Synergy Leadership

'We can't just be nice to each other and then everything will work out just fine'

The quote above was what I personally was told by a senior manager I met during my career. After a long conversation about leadership and organisational culture with the person, he eventually made the above mentioned statement. To me it was like having a conversation about global warming and what we as humans can do to avoid it getting out of our hands, and then saying: 'Well, I can't really change that as a single person so I am not going to change my behaviour'.

Think about it for a moment (the opening statement). It is basically implying the following: 'I don't really care if I am being nice to the people I work with as long as I get the results and reach the targets I need to reach'.

Imagine a Prime Minister going live during the Covid-19 pandemic and publicly say:

'We will not close down our economy, even if innocent citizens will die because of it'

In my opinion it is absolutely hilarious that mindsets like that can be given any authority at all. If I can get a senior manager to express that in just a matter of 15 minutes - that's scary.

Business is tough and so is winning the NBA Championship 3 times in a row

I am not trying to say that business is one romantic dance on prom night. Business and corporate environments can be highly competitive and bureaucratic. They can be absolutely damaging to the soul of an empathetic individual if the people holding the overarching authority are of mindsets like the above. It's called a fixed mindset, and it is not the optimal match between leadership talent and business development. In order to develop a business the people needs development, which requires motivation and inspiration and the courage to take risks and initiate new methodologies.

Let's break down the definition of being 'nice' to people within a work setting and an organisation as a senior manager. Making critical decisions that are not always the nice thing to do but is the needed thing to do. How can one make a needed thing to do become a nice thing to do? - By making sense of the necessity of making that decision, and what vision it advances the cause for. Deliver and communicate cues that are edible for people making up that department or team. Is it 'nice' during a pandemic to stay at home for more than a month straight? Do we accept it and respect it as a decision because it serves the greater good, yes!

So what's the problem? You don't have time enough on your hands to make sense of the decisions you make? Haven't you had enough training and time to exercise the way you talk to your employees about the walk and about justification of decisions and judgment? Or are you simply just not capable of leading other people?

Winning teams are coached by great leaders

Phil Jackson who was the coach of the Chicago Bulls in NBA led the team to championship after championship. He was always bringing the team together and focusing on the team effort and not just Michael Jordan. This led to Michael Jordan passing the ball to John Paxson who scored the game winning goal in the very last seconds of the NBA final in 1993. It was all about team spirit and utilising the opponents focus on Michael Jordan in the last seconds of the game, John Paxson was open, and he was an amazing 3 point shooter. Phil Jackson developed the team in ways that made Jerry Krause go absolutely nuts (Former General Manager of The Chicago Bulls). Jerry Krause is not remembered as a great leader, but a very strange and rigid manager.

Great leaders have great courage and they challenge status quo

Approximately 20 years fast forward it is clear for everyone that without Phil Jackson, there would be no championship streak. He went against Jerry Krause several times, and at the peek of his career he got sacked by Jerry Krause as Jerry couldn't handle Phil Jacksons success and popularity. He literally stole the show from Jerry Krause, and Krause were like a ticking bomb in those years at the end of the golden era of Chicago Bulls' dream team.

Phil Jackson implemented team meditation and several other elements that were completely unheard of in the nineties. Imagine, this was the nineties and his boss Jerry Krause was not a fan. He would tell Phil that his methods were weird and too spiritual for an NBA team. Phil Jackson is now remembered as one of the best NBA coaches in history. 11 NBA Championship wins and 6 NBA championship wins in a row.

After Phil Jackson got fired by Jerry Krause, he went to Los Angeles Lakers and won the next three NBA Championships with the lakers, while Jerry Krause was trash-talking Phil in the news.

Don't make decisions when you are mad

Jerry Krause made one very big mistake, he made a decision when he was mad. He was mad at Phil Jackson, and envied his and the teams success. He fired Phil Jackson by saying:

"I don't care if it's 82-and-0 this year, you're f...... gone."

Coaching is listening to the voice of a team

If you don't believe this, then watch "The Last Dance" on Netflix. It is a documentary about the Chicago Bulls Dream Team during the Michael Jordan era. or watch it if you want to see how coaching and leadership is done in the world of sports. I'm not a stranger to sports and coaching, I've won the Danish National Championship in Ice-hockey 6 times in a row with the most winning team ever in Danish history (Team 1986 from Rodovre, Denmark). I was right wing and not the coach, but we had the best coach ever (Mr. Heikki Karvinen) during those years. He transformed the team from scratch in every possible way.

The humble but hardworking underdog

I clearly remember the seasons we had visiting teams from America and Canada. It was Pittsburg and Toronto's junior ice-hockey teams that came to visit us as they both wanted to prove that Denmark is no place for ice-hockey. The night before the first game against Toronto, one player from their team stayed at my family's residence during the week. The next day I was going to face off with this guy. We were in my room, and I was given the spare bed on the floor, while he was given my bed to sleep in. Right before we wen't to sleep he went:

"Dude, I know you are nervous about the game tomorrow, but just remember that there is no shame in losing to a team from the country that invented the game".

He didn't know, but that was it. It was exactly the motivation I needed in order to go out there and show them this was our country and our terretory. The next day we played in the late morning at our home arena. We won 21 - 3 against Toronto and we won 16-0 against Pittsburg. We were the underdog from the moment they arrived, and we used it. We made them think that the game was already won before they entered the rink. And then we came out with 200% speed.

Players leave a coach not a team

When our famous coach Heikki Karvinen left and a new horrible coach took over, most of the players left just after a few months with the new coach (including myself) and the most winning team in danish ice-hockey history was a part of the past. Players don't leave a team, they leave a coach.

Great Leaders are skilled sense-makers

I once had a superior who was a great leader and senior manager. He was the senior director of Sales at one of the previous companies I used to work for. He was tough, but fair. Every time he had to make a decision that wouldn't make sense in the first place among the employees he always got everyone together in an informal setting and went through his thinking and his choice to make that specific decisions. He would let people ask questions and he would explain. Things he did very right in this sense-making process was the following:

• Recall mutual experiences from retrospect and bring it into the current situiation
• Avoid saying 'I' but instead saying 'we'
• Paint a very clear picture of the future necessary in order to achieve our vision
• Ask people how we could improve the communication and the sense of things we do individually in order to contribute to the team
• He would always look on the positive side of things
• Always see the glass as half full instead of half empty
• Always end a meeting by saying: 'Don't ever make a decision if you are in a bad mood, come and talk to us - cos' if we make decisions when we are uncomfortable, it will most likely impact our future outlook in a challenging and uncomfortable way'.

We can be nice to each other and make it all work

It is definitely possible to be nice to each other, to be a part of a winning team where everyone are brothers and family. It is possible, and it is exactly the element that make up these teams that goes down in history. The same goes for business. We can develop a team to new heights as long as the hard work is a mutual priority. Working hard can be fun, as long as it is executed together with fellow teammates helping and supporting each other along the way.

Imagine an environment where you go to work and feel inspired when you are there because of the fellow bright employees you get to work with. A place where you respect your boss both as a person and as a leader. A place where you know that leader will help you and have your back every time you fall. That he/she will pick you up and say: 'Try again'.

It is possible. It is not a stupid dream. It is the right dream. It is the dream we need. It is not easy, and it is not the majority of organisations that work that way, that's for sure. But they do exist, and yes - there is always a very competent and social intelligent leader behind it.

The most winning ice-hockey team in Danish history, Heikki Karvinen (Head Coach) and myself, third from the left in he middle row (The 86'ers Rodovre, Denmark)