Reza Hossein Borr
You can only succeed in building a team when you can bring the contrasting interests and turn them into common achievable interests. If the members of a potential team find out that their interests will not be achieved when the mission is accomplished, they will not give sufficient input into the functioning of the team. It is even likely that they may obstruct the smooth functioning of the team as well. It must be mentioned that the preservation of interests becomes more important than collective achievement if the collective achievement does not guarantee the preservation of individual interests.
When few people are chosen to work as team to accomplish a mission, the question of the individual interests must be somehow addressed before they begin working as the team. They must be assured that their interests will be understood and recognized by the leader and appropriately rewarded after achieving the task. Nobody would be engaged in any kind of activity without knowing that his fair share in action would be acknowledged and recognized. When few people work in an organization it may be considered that the salary they receive at the end would be considered as the reward. This is an illusion. In addition to salary, people need specific rewards for achieving specific objectives. The rewards maybe the recognition of their endeavours or some financial gift.
Nobody knows exactly what kind of rewards and interests each individual may request. The best way is to talk to them individually and discover what kind of reward motivates them to go for the collective achievement. Individual achievements are usually recognized. The collective achievements are not recognized in the way that members of a team feel satisfaction. The art of finding what kind of reward satisfies each individual is the responsibility of the team builder. The team builder can achieve this goal by asking a series of questions about how the achievement of the task collectively can satisfy that individual need. What may motivate one person may not motivate another person.
Recognition of individual interests is the most important step in facilitating team functioning. Once I was talking to a client. Whenever my statement about an issue was raised, he asked me this question, "what is there in it for me?" I tried to define the issue from various aspects, but each time he asked me the same question, "What is there in it for me?" This was the first time that my attention was drawn to focus on the interests of other people when it comes to any kind of negotiations with them. If there is something in what we do for them they will participate. If there is nothing indeed for them, whatever we do and say, will not affect them.
If we want the cooperation of others in achieving something we have to make clear for them what will be their reward.
Reza Hossein Borr is an NLP Master Trainer and a leadership consultant and the creator of 150 CDs and 14 Change management models. He is also the author of Manual Success, Manual of Coaching and Mentoring, Motivational Stories that Can Change Your Life, and a New Vision for the Islamic World. He can be contacted by email: sarawani@aol.com www.rezaaa.com
Saturday, 6 September 2008
Friday, 5 September 2008
Constructing mentality of team building and NLP
Reza Hossein Borr
Team building is more an emotional and psychological process than an organizational challenge. Every exercise that the practitioners of team building implement in their courses is intended to create an emotional and psychological makeup which facilitates team work unconsciously. Therefore team building is more an emotional practice than an organizational one. If the team builders and leaders only implement organizational designs for team building, their success will be limited but if they go for changing the emotional setup and psychological construction of the person to go for team building, there is more likelihood of success.
To succeed in team building you need to create several major changes in emotional and as well as belief system. The new emotional and psychological construction must include the following:
1. A sense of creating we instead of I
2. A sense of collective communication of we instead of I
3. A sense of collective feeling of we instead of I
4. A sense of collective thinking, instead of individual thinking
5. A sense of collective responsibility instead of individual responsibility
6. A sense of collective interests instead of individual interests
7. A sense of collective shared achievement instead of individual achievement
8. A sense of collective belief system
A sense of creating an emotional "we" instead of personal I
The prevailing sense of thinking and feeling is an individualistic sense. And individual naturally and instinctively thinks that he is the centre of the circle and everything must move around his demands, aspirations and interests. When an individual is brought up to have such a psychological makeup he unconsciously expresses his views in everything and about everything in a way that brings his interests and his aspirations first and superior to others and therefore other people's aspirations and interests become subordinate to his and that is when and where the conflicts of interest and aspirations begin to develop and deter the realisation of higher good and higher interests.
People from the time they are born are brainwashed socially to think and talk more about mine, me, I. The sense of possession is possibly the strongest sense after the sense of survival and therefore, it goes at the top of hierarchy of priorities. Monopoly of possession also develops from early age and expands as the person grows up. A child, depending on his way of bringing up, shows some flexibility in sharing the possession of something but as the children grow up, the monopoly of possession becomes so vital and compelling that usually creates division among the members of the family, brothers and brothers; brothers and sisters, sisters and sisters. All the divisions among the members of family are about the sense of monopoly of possession. Everybody wants more than the others and therefore, tolerance for being contented for their share, will be diminished and conflicts follow.
This is possibly the reason that the three words me, mine, and I are more used than any other words. The more you use one of these words the more it would indicate your will for monopoly of possession. When you begin to show flexibility and think in terms of collective possession and begin to change your beliefs and emotions behind these words, you are more likely to build in yourself a spirit of team work and team building. It is the spirit of team building and team working which does not exist in many people at appropriate proportion. And it is very difficult to create such a spirit. You can create a new product, a new devise, a new idea, a new home easily but it is very difficult to create the spirit of team building. The individuals always can find certain elements in the thoughts, emotions and behaviours of other people to restrain from getting absorbed in the team spirit. At the same time, people can find a lot of acceptable and logical reasons to reject getting absorbed in the building of team spirit. That is the reason that creating highly competent team is a great challenge.
To move from ” I” to “ we” and from individual to team is a long way and long process full of different ups and down. The initial training of the people who are involved in building teams and working as a team can be very decisive in the changes that can be made. Like everything, it is possible to make change and like everything it requires right solutions and right solutions are not for all. Everybody needs a specific solution. A common mission will be achieved more easily when the meaning of the mission is understood in a share way. Common understanding of the mission brings different people together emotionally and intellectually. Once emotional and intellectual understanding is reached and developed, the job of creating competent team becomes very feasible.
Reza Hossein Borr is an NLP Master Trainer and a leadership consultant and the creator of 150 CDs and 14 Change management models. He is also the author of Manual Success, Manual of Coaching and Mentoring, Motivational Stories that Can Change Your Life, and a New Vision for the Islamic World. He can be contacted by email: sarawani@aol.com www.rezaaa.com
Team building is more an emotional and psychological process than an organizational challenge. Every exercise that the practitioners of team building implement in their courses is intended to create an emotional and psychological makeup which facilitates team work unconsciously. Therefore team building is more an emotional practice than an organizational one. If the team builders and leaders only implement organizational designs for team building, their success will be limited but if they go for changing the emotional setup and psychological construction of the person to go for team building, there is more likelihood of success.
To succeed in team building you need to create several major changes in emotional and as well as belief system. The new emotional and psychological construction must include the following:
1. A sense of creating we instead of I
2. A sense of collective communication of we instead of I
3. A sense of collective feeling of we instead of I
4. A sense of collective thinking, instead of individual thinking
5. A sense of collective responsibility instead of individual responsibility
6. A sense of collective interests instead of individual interests
7. A sense of collective shared achievement instead of individual achievement
8. A sense of collective belief system
A sense of creating an emotional "we" instead of personal I
The prevailing sense of thinking and feeling is an individualistic sense. And individual naturally and instinctively thinks that he is the centre of the circle and everything must move around his demands, aspirations and interests. When an individual is brought up to have such a psychological makeup he unconsciously expresses his views in everything and about everything in a way that brings his interests and his aspirations first and superior to others and therefore other people's aspirations and interests become subordinate to his and that is when and where the conflicts of interest and aspirations begin to develop and deter the realisation of higher good and higher interests.
People from the time they are born are brainwashed socially to think and talk more about mine, me, I. The sense of possession is possibly the strongest sense after the sense of survival and therefore, it goes at the top of hierarchy of priorities. Monopoly of possession also develops from early age and expands as the person grows up. A child, depending on his way of bringing up, shows some flexibility in sharing the possession of something but as the children grow up, the monopoly of possession becomes so vital and compelling that usually creates division among the members of the family, brothers and brothers; brothers and sisters, sisters and sisters. All the divisions among the members of family are about the sense of monopoly of possession. Everybody wants more than the others and therefore, tolerance for being contented for their share, will be diminished and conflicts follow.
This is possibly the reason that the three words me, mine, and I are more used than any other words. The more you use one of these words the more it would indicate your will for monopoly of possession. When you begin to show flexibility and think in terms of collective possession and begin to change your beliefs and emotions behind these words, you are more likely to build in yourself a spirit of team work and team building. It is the spirit of team building and team working which does not exist in many people at appropriate proportion. And it is very difficult to create such a spirit. You can create a new product, a new devise, a new idea, a new home easily but it is very difficult to create the spirit of team building. The individuals always can find certain elements in the thoughts, emotions and behaviours of other people to restrain from getting absorbed in the team spirit. At the same time, people can find a lot of acceptable and logical reasons to reject getting absorbed in the building of team spirit. That is the reason that creating highly competent team is a great challenge.
To move from ” I” to “ we” and from individual to team is a long way and long process full of different ups and down. The initial training of the people who are involved in building teams and working as a team can be very decisive in the changes that can be made. Like everything, it is possible to make change and like everything it requires right solutions and right solutions are not for all. Everybody needs a specific solution. A common mission will be achieved more easily when the meaning of the mission is understood in a share way. Common understanding of the mission brings different people together emotionally and intellectually. Once emotional and intellectual understanding is reached and developed, the job of creating competent team becomes very feasible.
Reza Hossein Borr is an NLP Master Trainer and a leadership consultant and the creator of 150 CDs and 14 Change management models. He is also the author of Manual Success, Manual of Coaching and Mentoring, Motivational Stories that Can Change Your Life, and a New Vision for the Islamic World. He can be contacted by email: sarawani@aol.com www.rezaaa.com
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