Stop! Collaborate & Listen -Essence of Teamwork and Leadership
I don’t remember when it first came up, but I remember my grandfather was always reiterating what he thought was an important part of being a leader: Leaders need to know when to listen & follow.
Know when to listen and follow or as Vanilla Ice rapped “Stop, Collaborate and Listen!” is a great reminder that leaders don’t know it all, but you must recognize your team’s knowledge and skills, and know when to step back and just support your team to resolve an issue or problem and get the job/task /project done. Sometimes leaders just need to support and remove any barriers for their team to succeed, even if it means just holding a flashlight and watching as someone else changes the lightbulb.
The above came back to my thoughts recently when watching a video from the World Economic Forum concerning astronaut Soichi Noguchi’s tips for Teamwork. His teamwork tips are listed below with side commentary from me where applicable, but #2 was a principle of leadership I haven’t outright covered before. Without further ado, here are the tips I’ve picked from his video and several interview articles:
1) Make Sure Goals Are Aligned – once again setting clear goals is number one, but number two is ensuring everyone on the team has aligned with the goal
2) Respect Expertise and Know How to Follow – remember to not be the smartest person in the room and respect the input of others, as well as recognize when to follow and support the team.
3) Learn To Cooperate & Trust Your Team -trust is the foundation of a functional team and leads to stronger collaboration
4) Forget 100% Perfection BUT Remember Your Ultimate Goal- (Shoot for a Ferrari but settle for a Ford they both get you where you are going!)
5) Collaboration Keeps Everyone Safe – I really want to say this one speaks for itself. However, another astronaut’s statement comes back to mind on this one as well. Chris Hadfield’s quote for risk management, “No astronaut ever launches into space with their fingers crossed. That’s not how we deal with risk.”
“In a collaborative setting, following someone’s lead can help ensure that everyone is working towards the same goal and that the group moves forward efficiently.” –Unknown
“All Right. Stop, Collaborate and Listen!” -Vanilla Ice
Till next week…Know When to Stop, Collaborate & Listen and LEAD ON!
https://www.weforum.org/videos/astronaut-teamwork/











