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I hope you are having a great summer so far and have scheduled some R & R.

If you’re looking for a creative way to connect, consider the Leadership article in this newsletter as a place to begin. Go ahead. Take your team on a retreat. Go out for ice cream instead of sitting in the office. Plan a picnic. Oh, and don’t forget your Beatles music.

Enjoy!
Val

The Beatles Principle

Andrew Sobel suggests that one of the best examples of a successful team of our time is the Beatles.  He suggests that they were more than just singers and performers, but also four ordinary guys, that formed a team, had tremendous fun at what they did together, were financially successful and produced great music. Sobel notes that their accomplishments were far more than just music.  Their magic is what he calls “the Beatles Principles”.

Let’s take a closer look at The Beatles Principles:

• Beatles Principle #1: “Eight Days a week” Invest in and build face time between team members long before they are required to appear together.

- Sobel suggests that long before the Beatles hit it big on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1963 that they had practiced and performed together for 1000’s of hours. The many hours of face-to-face time with each other created a seemingly effortless presentation that worked. The “face time” that the Beatles logged together created trust, respect and familiarity. All of these are key ingredients to a successful team.

- Take a look at the teams that you are involved in. What is the quality and quantity of “face time”? What would it take to increase it? Improve it?

• Beatles Principle #2: “Getting Better” Evolve your ‘songs’ and bring the same level of ideas, new perspective, excitement, and enthusiasm to your 100th meeting.

- Another component of the Beatles success was that they were constantly re-inventing their music and placing emphasis on creativity. Or as Sobel says, the Beatles weren’t content to keep singing ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ over and over again. Their songs changed and evolved and were varied.

- What if you decided to do the same? What if, just because a business idea or strategy worked last year, you decided not to do it again this year? What if we kept it fresh and creative week after week after week? It worked for the Beatles.

• Beatles Principle #3: “With a Little Help From My Friends” Help team members become brands-within-brands by giving them a song –an idea or proposal – that will help them to shine.

- While Lennon and McCartney were the early drivers on the team, the Beatles very quickly realized the importance of letting each team member have the spotlight. Ringo Starr had the chance to sing on almost every album: “With a Little Help From My Friends”. Harrison’s songs were also included: “Here Comes the Sun.” and “Something”.

- Often in our team settings we place such great emphasis on developing our Mission and Vision that we forget to give attention to Participation. What if you intentionally developed ways and means for individuals of the team to contribute and participate. What ways can you help others shine? Give it some thought.

• Beatles Principle #4: “I Need You” Put exceedingly diverse professional on the same team, mix specialists with generalists, and foster friendly competition to produce the best ideas.

- Lennon and McCartney were very dissimilar. Lennon was cynical, angry and sarcastic. McCartney was optimistic and hardworking. And yet, together these two very different individuals contributed and collaborated in a very productive manner.

- To what degree are your teams blended? Have you recruited team members very similar to yourself and other members? What if you intentionally recruited a true mix of individuals that were onboard with your mission and vision, yet approached things very differently?

For a complete copy of Andrew Sobel’s The Beatles Principles go here:

“You can’t direct the wind, but you can adjust your sails.”  Unknown

“Leadership is the art of mobilizing others to want to struggle for shared aspirations.”  James M. Kouzes and Barry Posner, The Leadership Challenge.

Addressing the importance of the leader having the BIG picture view, “Sometimes you just need to get off the dance floor and go up to the balcony! (“Leadership
On the Line”)

What does our team need in order for us to do our best work?

What do we need to do to better utilize the talent on our team?

The Thing In The Bushes

by Kevin Ford and
James Osterhaus

Dr. Phil says, “You can’t correct what you won’t acknowledge and you can’t acknowledge what you don’t know.” The simple truth is that most organizations have small hairline fractures that go unnoticed for years at a time. Their impact is negligible. It’s not until you put some pressure on the fracture that it grows into a crack and can cause real problems.

To Read more about this book, click here