Celebration of Collaboration

Celebration of Collaboration 

More likely than not, you’ve seen me post about the importance of communication. You have maybe even read my previous thought leadership piece where I go into detail about how communication has helped me in my tenure as a leader in the United States Military and Corporate America. 

I am passionate about communication and how to do it effectively. But, do you know what is just as important as communication? Collaboration.  

As I said in that first piece, change is inevitable. First, we as leaders must communicate that change, and then we must find a solution. How do we do that? Again - the answer is collaboration. There are plenty of great resources on collaboration, including these two from Forbes. These are great but, as I mentioned above, I have first-hand experience in being a leader in a variety of environments. On page 293 of Adapt or Die I wrote, “You cannot collaborate if you can't trust each other and can’t talk to each other. And, without collaboration, your chances of surviving the next crisis are near zero.”

Are you starting to catch on? The principles that I discuss at length in speeches, on leadership tours, and in Adapt or Die are useful on their own but, together, that is truly where the magic happens. You know how to communicate, now let’s dive into my experiences with creating and maintaining a collaborative environment. What works? What doesn’t? You’re able to find out!

Sharing Successes

Does this one surprise you? It shouldn’t. Think about this: we must earn the trust of those around us. Bonding over success stories, as I wrote in my book, is like, “‘Okay, if you did this well, and we did that well, maybe we can work together and do all of this even better.” This is great - right? Yet, in order to learn about others’ successes, we have to simply ask them. Don’t forget to ask - that way you know who and what you’re working with!

Shifting Our Mindsets

Over the course of my life, I’ve come to know that people generally think about themselves first. There is value in this - if we do not take care of ourselves, how are we supposed to take care or lead others? There is endless value in thinking about others. We often think, how am I doing? That’s great, but let’s also think, how are they doing? How can be effectively collaborate if we do not understand each other?

Be the Lifestyle Evangelist

This one is fairly simple - talk the talk and walk the walk. Let the people you lead know that you care - that you want to hear about and celebrate their successes and are thinking about their wellbeing. Why would anyone be open to hearing about working together in harmony if they don’t feel valued as an individual?

Build Personal Relationships

Duh. As I said for the previous principle of building and maintaining a collaborative environment, it’s important to build relationships where trust and communication exist. I will pull another quote from Adapt or Die that I think sums it up pretty well: “We’re all human. We’re all struggling. We all have needs. We’re all in this together, whether you believe that or not. And we do better together by collaborating and lifting each out up than we can possibly do by standing behind walls and believing that we can do it all alone.” Letting your reports know this, and having them believe it, will make all the difference.

I will end this piece the same way I ended by last - a lot goes into being a good, effective, and adaptive leader. You understand how to communicate consistently and productively with those around you, and now you can add collaboration into the mix. These two, along with time management, conflict resolution, and a people-first mentality make up what it takes to be a great leader in times of crisis and physical or emotional unrest. If you’d like to learn more about Adaptive Leadership as a whole, feel free to visit my website, or buy or listen to my book, Adapt or Die.