Building a Winning Team: Missionaries & Mercenaries.
Otumbo Vincent
Empowering Effective Leaders | Supporting High Performing Teams | Entrepreneur | Transformative Speaker | Author of EMBARK | 50 Most Influential Men in Kenya 2023-2024.
Starting a business requires a good idea and paying customers. But to make it truly great, you need three things:
A scalable business model, an efficient system for communication and leadership, and a dedicated team that believes in your vision.
This article focuses on the third element: building a team that's committed to your vision and willing to work hard for it.
?Before we dive in, ask yourself if you're in it for the long haul or just short-term deals. A great business has a clear vision and values, a flexible model, and a strategy that values people. It knows that success depends on both employees and customers.
?I've learned a lot about building a high-performing team in my five years as an entrepreneur, even without an HR background. Sav Skills Limited helped me gain clarity.
In my experience, every business needs two types of employees:
Missionaries and mercenaries.
You need both for peak performance, less owner stress, and better leadership.
Building a great business takes time. You'll make mistakes, learn, and adapt. To play the long game, you need both missionaries and mercenaries as leaders in your organization.
Before I proceed, are you building a great business or simply making deals? A great business is characterized by the following.
- Clearly outline vision and mission statements.
- Clear and concise values to guide organizational culture and decision-making.
- Has a dynamic and scalable business model.
- A winning strategy that focuses on its people and organizational results.
- Understands that a great company is built or destroyed by people both employees and customers and therefore the strategy is integrated to create a win-win between people and the organization.
For over 5 years, I have had it rough when it comes to building a winning workforce, and as an entrepreneur without a Human Resource background, I have learned on the job until Sav Skills Limited started offering Human Resource consulting services to MSMEs and SMEs around the coastal region.
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Building a great business is a long-term game unless you simply want to make the deal and quit when things get tough.
Playing the long-term goals means you will make mistakes, but you unlearn, relearn, and learn from time to time, it means that in the current environment, you will be forced to make quarterly strategies in place for three to five years strategy.
Playing the long-term game requires one to employ both missionaries and mercenaries as organizational leaders. In His podcast, “Missionaries & Mercenaries,” Vusi Thembekwayo says there are roles in which you need a missionary and there are other roles in which you need a mercenary.”
Missionary Employees
- Driven by a big, long-term vision.
- Willing to work hard and stay loyal.
- Trust you even in tough times.
- Focus on team unity.
- Work with passion, consistency, and strategy.
- Prioritize customer satisfaction.
- Act as coaches.
- Follow company values.
- Committed for the long haul.
- Challenge norms for a new perspective.
Mercenary Employees
- Achieve results.
- Seize opportunities.
- Work quickly and cautiously.
- Thrive in competition.
- Take charge.
- Rely on financial data.
- Excel in short-term projects.
- Motivated by money and may leave if finances are shaky.
- Loyalty varies; they might switch for a better offer.
Conclusion.
In conclusion, consider your business journey and what employees you need: missionaries or mercenaries. Picking the right team can turn your business into a success story.
Ready for the next of your journey and that of your business? Talk to us at www.savskills.com | info@savskills.com | +254 782 631 277 to sign up for our leadership masterclass workshop coming up on the 28th of October 2023, enroll in our Unlock Your Potential executive leadership coaching program, or to get a proposal on building your mercenaries and missionaries for your sustainable organizational success. On the 28th of October 2023, we have a leadership masterclass at Travellers Beach Resort in Mombasa
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