance of information available
on teamwork, organizational effectiveness and
productivity, and other factors that contribute to
our success; however, two very basic fundamentals
seem to always surface no matter the source.
1. The need for effective leadership, not
just management.
2. The importance of getting everyone focused
on the same goal or mission.
Leadership and management are not two
synonymous terms. Leadership does not require
the “status” of the managerial position, and just
because an individual has the title of manager, it
definitely does not mean that they are a true leader.
But make no mistake; an effective, respected
manager will have the traits of a leader. As a
simple comparison, a manager focuses on “doing
things right” while the leader focuses on “doing
the right things”. It’s like comparing the tactical
approach to the strategic approach, or the practice
of directing employees to the idea of inspiring
others. And while both functions are necessary,
someone who can only operate in the day-to-
day manager role will find it difficult to move an
organization forward as a team. Why? Leaders
have vision, and this vision permeates through
the workplace and is manifested in the actions,
beliefs, values and goals of the organization. This
is the critical piece that motivates others to work
together. James Kouzes and Barry Posner, authors
of
The Leadership Challenge
, said “There’s nothing
more demoralizing than a leader who can’t clearly
articulate why we’re doing what we’re doing.”
The foundation of a team’s success always begins
with getting everyone focused on the same goal
or mission. No matter which part a team member
plays in the pursuit of that goal, everyone’s part
is equally important. Peter Drucker, in his book
