The Power of a Positive Team
Think you might want to read this book?
Written as sort of a group workbook, The Power of a Positive Team by Jon Gordon is 90% inspirational and 10% solid examples of ways to create positive teams. The reader travels from athletic fields to boardrooms while Gordon illustrates how positivity has made the difference for various team experiences. Perhaps his nine team-building exercises are the best resources offered, but the book is peppered with powerful quotes and nuggets of motivation. The fact that this book is not weighed down by research or historical data makes it a good book to skim for leaders looking to take their teams to the next level.
What Would Socrates Ask?
Would we hire better leaders if we required three references from someone who considered the applicant a mentor?
Should all topics on an agenda be identified as informational, brainstorming or needing a decision?
What if all teacher job postings had embedded within them the idea that the applicant would be joining a team?
In what ways could we keep the purpose of our school at the forefront of all decisions?
What if we all identified our roles in a meeting before we began discussions?
What if as a team we all committed to calling out toxic negativity?
What if all school leaders had the phrase “servant leadership” in their job description?
Research
Google realized that great minds weren’t the key to their success. It was great teams with a connection that freed their minds to create great inventions.
It is impossible to be stressed and thankful at the same time.
Concepts
Curse of Experience explains how we allow memories of the past to inhibit our ability to move forward or adapt to the future.
No complaining rule says you are not allowed to complain about anything unless you are willing to be part of the solution.
Storming is the act of communicating clearly while having emotionally charged conversations.
Meraki is the Greek word that means to do something with love, soul, and creativity; to leave a piece of yourself in your work.
Quotes from the author
“Exercises that cause people to be vulnerable, transparent, and authentic cause the walls of pride and ego and selfishness to come crumbling down and lead t“Too many teams focus on the fruit of the tree. They focus on the outcome, the numbers, the stock price, the test scores, the profit, and the wins and losses. They focus on the fruit and ignore the root (their culture, people, relationships, and process).”
“Positive teams commit to the mission and to each other. Instead of serving themselves, they serve one another.”
“When each member of the team knows their team’s purpose and how they can contribute to it, the collective energy and passion will soar.”
“We don’t get burned out because of what we do. We get burned out because we forget why we do it.”
“Negativity exists and you can’t ignore it. One of the biggest mistakes teams make is that they ignore the negativity within their team. They allow it to breed and grow, and it eventually sabotages the team. You must address the negativity. Confront it, transform it, or remove it.”
“When you feed the positive and create a culture where negative people are uncomfortable being negative, they will either change or walk off the bus themselves. Whether they stay and become positive, or leave and stay a negative, you will have improved your culture and moved your team in the right direction.”
“You must weed the negative and feed the positive. It’s not a one-time thing you do at an annual meeting. You must consistently weed and feed and feed and weed to maximize the growth and potential of your team.”
“Weeding the negative doesn’t mean you eliminate disagreements. Positive teams are going to disagree. Great teams fight. If you fight, it doesn’t mean you are a negative team. Conflict is necessary to have a strong team.”
“All positivity and no conflict means that no one is asking the difficult questions.”
“Having difficult conversations is key to being a great team.”
“To be a great team you must make the time to build great relationships.”
“Where there is a void in communication, negativity will fill it.”
“The best communicator is not the person who is the most eloquent speaker, but the person who has the ability to listen, process the information, and use it too strong connections and meaningful relationships.”
“Great teams don’t have people who serve themselves. They have people who serve the team and each other. They have people who are willing to sacrifice themselves and what they want for the good of the team.”
“A team driven by love, not rules, will be more accountable to each other.”
“Discomfort leads to growth, so you keep raising the bar and pushing your team out of their comfort zone while pursuing excellence and growth together.”
“As a team you say, ‘This is how we do things here. This is how we handle conflict. This is how we have difficult conversations. This is how we stay calm when having an emotionally charged conversation.’”
“Don’t run from the difficult conversation. Don’t be scared of feedback. It’s not meant to define you. It’s meant to help refine you so you can do your job better for your team.”
When you become a positive team and make it about we instead of me, you become the team you know you can be.
Quotes from others
“Well done is better than well said.” - Benjamin Franklin
Implement tomorrow?
Live with the understanding that it is impossible to be stressed and thankful at the same time so that you can better identify when/why you are feeling off.
Referenced books with the potential to impact leading and learning in education
The applicability of this book to education is ….
Resources
