Last fall, at the Building Champions Experience, I gave the opening presentation. The topic was centered on best practices for success in challenging times. Earlier in the year, as I prepared for this presentation, I interviewed several clients and friends who serve as leaders of large organizations to identify the most common behavioral disciplines.
During my interview with a client who is the CEO of a UK based petroleum additives organization, the topic of team came up. He said that he believes we fall short as leaders when we see our teams as an “asset.” He explained that people do not want to feel owned, or to have their value summarized on a corporate balance sheet.
His belief is that our team is more than an asset. They are our competitive advantage.
I agree with him that a leader’s strategies and actions are different when they see those they lead as their competitive advantage rather than an asset. When we believe our team is our competitive advantage, our culture becomes much more focused on development and learning. Those that have this mindset allocate more dollars to coaching, workshops, and professional education.
I think there is an even bigger difference that exists within this type of a culture. When a leader believes that his team is the organization’s competitive advantage, he will encourage much more collaboration around strategy and innovation than will the asset minded leader. The advantage-minded leader knows that the success of tomorrow rest in the minds of his team today, and he is more intentional and skilled at tapping into them for ideas and solutions.
This was yet another great lesson for me, not only in preparation for that opening presentation, but as a Coach and CEO. Since that conversation in the first half of 09, I have been thinking about our team at Building Champions a bit differently.
This improved thinking is causing my disciplines to change as well. I have always believed that my team is responsible for everything good that happens for us as a company. Seeing them as more than an asset - as our competitive advantage - is a definite improvement in my thinking.
How do you see the team you lead?
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Tags: Collaboration, Culture, Learning and Development, Teamwork, The Experience
Hi Coach,
Great questions and thoughts for me to consider regarding my team. You keep writing thought provoking material that challenges all of us to be better leaders and think outside the box. I’m challenging my team tomorrow in our bi-weekly meeting to ask how they give their clients a competitive advantage when list or work with them on buying a home. We will also look at how we collectively are a competitive advantage. Thanks for the exercise.
Dan
Good work Dan! I am so pleased to hear that this blog thing is helping you.
Daniel
“When we believe our team is our competitive advantage, our culture becomes much more focused on development and learning. ” PROFOUND…Daniel, I was probably guilty of placing the phrase “our employees are our most valuable asset.” in power point presentations years ago and really had no idea what I was saying. Trouble with ‘assets’ is that they depreciate (even real estate in today’s market!). I believe the company’s competitive advantage is how fast it can change relative to it’s competition AND the great leaders in the company are the ones that are able to identify the need and make that change occur. Great post. Generally a team with the best players has the best chance to win!! Especially when led by a great leader. You all have both at BC!!
Thank you John. I wish I could take credit for this insight. This is just another example of how we coaches learn from our clients.
Daniel
It’s an interesting post Daniel as good leaders are always assessing their teams. However from my perspective, an advantage is an asset and an asset is an advantage. I tend to view team members as resources that if abused, improperly allocated, not developed, or underutilized place the individual, team, and overall enterprise at risk. By contrast, resources properly deployed and developed enhance the overall return to the individual, to the culture and to the enterprise…
Thanks for commenting Mike. I see your perspective and think I agreed with it in times past.
I think the one big difference is that we own assets. I recall a meeting I attended years ago where William Pollard, the then CEO of the 300,000 employee firm, ServiceMaster spoke. One of the things he challenged us with was that we leaders are responsible for creating organizations that cause employees to want to come back to. He said he looked at the corporate parking lot at the end of the day knowing that all the people leaving could choose to come or not come back to work the next day. They are not owned therefore, they cannot be assets.
I am not sure if or how this will change how you lead but I think it is helping me.
I appreciate you!
Daniel
Got your point Daniel, but I think you missed mine. From my perspective this is not a semantical debate…it’s a practical consideration to be dealt with on a daily basis. I think if you read my comment more closely, you’ll see that we’re more aligned than you may think. Best wishes Daniel.
I’m halfway between Daniel and Mike. I do believe that followers are assets in the sense that different followers bring different levels of value. However, unlike most assets, their value is not fixed or determined by market forces. The ROI on investing in people is superb. Likewise, it is only when you view people as a competitive advantage that you will invest in them in such a way as to raise the value of the asset. Kind of circularly but the point is still the same as Daniel’s: view people for more than just the value you assessed when you hired them.
Great additional thoughts David! Thank you!