Teamwork makes the…nah.
I worked with a warden once who said, “Teamwork makes the dreamwork” as a mantra. He said it when he shook your hand. He said it when he walked into meetings. Once when an employee demanded answers to a crisis situation, yep you guessed it, he answered with “Teamwork makes the dreamwork.” I will say it was a great way to de-escalate the situation because everyone in the room dropped their jaw and scratched their head. Figuratively speaking. For the most part.
Point is…a mantra about leadership is fine, but it has to actually mean something. The leadership attached to the above mantra was more of a nightmare than a dream.
I was invited to be a speaker recently for an organizational retreat. First off, it was a beautiful setting (Water’'s Edge Resort in Connecticut, in case you want to visit). The organization has grown from two founders to about 50 employees in a relatively short amount of time, so they’re experiencing the first throes of discovering that some hires may not be as passionate about the mission as they would like. Thus the retreat. It was a good time, let me tell you. Ok. Maybe a good time for a nerd leader, but I think everyone else enjoyed it too. Here’s what I loved about it: There were three days of activities designed to bring everyone in line with the mission peppered with engaging fun stuff and great food designed to have everyone interact socially and enough free time to feel like a break from ‘real’ work. That’s a great recipe for a retreat.
The activities for mission-alignment were great too: panel discussions with returning citizens and subject matter experts (that was me) around how the organization’s mission is meeting the needs of justice-involved people and their families, creative competition on developing the next great idea, and small and whole-group problem-solving sessions. Everyone left feeling rested and jazzed, all at the same time.
If you’re heading up a prison system with thousands of employees spread across the state or a school district with hundreds of employees working in multiple silos (otherwise known as campuses), a retreat probably isn’t in the budget. Do you have an annual convocation? Do you all meet at a conference? It’s hard to get the same level of engagement as a retreat for a few people. But carving out time to at least ensure that your top leaders are mission-aligned, positively interact with one another, and at least occasionally feel rested and jazzed about their work is imperative. I can help with that, by the way. Contact me if you want to kick around some ideas.
As a new Assistant Principal many moons ago, a mentor recommended a book and some advice to me that I’ve carried with me into every leadership role. The book is called If You Don’t Feed the Teachers, They Eat the Students by Neila A. Connors. It’s a great read for leaders, even if you aren’t in charge of a school, because here’s the advice my mentor gave me as a companion to the book: As you climb each rung of the leadership ladder, the focus of your mission shifts just a bit. You’re still in charge of making sure kids learn and are safe, or that you’re providing a safe, secure, and humane environment in which to provide rehabilitative opportunities for those who are confined, but the way in which you meet the mission is different. As a teacher or a CO, your job is to do these things directly with the student or resident. If you’re the leader/supervisor, your job is to take care of the people working directly with the students or residents. The end mission is the same, but if you don’t take care of your people, they can’t take care of the students/residents.
Take care of your people. And yourself.
We’ll talk more about what that looks like as we continue on our journey.
If you’re reading from my website, you’ll note that the accompanying photo is actually my coffee cup on my lounge chair on the beach at Water’s Edge. My morning coffee was especially delicious that morning. The last days of summer are sweet, aren’t they? See you next week.
P.S. If you get nothing else from this post, please, please, please, don’t say “Teamwork makes the dreamwork” to your staff in the midst of an emergency. It won’t go well. Just sayin’
