What Does Ancient Widsom Have To Tell Us About Modern Team Success?
Award-winning sales enablement leader. CEO of Strategy to Revenue. Passionate about helping salespeople unleash their full potential. getty  While learning about various religious concepts of interpersonal conduct, I came across a concept whereby we have a mutual responsibility to be the guarantor of the behavior/success of each other. This is similar to a commonly used expression, Am I my brothers keeper? The associated teachings tell us the answer should be yes  and it is directly applicable to the success of our sales teams, where each team member has the responsibility to identify and address behaviors that create obstacles to success. But there are some caveats. If we have mutual responsibility, then we must first agree to be open to feedback. The scripture of several religions speaks readily about being honest with yourself and others. James 1:19 tells us, Everyone quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, and the Dalai Lama said, An open heart is an open mind.  The importance of giving feedback appropriately. Equally, we have a responsibility as leaders and managers to be equipped to give feedback in a way that builds up the person and the group. This can be trickier. At first glance, the responsibility to provide this kind of input may appear dangerous. Delivered the wrong way, feedback can tear down the group rather than build it up. Spiritual teachings provide an answer to that as well. First, we have to realize that we should not criticize for criticisms sake. This is about mutual responsibility. Matthew 22:39 states, Love thy neighbor as thyself.  In my learning, it has become clear that this process must be based on the desire to improve the whole (the community) and that is done out of love. You cannot approach this by taking the moral high ground and claiming to be right. We cannot humiliate, embarrass or coerce another individual to agree with our view. This is about using evidence to collaboratively come up with an answer. For those steeped in modern coaching techniques, this will all sound familiar. Lets break them down in even more detail, as they apply to a modern sales team.  Take responsibility to act as a guarantor for the collective results of the group.  Be open to feedback as a prerequisite to giving feedback.  Take responsibility to help anyone who falls short of the desired behaviors/activities that ensure the success of the group.  Do not tell people what to do; instead, provide proof of the impact of the behavior in question and get the individual to identify what needs to be done to be better  that is the cornerstone of successful coaching.  Be open to hearing about your own failures. Build an atmosphere of mutual trust, ensuring that there is a constructive dialogue between parties that can ultimately lead to a positive outcome. Core concepts to building effective interdependence in teams. Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change, gives us some unique insight into building effective interdependence within a team (habits four, five and six), but through my learning, I have discovered these are ancient pearls of wisdom that have been dispensed by religions throughout time, which reinforces their value to me. In "habit four," Covey introduces the concept of think win-win  working toward situations that are mutually beneficial and satisfying to each party. I have been reminded again of the concept that every person stands as a guarantor for their community. This encourages unity of purpose, i.e., a desire to strive towards a mutually beneficial outcome. Unity of purpose does not simply imply uniformity; in fact, it implies the exact opposite. We should embrace our differences, recognizing that a diversity of approaches can deliver us to the common desired outcome, something for the common good  a win-win. "Habit five" introduces, Seek to understand before being understood. Ancient teaching from Rabbeinu Yonah in the Shaarei Teshuva says something similar to this concept, Listen well, surrender yourself and return in repentance when you are admonished. ... Take each word of criticism to heart without exception.  For if you listen and internalize ... you will become an entirely different person ... So search hard for those who would offer you criticism from that day on and learn from whoever will teach you.   "Habit six" is synergy and implies that "by understanding and valuing the differences in another person's perspective, we have the opportunity to create synergy, which allows us to uncover new possibilities through openness and creativity." As Stephen Covey states, "It is the combination of all the other habits that prepares us for habit six"  "When one plus one equals three or more and the whole is great than the sum of its parts"  a quote often attributed to Aristotle. However, my learning reminded me that at the point that one accepts another's view (conversation) and decides to reform (change), they're immediately transformed into a new individual with new ideas and outcomes, aligned to the common good. How to put the wisdom into practice. But here's how to use this wisdom to help sales teams operate in a more effective manner:   There must be unity of purpose linked to common goals.  Recognition of collective responsibility for the success of the team. We're the guarantors of other's success.  Recognition that it's unity, not uniformity, that drives success. It's our differences that allow us to generate new ideas.  We achieve success through coaching.  To ensure we're the best that we can be, we have to be open to coaching. At the core is the concept of a unity of purpose which will deliver a true collective responsibility within the team, where we not only collectively guarantee each others success but proactively look to coach and be coached to be the best we can be. Leaders need to inspire their people to look to this common goal and empower them to take responsibility, guaranteeing the success of the common vision. Whilst we need to have clarity as to the outcomes, we don't need uniformity in how we achieve these outcomes  we need to allow the uniqueness of every individual to shine through. Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches.