The WE In Team

This morning at my Clark Kent Job, I shared some insight into my management philosophy with co-workers that weren’t initially interested but still wanted to hear it regardless.

As young boy, I was continuously frustrated with my inability to do many things I wanted to do alone. I discovered I needed help, resources, and friends or at least other people.

But how?

Dale Earnhardt vs Rusty Wallace

My sports hero was Dale Earnhardt. His rival was Rusty Wallace as they competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. One of the differences I noticed between the two drivers was their team narrative in Victory Lane and in pit lane.

In Victory Lane, any time a microphone and video camera was crammed in Dale’s face, I recall he’d start with “Well, we did blah, blah … “. Or conversely, in pit lane after the winner’s interview that wasn’t his team, he would start the same “Well, we didn’t have fast pit stops / or we had an issue on pit road”.

I remember Rusty being interviewed at a win at Martinsville, Virginia. He mentioned, “How about that, I won the Martinsville 500?” I furrowed my eyebrows, and thought, I’m fairly confident that your pit crew, crew chief, corporate sponsors, and car owner would like recognition for their assistance in the win.

Furthermore, if Rusty’s race results were less than the win, I recall “they had an issue in pit lane, or my crew chief made fuel gamble that didn’t work.”

I learned that team work that’s inclusive regardless of outcome is the best method to lead.

The WE In Team

I was born with leadership in my DNA. At least that’s what I’ve been told to me all my life. I realized quickly everyone has strengthens, and weaknesses therefore someone’s strength is someone else’s weakness and vice versa.

If you gathered a team together that had reciprocating strengths and weaknesses, you eliminate weakness, and bolster the strengths. The WE In Team would be a collaborative crew of success in all that the tasks they tackle.

Furthermore, integrity is my cornerstone of my style of leading. If I assign a task to a team member then I’ve either done it in the past or shown I could do it. I trust that it gets done. My crew also knows to hold me accountable to my standards that I set.

The WE in team means that a teammate’s ability to excel in an area or skill is not a threat to my position of leadership. In fact, to me, I see that as an opportunity for that person to teach us! While we won’t be as skilled at it, at least we know how.

My current team at the Costco Photo Center is a cohesive, bio-machine that if I’m not present in the department, all tasks are completed without prompting.

Speaking of which … I wanna post this so I can work day 4 of 7 consecutive.

More from me later!

‘los