Get the best out of your people

There are a handful of books I have read over the years that have had a significant impact.

Most have been around business; however, some have gone beyond business. 

One of the books 'Tribal Leadership' describes the concept of how people view the world. This book and its philosophy have helped people like Phil Jackson win and build great teams, as he wrote in his book 'Eleven Rings.'

Tribal Leadership tells us there are five types of people and are ranked in order. The good news: we can change our thinking and therefore change our "type." 

The first, those who inherently believe life sucks, we are all doomed.  

The second, those who believe "My life Sucks”. Others are great, just not mine. The subtle difference between the first and second of "I am just the unlucky one" and others are not.  

The third is "I am Great," which also means you are not. "I will compete with you and have lower expectations of others' abilities." Think of managers who hold all the power, and everything has to go through them for approval. They don't empower their people because they don't believe in their people.  

The fourth is that "We are Great”, as a company, team, tribe, etc. Here everyone is viewed as having value and not a threat. People give others credit, freely share information, and do not care about getting the accolades as much as they care about their team winning together. 

The fifth and the final level to reach is “ LIFE is GREAT." The goal is no longer for your team or tribe to win, but rather work with others to all win together.  All companies, teams, tribes are great because everyone is trying to solve the same problem. Look at how much our wholesale lending channel has rallied together to grow significant market share. They believe life is great there and abundant, and we all win together. 

This book has made a drastic change in my life and how I work. I started my first company when I was 27, almost 17 years ago. Early on, I would get frustrated with people not doing what I wanted how I wanted. In my view, I didn't always have the right people; this would usually limit the growth of the company because if I had to be the one to save the day, then we were limited by how many hours I could work.  

I read this book ten years ago, and the challenges are still relevant.  

I was having a discussion with one of my team members this week about someone's ability to learn a task. They reminded me and said, "we can get someone smarter....this wouldn't be an issue."  

I stopped and thought to myself, "I know they can do the job." It just might take more than one time explaining it.  

You can always get someone who has a higher IQ; however, it's not about having the smartest and most capable in the world at every position. No company or team can do that.  

In all of their years of winning, the Lakers didn't have the best five players in the NBA playing.  

We always strive to hire the best, and we have been lucky that we have been able to do that, but in the end, for us all to win, it's not about having the best team; it's about getting the best out of your team.  

When we do that, like Phil Jackson, who won 11 NBA titles, we all win.

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