LEADERSHIP
A Walk-On Mentality
635 days without a win! That all changed last night.
Whether you’re a football person or not, you gotta give the Cleveland Browns some credit. Particularly, Baker Mayfield (2018 1st-round draft pick).
Quick backstory:
Mayfield was a 5’10 high school senior and lightly recruited.
He casually walked onto Texas Tech and got the starting QB job and then decided to transfer to Oklahoma (didn’t even notify coaching staff). He enrolled as a student and once again got the starting job. Not only did he rack up a lot of wins for OU, but he also won the Heisman Trophy.
What can we learn from Baker Mayfield?
You need to have a walk-on mentality. Mayfield knew he was always going to be at a physical disadvantage, so what’d he do? He worked harder than everybody else.
Whether it was gaining a mental edge on the competition or over-studying the playbook, Baker took advantage of every avenue possible.
Do you have a walk-on mentality at work?
CULTURE
Values and Culture Matter
A culture of shared values, communication and fairness are among the critical ingredients for business success, according to the Hartford Courant. Employees need to believe in the leadership, find meaning and feel appreciated.
In the real world:
Liberty Bank CEO Chandler Howard has 700 employees at 55 locations.
Howard makes sure that employees feel like they’re part of the team and have ownership in the bank.
“What I try to do is I try to link the mission of the bank to have appeal to every employee. So, in other words, I try to ensure that employees see how they fit into making the company successful, and if the company is successful, ultimately, they are more successful.”
Autonomy is highly valued by workers at successful companies. Most employees regardless of their place or work feel very strongly about independence and flexibility.
MANAGEMENT
How to Manage Grunt Work
Not all aspects of the job are fun. Sometimes, you and your team have to do necessary “grunt work.”
There are times when grunt work can lead to a sense of entitlement among employees. It’s your job to manage and help them get over their grunt work frustration.
According to the Harvard Business Review, here are a few ways to help your employees shrink the amount of time they spend on grunt work.
- Time constraints: If low-level tasks are taking too much time, push your team to complete task X in half the time.
- Vision: Help your employee visualize what they could be doing with the company.
- Positive promotion: Remind your employees “it’s not what you’re doing but how you go about doing it.”
- Chip in: Sometimes, employees need to see that all hands are on deck. Make sure they occasionally seeing you jumping in on some grunt work.
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