HOW TO BECOME THE MOST VALUABLE PLAYER ON YOUR TEAM

All the major sports leagues celebrate their best players. But what if there were a most valuable player award for your team? Would you take home the prize?

Being the owner of my school - AGN Schools Consultoria em Idiomas e Traduções - I established different awards for individuals. The winners received public recognition, banners, trophies, and prizes. I love giving these awards. Without the contributions of these valuable team members, my company would have made measurably less progress in achieving our mission. Instead, I achieved more as a directly result of their efforts - it's good to say that I've never had any advertising campaign, and in 11 years I have already opened 3 branches in 3 major cities (São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro e Brasília), just the "mouth to mouth".

After all these years leading my team, I do know what works for companies, nonprofits, small organizations, ministries, and creative collectives looking to make a difference.

Let’s be clear about one thing up front: It’s not about being a hotshot. We’ve all been around people with tons of talent who were a liability to the group. Talent is never enough.

São Paulo Team

Here are seven tips for becoming the most valuable player on your team - even if you don’t think you’re the most talented member:

1- Play till the whistle blows - Don’t walk off the field in the game. Even if you’re behind - especially if you’re behind - you can make a winning contribution. But you’ll never do it if you quit early.

2- Practice good communication - For me that all comes down to clarity, responsiveness, and frequency. Be clear, don’t bottleneck information, and keep everyone who needs to know in the know as often as they need to know it.

3- Work hard - More accurately, work harder than you think you need to. Doing the minimum will win no points with people who are putting in extra effort. If you have more to give, do it.

4- Share your best - If you want to serve your team members, don’t hold back. Creativity, talent, learning, insight - they can make all the difference in the final outcome, so share your best stuff.

Rio de Janeiro Team

5- Own your mistakes - Responsibility is the mark of a strong team player. If there’s a problem and it’s yours, own it. Accountability frees people to work on the problem, not fester about the one who created it.

6- Affirm others - Team spirit is critical for victory, and everyone on the team is responsible to improve the mood if possible. Catch others doing good work and call them out.

7- Be positive - By its very nature, cynicism kills teamwork. Unlike constructive criticism, it’s defensive and self-indulgent. It’s designed to protect the cynic at the expense of everyone else. A positive attitude about problems is the best way to help the team get past them.

Michael Jordan said "talent might win games, but it takes teamwork to win championships". You may not have any control over the level of your talent, but you have a lot of control over your character and how you interact with your team.

To achieve its goals, a team needs members who give their all, give their best, and play to win.

Brasília Team

YOU DREAD SAYING YES BUT FEEL POWERLESS SAYING NO?

The two most powerful words in the English language are yes and no. Unfortunately, they’re also the hardest to master.

Like you, I have more opportunities and requests than time and energy. I’m better than ever at discerning the good from the bad, but I still sometimes agree to a project or meeting, instantly realize the mistake, and wish I had a rewind button for my life.

The only way to keep life from sucking us dry is to change our approach to making decisions.

Lysa TerKeurst in her book The Best Yes, suggests several ideas for sorting the good from the bad and better wielding our yeses and nos. I find these five particularly helpful:

1- Conduct an hours assessment. We only have 168 hours a week, but one reason we misuse yes and no is that we think we have more time than we actually do. 

Lysa recommends listing the main things we do every week and estimate the time they take. It’s pretty easy to see that we actually have far less time than we think.

Lysa recommends we take the margin we’ve identified and schedule it for the things we really want to accomplish and say no to most anything else.

2- Chase down the decision. Our decisions give our life’s direction. Every agreement comes with a trajectory. Lysa suggests pausing before we choose and “chase down” the decision. Where will your decision lead? “And then what? And then? Keep going until you walk it all the way out.”

If the destination is one we’ll regret, the only answer is no. Further, if we’re unclear on the direction we’re choosing, we should probably say no, too. There are consequences for almost everything we choose. It pays to know what they are.

3- Consider the trade. For every explicit agreement we make, there are always dozens of implicit agreements that go along with them. Choices are, as Lysa says, “package deals.”

To make good decisions, whether yes or no, requires we work on making those implicit agreements clear so we can evaluate them. What else is really in this package?

4- Examine your motive for choosing. It’s far too easy to say yes or no for reasons that have little to do with the merits of the choice. Sometimes we’re just afraid of upsetting someone. We want to please, to cajole, or to impress. But as Lysa says, “Those who constantly try to impress others will quickly depress themselves.”

We have to have enough integrity to refuse games like that. We have to look at the real pluses and minuses based on what our existing commitments and goals and then answer on the merits of the actual choice.

5- Recognize there’s no such thing as a perfect decision. Sometimes we fear making the wrong call. So we hold off instead of just saying yes or no. That’s especially true for saying no because we harbor a fear of missing out.

Life’s too short, and stalling is too stressful to do that. Lysa says we have to make the call and trust that God will work things out for our good, as Romans 8:28 says. It’s a liberating message.

If we’re going to get what we want from life, we have to master these two potent words, yes and no. “Every day we make choices,” Lysa says. “Then our choices make us.”

No pressure, right?

Of course we all feel that pressure on the front end and learn to make better decisions. Or, we inevitably feel it on the back end when we’re suffering from dumb decisions we’ve made. I’ll take the first of those two options every time.

These five points I’ve covered here only scratch the surface. Though the target market for The Best Yes is primarily women, we would all benefit from Lysa TerKeurst’s practical wisdom about making decisions.

How often do you struggle with using yes and no? 

FOUR REVOLUTIONARY LEADERSHIP TACTICS

When we think of leaders from America’s revolutionary era, our minds jump to military commanders like George Washington, political organizers like Samuel Adams, and rousing orators like Patrick Henry. In the hierarchy of the Revolution, these men stand atop the loftiest rungs. For good reason!

These men accomplished amazing feats against incredible odds. But they could not have done it alone. Like executives in a successful company, they required the service and sacrifice of others to achieve their goals. They required effective lieutenants, like Paul Revere.

Everyone knows Revere for his famous ride. Most are, however, unaware of the vital “midlevel” leadership roles and functions that he played in the buildup to Independence. In researching his life for The Revolutionary Paul Revere, I found four tactics that made Revere indispensable to leaders revolutionary efforts - tactics that can also make you indispensable in your organization.

1. Take the Initiative

Revere was a blue collar guy, an artisan. Unlike other revolutionary leaders like John Adams or John Hancock, he received a minimal education and was entitled to none of life’s higher stations in colonial Boston, his hometown. That didn’t stop him from serving the cause. He led from where he was.

A goldsmith by trade, Revere led where he was able. One example: During the British military occupation of Boston following the Tea Party, who helped to organize a spy ring of workaday patriots to keep tabs on the redcoats and their commanders? None other than Revere - repairman of silverware by day, cloak-and-dagger coordinator by night.

Anyone can fill time and work a to-do list. Taking the initiative to lead is what sets apart someone truly valuable to an organization.

2. Leverage Your Strengths

Everyone brings unique talents to their situations, because everyone’s unique. The trick is in leveraging those strengths. Revere was a sociable fellow; he joined several different local clubs and associations and could regularly be found in the taproom of the Salutation or Green Dragon taverns. Connectedness was one of Revere’s strengths. So he used it.

Historian David Hackett Fischer sorted the membership lists of seven different Boston political groups and associations. He found 255 members in all, of whom 94.1 percent were in just one or two groups. And at the other end of the spectrum? Only Revere and his friend Joseph Warren belonged to more than four groups - in fact, each was a member of five different groups. Revere’s network made him useful as someone who could link disparate revolutionary parties, and his connectedness applied in other areas as well, including his role as an express rider.

Whatever your unique strengths, leveraging them in a leadership capacity increases your worth to your organization, especially if you excel at the third tactic.

3. Be Reliable

When Sam Adams needed someone to send word to New York that Boston patriots had just dumped several hundred crates of tea in Boston Harbor, he sent Revere, who was also one of the likely participants in the destruction of the tea.

That was 1773. He served as an express rider through start of the war in 1775. In one of countless messages Revere carried to New York during this period, Boston patriot Thomas Young referred to Revere as “Steady, vigorous, sensible, and persevering.” Whether it was riding express or printing money or casting cannons or even figuring out how to manufacture gunpowder, Revere was tapped time and again because patriot higher-ups could count on him to get the job done, whatever it was and even if he’d never done it before, which oftentimes he had not.

That last fact highlights Revere’s strength at creative problem solving, something he reliably leveraged every day. It’s also one area that every leader at any level in an organization should cultivate.

4. Cultivate Creativity

Human creativity is life’s only truly renewable resource. The more you use it, the more you get. In his business life, Revere was constantly creating and developing new methods, fresh approaches, and ingenious applications. He transferred that facility into the patriot movement. Whether it was unknotting technological problems for the patriots or coordinating communications, Revere reaffirmed his value at every turn.

Take the ride for which he’s famous. Revere realized that if the British were to seize the powder stores at Concord, they might try to lock down Boston to prevent any word about the assault from spreading. Revere’s job was to spread the news, so coming home through Charlestown several days before his fabled ride and the Battle of Lexington and Concord, he contrived the one-and-two lamp signal from North Church tower. That way if he were unable to get back to Charlestown, the patriots there could still get the news and spread the alarm.

Revere’s fears proved true. When the Brits did move, they seized almost every boat in town and placed sentries along the roads. Revere was able to get out by one of the few undiscovered boats, but the people in Charlestown already knew about the troops when Revere arrived because he’d charged someone with hanging the lights in the tower. The solution worked.

If it’s true that most of a leader’s job involves problem solving, then one of the most important things you can do as a leader is to follow Revere and cultivate creativity in the endeavor.

Does this approach to leadership inspire you as you think about your unique position and opportunities?

SEVEN PRINCIPLES FOR SETTING GOALS THAT WORK

How do you make change happen? More than that, how do you make the right change happen? When there is a gap between what is and what you want to be, how do you cross that gap? This is where we enter the realm of goals.

In my first job out of graduate school, I was given a massive task that was far beyond anything I had been prepared for: redesign the entire website for the major ministry I worked for - while launching a nationwide radio program and keeping several other initiatives in motion as well. So how did I keep things together? I learned about setting goals.

At first, I got all caught up in all the different types of goals we encounter, and the detailed (and sometimes overly complex!) processes for defining our goals. Fortunately, I came to discover that more important than the particular process we use to set our goals are some fundamental principles that can help us identify the right goals in the first place.

With those principles, I set our goals for the website redesign. When we released the site, it was a turning point for our ministry and our primary website metrics quadrupled within four months. I’ve since used these principles whenever I need to set goals (which is a lot! - I set yearly goals, annual goals, weekly goals, and much more), and they have never let me down.

So no matter what types of goals you are setting or for what time frame, here are seven core principles for setting goals that will help you make a bigger difference and get you to a place you actually want to be.

1. First ask “what needs to be done?”

Goals are about making a contribution. Therefore the first question you need to ask is not “what do I want to do?” but rather “what needs to be done?” Asking this question first focuses our attention on contribution rather than simply activity or what will serve ourselves.

The point here is not that our own interests don’t matter. They do matter - immensely. The issue is the end towards which you direct your interests. When setting goals, you need to ask first what outcomes your family needs, what outcomes your organization needs, and what outcomes your community needs, not first what outcomes you need. You need to put your interests in the service of others, not first yourself.

2. Then ask “where can I contribute best?”

When you ask the question of what needs to be done, there will almost always be more than one good answer. This is where you take into account what you are passionate about, your strengths, your interests, and what you want to do. When there is more than one thing that needs to be done, choose the one that is most in line with your interests, skills, and strengths.

The relationship between what needs to be done and what energizes you is iterative - thinking through each side can affect the other. What you are looking for is the overlap. Except for extreme cases (emergencies where there is no other option), don’t compromise here.

3. Ask “what are the constraints?” last, not first.

Most people put this question first, and that’s what ends up creating so many problems in the long run. This question must be last, not first, because as Peter Drucker points out, you will almost always have to compromise something - and you can never know what the right compromises are unless you first know the ideal state you are aiming toward.

Don’t limit yourself right out of the gate. Compromises will have to be made, but unless you start out with the ideal outcome, you will always make the wrong ones.

4. Aim high and lead.

Don’t simply jump on the bandwagon, and don’t be drug down by people with a militant commitment to mediocrity. Set large goals and make big plans.

5. Keep your goals aligned with your mission and values.

This is what discipline is. Discipline is not necessarily doing less, but making sure that all that you do is in line with your mission and values - especially for organizations.

In fact, many organizations that look disciplined because they seem to be very focused are actually very undisciplined, because their focus is not being determined by their mission and values. Don’t settle for mere appearances of discipline by simply doing less. Be truly disciplined by focusing on the things that embody and reflect your mission and values.

6. Re-consider all of your goals each time you accomplish a goal.

After accomplishing a goal, if you simply do what’s next on your list, you run the risk of being held captive to the priorities of yesterday. Therefore, always reconsider your priorities before setting a new goal, rather than simply doing what’s next on the list.

7. Pursue justice and mercy in your goals.

Goals have a reputation of being about how we can make our own lives better. But that is not the life of greatest meaning and significance. The life of greatest meaning is when we use all that we have to take initiative for the good of others - even to the point of making plans for their welfare.

Setting goals for using any influence we have to go the extra mile and bring benefit to those in need is a fantastic way to do this - and a great privilege. It helps us ensure that we are setting goals that really count and will really be meaningful in the end.

What are some of the most important principles for setting good goals that you’ve found for your life and work? Share them with us.

INVESTING YOUR BEST RESOURCES IN THE WRONG PEOPLE?

It is easy to see other people making this mistake. It is more difficult to catch yourself doing it. I’ve been guilty plenty of times.

Leaders often make this same mistake in various areas of their lives. For example:

- A mother invests all of her emotional energy in a difficult child to the neglect of the quiet, compliant one. The difficult child gets worse and the compliant one begins acting up to get attention;

- A corporate executive spends most of her time helping under-performing salespeople rather than provide leadership and inspiration to her top producers. She then wonders why she can’t keep her best people;

- A pastor expends so much of his time trying to fix broken people that he doesn’t have the energy to develop the leaders who could help shoulder the burden. He constantly grumbles about his workload.

What can you do if you are in this situation? Make sure you are investing your best resources - including your time and energy - in your best people. Here’s how:

1- Acknowledge that your resources are limited.

Your time, money, and energy are finite resources. It’s easy to forget this and overcommit. But it’s a zero-sum game. Every time you say “yes” to one person, you are saying “no” to others.

2- Become aware of where your resources are going. 

It’s easy to think the situation is temporary or an exception. But is it? This is the little lie that keeps us stuck if we aren’t careful. Look back over your calendar and make an honest assessment. It will reveal the truth.

3- End unproductive or unhealthy relationships.

This is the hard part. If you can’t end them, then at least establish boundaries. If you need inspiration or moral support, read Henry Cloud’s excellent book, Necessary Endings: The Employees, Businesses, and Relationships That All of Us Have to Give Up in Order to Move Forward.

4- Identify the people you should be investing in.

This is the most important step. Change your focus. Who are the individuals you have overlooked? Who are the people who should be getting the bulk (or at least more) of your resources? Who are the ones who represent the future?

5- Schedule time on your calendar to serve these people.

Good intentions are important, but they are not enough. Like the old adage says, “What gets scheduled gets done." The opposite is also true, “What doesn’t get scheduled doesn’t get done.”

Yes, Jesus spent time with broken people. He healed the sick. He comforted the broken-hearted. He ministered to the outcasts.

But he spent the bulk of his resources on just twelve people. He proactively invested in them, knowing that his mission was, humanly speaking, dependent on their success.

If you have any experience to share with us, be welcome.

WHO SAID NICE GUYS ALWAYS FINISH LAST?

We’ve all read the stories about successful and iconic CEOs with volatile personalities about leaders who use fear to drive performance, like Mr. Burns in The Simpsons, ruling over the Springfield power plant with an iron fist.

A few of these executives are better known for their bad behavior than their business achievements. And while in some cases their antics may be their downfall, many others go unpunished by their boards and shareholders as long as they’re delivering results.

The theatrics of badly behaved business leaders provide a constant stream of headlines for the media, so you couldn’t blame people for thinking that such aggressive behavior is a routine part of being a successful CEO. Sadly, we seldom read about the many mild-mannered but equally – if not more – effective executives. About those who foster commitment, loyalty, and inspiration. Maybe they’re not as newsworthy, but they’re certainly the ones we should be taking notes from.

So what can they teach us? In my 17 year career, I’ve known every kind of executive, from the most outrageous to the most gracious. And I keep coming back to five traits, which, in my view, are shared by the most inspirational and most effective among them:

1. Inclusive leaders commit to diversity

They use the insights brought by different people from different walks of life to spark discussion and create innovative solutions. They seek to build consensus and commitment, yet they don’t shy away from making the tough decisions.

Forget any notion that inclusion is simply a Human Resource initiative: a survey of executives conducted by Forbes identified workplace diversity as a major driver of internal innovation and business growth.

2. Creative leaders encourage employees to take risks

Their companies place a high value on innovation and often lead their industries as a result. Creative leaders cut through hierarchy and empower even the most junior team members to speak their mind. They create a culture which is energizing to be part of.

Innovative businesses are the most sought after by potential recruits. According to a survey of Millennials by Deloitte, 78% consider how innovative a company is when deciding if they want to work there.

3. Ethical leaders have the highest standards

They lead by example and serve as role models for transparency and openness. The companies they lead have a clear and defined societal purpose beyond profit. Their employees feel they’re making a difference in the world.

Ethical leadership is possibly the most important of all the five traits, as it underpins all the others. A leader can spend decades building their career and reputation only to have it destroyed by one scandal or lapse in judgment.

4. Balanced leaders don’t keep employees chained to their desks

They know long hours don’t necessarily improve productivity and profitability, and in fact can be counterproductive. They embrace the flexibility technology has provided the workplace, despite its ability to keep us connected 24/7. Balanced leaders aren't afraid to unplug for a few hours or even a few days.

I believe it’s really important for a leader to take time to disconnect. For example, I might travel to three countries in a week, but I’ll block out the weekend to spend time with my two sons and my wife. Or an evening for dinner with friends, or an event for the nonprofits I work with.

5. Grateful leaders are never too busy to say “thank you”

They remain grounded, stay human, and never forget where they came from. These leaders create a culture where people are recognized and valued for their contribution. They don’t just acknowledge the department heads or top sales people, but also those unassuming people behind the scenes, maybe the ones who make their coffee, or deliver their packages, or record their videos.

Gratitude is something that’s very important to me personally. In the past I’ve found many small but meaningful ways to say thank you, including personal letters and company awards.

Every CEO is different, and none of us are perfect, but the most effective and inspiring fall into one, several, or all of these groupings.

By a wide margin, these leaders will get the least press, even though they far exceed in numbers their peers with volatile personalities. Regardless, through the strong example they’re setting, they’re increasing customer loyalty, attracting the brightest talent to their companies, and inspiring the next generation of leaders.

Would you like to tell us your own experience?