I love the Olympic Games. Not just because I was one of two people responsible for the set up of Olympic Headquarters for the Sydney 2000 Olympics, but because at their core they are about individuals (and teams) striving to be the best they can be. Comparisons between sport and business are common and for good reason. There are lessons to be transferred both ways. And sport doesn’t get any bigger than the Olympic Games.
In case you’ve been doing other things for the past few weeks, let me remind you that the Australian team won 17 gold, 7 silver and 22 bronze medals, our best ever performance. I’m sure there are many reasons why we achieved so well (overall 6th on the medal tally which is very impressive for a country our size) but I’m convinced one of those is good leadership.
ABC journalist Russell Jackson had an article in the ABC newsfeed on 8 August which referred to 5 lessons for Australia’s leaders from the Australian Boomers men’s basketball team. I think he nailed it with these five:
- Lead by example
- Surround yourself with the right people and support them
- Don’t persist with the wrong personnel
- Every team needs someone who relishes the thankless tasks
- Have empathy for those outside the circle
Seriously, he could have been talking about an accounting firm! Let’s talk about each one in the context of an accounting firm. (As an accounting firm coach, mentor and consultant I tend to see almost everything in the world in the context of an accounting firm!)
- Lead by example
In the Boomers it was captain Patty Mills who really shone in this regard. How are you doing? Are you modelling the behaviours for the team that are aligned with your values and vision for the firm? Are you doing what you say you will do? Are you walking the walk not just talking the talk? It makes a massive difference in the engagement of your team.
- Surround yourself with the right people and support them
This seems obvious right? And yet in accounting firms I see owners and managers making poor decisions about who they hire. Each and every time you go to hire get really clear about the skills, experience and attitude you need. Sometimes this means waiting a bit longer, but it is worth it.
- Don’t persist with the wrong personnel
Accountants are good people and they can think they are being nice by letting poor performance go. The problem is you are not being nice you are being negligent in your duties as a leader. Your good people are wondering why you aren’t acting and why they should continue to perform at a high level only to be treated the same as the people who are not. And your under performers, if they cannot get to the required standard with appropriate support and encouragement from you, will almost certainly do better in another business. As David Maister used to say moving on an under performer does not make them a bad person it just makes them somewhere else.
- Every team needs someone who relishes the thankless tasks
In my experience, in accounting firms this is often support team members. It might be the practice manager, receptionist or other support person who just loves getting stuff done. They are not always visible and don’t always get the thanks they deserve but I’m yet to see a firm that can prosper without these people. And coming back to 1 above, sometimes I reckon it needs to be the leader who jumps in to complete a thankless task.
- Have empathy for those outside the circle
To me this is about making sure you are not just connecting with the “cool kids” in your firm but are connecting with each and every person regardless of the role they have. This is about honouring the value of diversity and understanding that we don’t all see the world the same way. But that doesn’t mean we can’t all pull together in a business with strong leaders supporting us.
I’ve barely scraped the surface here in terms of leadership and what we saw at the Olympic Games. leadership is a big, broad topic and in closing I want to acknowledge that it encompasses culture. If you were paying attention you would have heard a lot of athletes referring to the positive culture of their specific team and the broader Australian team. You might also remember there were some issues with it in Rio.
Want a gold medal performance from your team?
Show some leadership.