Journeying with each other

Belonging and togetherness is a fundamental human need. We do not do life alone. We prefer, on the whole, to travel with others, to share our experiences and be part of something bigger than ourselves. Human beings are essentially social creatures and they do better when they find their tribe. The tribe can be family, a group of friends, an interest group, or colleagues and teams at work.

Collaboration and working as a team is the goal in homes, schools and offices. Together we can do more is a regular refrain but few people actually know what that means. it’s about creating a healthy symbiosis where we help each other to succeed and, in the process, the whole team wins.

If you are managing at team, be it at work or home, here are some principals of human behaviour and human potential to bear in mind so that you become and effective Journeyman™.

Take aways for winning at work

If you are leading a team get to know the members of your team – their families, their interests, their history, the sports teams they support, and more
Managing a team is an extension of parenting – you are the de fact parent when your employees are at work – particularly your younger employees who have often been over- or under-parented – you need to work this out to decide how to manage each of them
Discover the essence of each member of the team beyond their job description – what makes them tick, then customise your communication and your support accordingly
Help them to find and express ‘their voice’
Work out how you can help them to meet their KPIs – in the process, you will be helping yourself achieve your goals too
How can you help them develop and advance their Talent Profile (new form of CV) – to colour it in in an interesting way during their time with you
Become an experience designer – it’s what will make you a memorable leader and it’s what will retain and engage your staff
Win and lose together
Face to face time is still the foundation of effective relationships and trust and in a high tech world contact time is increasingly important

Take aways for winning at life and home

Discover the essence of each member of your family and help them to express it.
Your relationship with each member of the family will be different. With some there will be a natural affinity. With others you will have to work a little harder at building a bridge of connection but, build it, you must. As adults we must build emotional bridges to our children so that they can walk back over those bridges to us later.
You will need to show love differently to each person because they perceive love differently. The Five Love Languages is a a good place to start. Which is their primary and secondary love language from this list: Acts of service, words of affirmation, gifts, physical touch or quality time?
Broaden your view of talent from the narrow pictures of mathematical, linguistic, artistic and athletic. Observe your child in action. See their strengths at work. What comes to the fore? Empathy and caring, visual or spatial skills, problem solving, working with their hands, building things, and so much more.
With your children, as they achieve something do allow them to experience their success for a while before pushing them on to reaching the next level. Sometimes we push too quickly, raising the bar another rung, before they have consolidated where they are and it can lead to them thinking that they are never actually good enough.
Face to face time is still the foundation of effective relationships and trust and in a high tech world contact time is increasingly important

Effective teams at work and at home require leadership that encourages collaboration and togetherness while also supporting self-discovery and personal growth. Are you being an effective Journeyman™ and are you growing and succeeding through the process too? Parenting families and managing teams are more similar than you think. I’d be happy to share more with you on this topic.