Its all about the Team!

“Coming together is beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” —Henry Ford

This week I heard someone saying that they are struggling with employee satisfaction/engagement, and then they changed the subject and talked about how they are trying to decide whether or not to buy another company for $100million. The two situations seemed to be unrelated in their mind.

I can't say that I can relate to the pressures and nuances of the c-suite although at one point in my life I was responsible for 60 employees, and a $2 million budget, which pales in comparison to what most of the influential corporate decision makers have on their hands. But, if I remember correctly the emphasis on spending money outside of salary is marketing and product development. Mostly,  salaries are seen as a financial burden, while money for developing new products and selling them is a bottomless well.

Isn't a company not very different from a sports team. Aren't the players the most important component? Without productive, fulfilled players, spectators don't show up.  

Companies that have figured this out are thriving. The old school style of management, which treats employees like a commodity, is going the way of the Dodo, and so will leaders who don’t shift their priority to building and fostering a strong team.

Does it really make sense to consider a multi million acquisition, when your team is not fulfilled and thriving? Why not spend that money to built an elite team. Not necessarily an increase in salary, but specialized training, career path enhancement, services and reduced work load.  Think improving employee well-being. It's not until the employees are fully engaged and on board with the mission, will the mission succeed. Only then should client interests and shareholder demands be considered. It should be a corporate leader's job to make the clients and shareholders realize that it's in their best interest to have engaged employees. Is that not an executive’s fiduciary responsibility?

“A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better” – Jim Rohn