So, here we are, at the fifth of the \u201cFive Behaviors of Cohesive Teams.\u201d What brings us here? The ultimate goal of building greater trust, conflict, commitment and accountability is one thing\u2014achieving greater results as a team. In the case of NMC, we don\u2019t seek to realize results for results sake, nor for a profit motive. We\u2019re driven by a community centered \u2013 community serving<\/i> purpose, and a mission focused on supporting student transformation and success.<\/p>\n
NMC has a results-driven culture.<\/strong> In my first couple of months here at NMC I\u2019ve been doing a lot of \u2018listening and learning.\u2019 I\u2019ve noticed that NMC has plans<\/i> (e.g., a strategic plan, A3 goals, and an individual goal-setting process), score cards<\/i> (e.g., digital dashboards), and results<\/i>. A mentor once coached me, \u201cGood<\/i> teams have plans. They have a sense of purpose and a road map they follow. And, better<\/i> teams have score cards. They have a dashboard that helps them track their progress on their journey. But the best<\/i> teams produce results. They execute their plans and make adjustments based on the score cards, always seeking to improve.\u201d Below are some of NMC\u2019s most touted and truly outstanding results that I\u2019ve heard about as I am listening and learning. Our stakeholders are proudly and passionately sharing such results with me.<\/p>\n How we achieve our results is as important as the results that we achieve.<\/strong> I am also hearing from you how important our values are to a healthy, vibrant NMC culture, especially in our pursuit of our desired results. I am clearly hearing that while we have plans, score cards and results that we\u2019re realizing; how<\/i> we achieve our results is as important as the results that we achieve. I fully agree. I will continue to expect and champion a values-grounded approach to our pursuit of results. We must remain individually and collectively committed and responsible to live these values:<\/p>\n Since 1951 the NMC community \u2013 students, faculty\/staff, alumni, community members, businesses, donors\/supporters and so many more \u2013 have co-created a culture of shared purpose and values, a culture where everybody is focused on achieving\u00a0collective results<\/i>.<\/p>\n Continuing to focus on collective results<\/i>.<\/strong> Let\u2019s step back for a moment, and ask, what do we mean by results?<\/i> There are many ways to think about results<\/i>. Each organization is different and each will have a different focus. Results are not simply limited to financial measures or enrollment numbers. But in every team, there is a potential conflict between how each member views results. The question is, do they view results from an individual perspective or a collective perspective? In dysfunctional teams, the drive to achieve individual results conflicts with the need to achieve collective results. Sports fans will recognize the analogy of the gifted player who\u2019s so focused on their own glory that they put the success of their team at risk. The same situation can arise in any organization. Members may be so focused on meeting their own key performance indicators or individual goals, that they lose sight of the need to achieve collective results for the team. The team suffers as a consequence. NMC has a structure already in place to ensure that our individual goals are aligned with work group goals that in turn support our overall strategic plan directions. We must continue to support such alignment and ensure that everyone has a \u2018line of sight\u2019 \u2013 a clear understanding of how their individual contributions contribute to our overall results.<\/p>\n How can we make our NMC team even more results focused?<\/strong> Let me suggest the following actions that we can take. Some people refer to this as developing a team that is hungry.<\/i> At NMC I sense that we are hungry. There exists a passionate desire to want to help transform students\u2019 lives, helping them build a bridge to opportunities that might not otherwise have existed, if it were not for NMC.<\/p>\n First, we need to be setting clear expectations<\/b> and hold one another accountable for those expectations. Again, we have the right structure: plans (e.g., a strategic plan, A3 goals, and an individual goal-setting process), as well as score cards (e.g., digital dashboards). And, as I mentioned above, a values-grounded approach to our pursuit of results is equally important.<\/p>\n Second, we must ensure that we\u2019re practicing regular feedback<\/b>, and be willing to call out team members when their performance or behaviors need to change (of course, in a constructive and empathetic manner). We must also embrace a strengths-based approach, seeking to leverage one another\u2019s gifts and talents (and, not spend so much time focused on the traditional deficits-based approach to organization development).<\/p>\n Third, we must be encouraging to our team members<\/b>. This may sound obvious, but it\u2019s often overlooked. When a team member performs well and works with other members to drive collective results, they must be praised both by their leaders and fellow team members. This should be done on a regular basis to reinforce team spirit. Let\u2019s continue to recognize and celebrate our team members and teams for their accomplishments.<\/p>\n Lastly, let me share, this summer we\u2019ll begin to turn our attention toward a process of either updating our existing strategic plan or launching a new strategic plan. I am still not convinced which it will be. However, as I listen and learn, I am hearing a desire from our stakeholders to be engaged in a strategic planning process, to help co-create our desired future. A strategic planning process would allow NMC to develop a strategic plan by engaging our wider community in key conversations:<\/p>\n These \u201cFive Behaviors of Cohesive Teams\u201d that I\u2019ve shared over the last five weeks are not simply \u2018answers.\u2019 Together, they are more like a \u2018game plan.\u2019 And, a game plan requires practice. Reading them is simply not enough. Together, we must practice them. I will make it a priority to \u2018coach the team.\u2019 I have already seen that the NMC team members are willing to \u2018play your heart out.\u2019 My commitment back to you \u2013 I am all in, too! So, together, let’s:<\/p>\n Most importantly, let\u2019s be driven by a community centered \u2013 community serving<\/i> purpose, and a mission focused on supporting student transformation and success.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" So, here we are, at the fifth of the \u201cFive Behaviors of Cohesive Teams.\u201d What brings us here? The ultimate goal of building greater trust, conflict, commitment and accountability is one thing\u2014achieving greater results as a team. In the case of NMC, we don\u2019t seek to realize results for results sake, nor for a profit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-intercom","category-presidents-update"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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