Lead In 30 Podcast

Division: The Killer of Team Performance

• Russ Hill

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We call them silos but what we really are describing is division that exists in our organizations. Division is one of the biggest issues in society, and this same problem exists within many of the companies we lead.


• What truly creates a team is having both a common desired purpose and a common external threat
• Organizations with cultural problems typically have internal enemies (other departments) rather than external threats
• Underdeveloped leaders are holding organizations back when companies only train on technical skills and not leadership
• Purpose must drive organizations, not just revenue or growth targets
• Unity happens when teams share common metrics instead of competing departmental goals
• Leaders must frequently communicate both purpose and the common threats the organization faces

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Speaker 1:

Division. It's one of our biggest issues in society, right? So much division, and it's interesting to think about how that also exists at the same time inside so many of our companies.

Speaker 2:

This is the Lead in 30 podcast with Russ Hill. You cannot be serious. Strengthen your ability to lead in less than 30 minutes.

Speaker 1:

You're listening to Lead in minutes. Where have you been? For those of you that listen to this podcast on a regular basis, which is nobody recently, because somebody has been MIA yeah, that's me. You know what Intentions are so good, aren't they? And yet they don't really matter at the end of the day. It matters on what we actually do, and I'm I'm guilty of the podcast not being prioritized as much as I would have wanted it to be this last little while. Um. So for those of you who are regular listeners, uh, don't worry, I'm back in the routine, back in the habit. I didn't want to put out another episode until I could fully commit to doing that. And we're back. We're back on track. So you will notice, if you listen carefully or have the volume turned up too much, that I've got a little bit of a nasally sound battling just in the last stages of a cold that I'm fighting, and so forgive me for that. Hopefully you won't notice. Hardly at all. All right, welcome into the lead in 30 podcast in less than 30 minutes, and each episode we give you something to think about, a framework, a model, a best practices, story and experience, something for you to consider incorporating in the way that you lead, because the way that you lead, your leadership ability, cannot be stagnant. It can't be stationary, because the world out there is not, it's constantly like. Has anyone noticed any changes in, like the last 48 hours, the last at the time that we're putting this out, the last week or two? Anybody heard of the word tariff at the time that we're putting this out. There are so many changes, good, bad, indifferent, doesn't matter. You can debate that all day long. You can be upset, frustrated, ticked off, angry, bitter at changes happening around you, and the reality is we control so few of them and so we just have to learn how to adapt. It's that resiliency word that we hear so often, right? So we're going to. We're going to dig into one thing that's been on my mind as it as it impacts leadership ability. Here in a moment. Just a quick introduction.

Speaker 1:

Russ Hill, I make my living coaching, consulting senior executive teams at some of the world's biggest companies. Lone Rock Leadership is the name of our organization. Two sides to it, two parts to it. One is an executive team consulting firm. We've been doing that for a long, long time and on the other side is a leadership training company we now have. We now have four courses. We used to have one, which is the name of this podcast, lead in 30, which teaches the foundational aspects of effective leadership that scales, clarity, alignment, movement. They're just the core of effective leadership, but they aren't the only thing that you need to know in order to be an effective leader. And so now we have we've been so hard at work, you all, in launching three additional courses. They are called adapt in 30. It's built around something we call change OS, the change operating system. So many organizations get stuck morning change when what you really need is to adapt and you need to quit being reactionary and be proactive, leaning into the future rather than resisting it. So if you can change the mindset of the leaders in your organization, get them to lean into change and innovate, be proactive rather than reactionary, you have a massive competitive advantage. Lead in 30, adapt in 30, two of the courses. The third one is called Power Power in 30. And that's the. You know.

Speaker 1:

We spent the my partners, business partners and I, the three co-founders of our firm. We spent a combined 50 years teaching accountability, frameworks and models that we are passionate about. They are amazing, and yet we felt like something was missing. It wasn't just that. You wanted to be accountable, like successful people aren't just accountable, avoiding the excuse trap, what we call the excuse trap. They don't just do that, they make a choice to show up powerful, and there's nothing that's more debilitating, anything that's more paralyzing than this feeling of powerlessness. Feeling powerless, you just want to surrender because you don't have control on the things around you, or at least you don't think you do, or you're focused your attention is on the things you can't impact, which then causes you to feel powerless, which then think about all the emotions attached to that. So we decided over the course of multiple years, my business partners and I, along with the team that we've assembled around us, to create a course to not just teach accountability like that that was awesome for our combined 50 years of doing that and then we wanted to teach how to be powerful in all aspects of your life, and so power in 30 is the third course.

Speaker 1:

The fourth course is around scaling an organization, making decisions in a way that builds trust, and it is one of the most common challenges we see in organizations their ability to scale decision making. So we're great at delegating tasks all day long, but you want me to delegate decisions to somebody down the org chart. Oh no, that's a whole different can of worms. I'm not sure I'm comfortable doing that. Now I can complain about all the people below me on the org chart that aren't taking initiative to make decisions and why I'm the one I can complain about them escalating things to my level of the organization all day long. But then when I go and I talk to those lower level managers or supervisors, you know what they say. We've done this so many times. You all our career is made up of these meetings. You get down to the lower level. What they say is those senior executives complain about us not making decisions. But we got so much fear down here that we're going to make the wrong decisions. We do not feel empowered to make decisions.

Speaker 1:

So we created a course around the framework, not a new framework. We've been teaching it for gosh 12, 13, 14 years. Now it's on the wall of conference rooms of numerous organizations that we consult, especially the fastest growing ones of those organizations. We call that course Decide in 30. You get the commonality, our proprietary method of teaching, of training. These are.

Speaker 1:

You know it's so often we get into this leadership development space. We interact with those folks, amazing professionals, who make their living in the HR or L&D learning and development space, and they have these year-long or two-year-long curriculum on teaching leaders, developing leaders, and the reality is the leader doesn't have that long to improve or grow, and the executives that they report into need production Now. They need execution yesterday, and so hence the 30 day. It should not take you a year, six months, three months, a year and a half in order to further develop leaders. You can do it in 30 days. So lead in 30 was the foundation. That's what we've taught for the last three or four years, and then these models and frameworks that we've developed over the years and the consulting side of our business. We have finally built the curriculum around them in order to teach them in courses. You've got any interest in that, by the way? Go to lonerockio or direct message me or anybody on our team and uh, and we'll get you the details. We had, uh, we unveiled these, rolled them out at a uh executive summit we had here in scottsdale, in the scottsdale area, in when was that? One month, january, I think january. You guys, it's all a blur. Can you believe? Like how much of the years already come by. It's insane and um, it was late january, early february I think. Late january we unveiled them and the response was um was more than we anticipated the appetite for these, and so now we're just rolling them out to the masses, those four courses.

Speaker 1:

Okay, here's what I want to talk about in this episode division. Now, this exists in society around us, right, and it's just one of the major issues, one of the major plagues, problems, challenges, diseases of our time. Is this lack of unity of our time. Is this lack of unity? Somehow we've gotten ourselves into this trench, this position, where you have to lose in order for me to win. Our politicians are absolutely infected and our leaders all around us, this us versus them, now that mentalities are always existed, but the us was broader. We keep narrowing this us, so just so narrow that there are so many of them's now, if you will, that it's us against everybody and I need you to lose in order for me to win.

Speaker 1:

And the, the, the amount of um vindictiveness, the amount of um anger, uh, and and just bitterness around it is so intense, and and so you start to study this and you start to think about it and and if it's always going to be that way or get worse, or or why it's that way, and there's a lot that you could do there. I spent a fun I don't know how long it was multiple occasions, just on some of the AI tools that I love digging into is am I making this up? Did society used to be different or has this gotten worse? And what the AI engines told me? The more and more data, worse. And what the AI engines told me the more, more and more data, the more and more research papers and more and more uh stories. It gave me it's it. It concluded that it's much worse now than it has been.

Speaker 1:

You can take position, a position against that um opinion, um, and you'll be wrong. I'm just kidding, um man. I just don't think you'll find data to back yourself up. There's always been an us versus them, but the us was broader. You could argue, and I started to think about this one day when I was contemplating just how much this infects our society, how much it bothers me and how many voices are out there monetizing the bitterness against others. There's a lot of money. There's a lot of money to be made in me convincing you that he, she, they are the enemy and that you need to vote for me, you need to contribute to me, you need to rally for me, you need to contribute to me, you need to rally for me. There's a lot of money that I could make for a long period of time If I can get enough people to believe that I am their protector, I am their defender and that those people out there are the enemy.

Speaker 1:

Now let's take this into business, because this is not a political podcast, it's not a societal podcast. We're interested in leading teams, and so that's where I'd make the connection to organizations, the organizations that we are leaders in, all of us, in all different shapes and forms and different positions and different industries and different geography. We got people listening to this podcast all over the world, working in all kinds of industries, at all levels of the York chart, at all stages of their career, and I can just tell you that, ever since I got involved in the consulting space, one of the most frequent issues, challenges that we have run up against, and organization after organization, is summarized by the word silo, summarized by the description of a lack of one team mentality. So, when you start to really think about it, what the issues we see in our company, in our organization, so often parallel what we see in society. Now we don't have hopefully we don't have the same amount of bitterness, the same amount of vitriol in our organizations as it pertains to us versus them, as exists in the political sphere, but it still exists, and so I want to talk about why this exists. And then I want to get you, I want to get you thinking about a few ways that are actually not that complicated to solve this. There are some things that you could be doing more actively in order to solve this.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so you start to think about what defines a team, and what defines a team really comes down to that. A team and what defines a team really comes down to that. You could, you could, you could list multiple things, but it really comes down to two, two things. Number one is a common desired outcome or a common desired purpose, right, so that common purpose or outcome makes a team. Another thing that makes a team is a common threat, a common enemy. That makes a team Interesting to think about that. I want you to think about that as it pertains to society and as it pertains to the us's versus them's that you're a part of, and I would even add maybe a third one in that's connected to these two others, which is a common mindset, that, or worldview or perspective, that one's not as critical because it's tied to purpose and desired outcome.

Speaker 1:

Let me give you a few examples. So I associate with specific groups. There aren't very many that I associate with, but I associate with them. So let me kind of go through a few different examples to get you thinking, because you do too right.

Speaker 1:

Some of you, when I say it is a specific group that you associate with, you immediately go to politics. I don't, because there is no political party that I have been able to find in my lifetime that represents my worldview and that represents a group of people who I feel are actually driven by purpose. I think that they exist for moments of time, but then I think most of their leaders this is just my view, you could think very differently. I think that there's so much self-interest that I'm not really sure what that person is saying in that podcast or on that television interview or at that political rally really believes what they're saying. There are exceptions, but they're few in my opinion. I think that as long as what they're saying generates more donations, generates more energy, generates more frustration, riles up their base, so to speak, then they'll say it. But so often I'm old enough now to have seen politicians change their views radically, parties to change their views radically, and working in the media and behind the scenes chatting with politicians having access, that was unusual for most civilians.

Speaker 1:

I would notice that a certain politician would deliver this speech about, let's say, immigration on the stage. This is years ago when I worked in media. Immigration is not a new issue, it's been around my entire life, and so there were politicians I'd cover a speech on stage and then you would talk to that same politician backstage or get them in a casual environment and you'd realize that the lines they were delivering on stage, with that incredible emotion and passion, they didn't actually hold. The same thing I would notice about well-known media personalities on very famous cable networks. I got to meet some of these folks at events when I was in the media business and backstage, so to speak, and they were different. They were different backstage than they were on stage. I could share so many examples, you all, even from recent. I was listening to an interview, actually a monologue, by somebody recently who's well known, and he was talking about meeting somebody who he had adamant political disagreements with and he actually finally met this person in person a few within the last few weeks at the time I'm recording this and he said he was totally a different human being. The person on TV was not the person he met. Like, yes, that's because the nice, generous, kind individual doesn't generate dollars, anyway.

Speaker 1:

So when I say groups that we associate with, many of you think political parties. You're a Democrat, you're a liberal, you're a conservative, you're a Republican, you're an independent, whatever, okay, depending on what country you're in Others of you you think about religion. This is a group I do associate with. I happen to be Christian, I happen to belong to a specific faith, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and we are a very tight-knit community. There are people who adamantly disagree with our theology and doctrine, and that's fine. I adamantly disagree with them and I think they're wonderful people, right, it's awesome we can disagree. It's amazing and we can still have high amounts of respect for each other. But so, but I associate with that group of people that are trying to be. In fact, I go to church every Sunday. I am very active in my faith. Why? Because I want close association with people who proclaim to be disciples of Jesus Christ. Again, I don't care what your religion is or no religion, or doesn't matter Right, but I have found in multiple decades of living on this earth that there is a benefit maybe not for you, but for me in associating with like-minded individuals in that space. Now I know that there are things that they believe and we believe and I believe that maybe aren't right. Maybe we'll get on the other side if there is another side and find out jokes on us. Okay, that's okay. So I know it's not a perfect group, I know it's got whatever, but this association with this group has made my life measurably better. Right, it has made the lives of my four children measurably better. You can argue with that, you can debate, you could see it differently Awesome. So that's a group I associate with.

Speaker 1:

I associate with, I try to associate with groups of people who are successful, my circle of friends. My kids would say, dad, you have friends A few and they are driven. They are businessmen and women who tend to be successful. I don't tend to do well around people who are victims, who are entitled, who are waiting for a handout, who view life as having been wrong to them? I don't. I just don't find it to be pleasurable, I don't find it to add to. So I associate. That's more of a loose association, right, but that's driven me. In my line of work. I get access to these incredibly successful executives. These are people who are driven. They don't tolerate me in their company If I waste their time. They don't pay for the services that our firm offers If they view like it is not helping them or their teams. So I associate with that group, okay, or their teams, so I associate with that group, okay.

Speaker 1:

So we associate with like-minded groups, common purposes, and it's interesting to think about each one of these groups and the enemies. So, if you think about the religious group that I associate with, we do have a common enemy we believe in. You know evil influences and Satan and whatever, however you want to term that, and that there's actual temptation and evil forces in the world. You may roll your eyes at that and be like, oh my gosh, I can't believe. We bought into it. I have bought into it. I think there's right and there's wrong. I think there's good and bad. I think these are forces that are at odds and at war against each other, and I feel the pull, the drag, the urge to respond to both of those calls, if you will. So I share a common threat with it.

Speaker 1:

So let's go back to the business or organizational impact. Who's the enemy in your organization, who's the common threat? And I will tell you what you commonly hear in organizations that have cultural problems or where there are massive silos, or where we're not functioning as one team, do you know who the enemy is? And that's too strong of a word. It's not enemy, but a thread or the them is. It's the other department, it's that other leader, it's that, uh, it's internal, it's internal. And then what do you hear? In organizations that are unified, the threat is out there and the threat is for a health care, it's illness, it's disease, it's certain conditions that we're battling In our organization, the firm. Let me give you a few things that unify us.

Speaker 1:

The common threat we face are uneducated, untrained, underdeveloped leaders and managers. Untrained, underdeveloped leaders and managers. They threaten the organizations that they work at. They are a liability, not on purpose, not intentionally, but they're holding the organization back. The organization that wastes time and money on training their employees or their managers on only things like regulations and compliance and basic skills how to make a pizza, how to run that machinery in the factory, how to do this. They only train on that and then they put them out there and have them lead the most complex, the most difficult aspect of their job called people, and they don't help them with how to do that. Those organizations are getting left behind.

Speaker 1:

The underdeveloped leader was me when I was early in my career. That's why my employee engagement scores were a disaster. I didn't know better. I hadn't even thought about the way you lead, how you lead people. I thought it was all about what you deliver and I was exceptional. Sorry, it's true, I was driven by that Scrappy and dedicated and committed to deliver results. I just didn't know until I was driven by that scrappy and dedicated and committed to deliver results. I just didn't know until I was developed, until I was trained in how to lead people in a way that they felt good about, that caused them to become loyal, that caused them to take ownership and accountability and to buy in and to want to.

Speaker 1:

How to create a purpose these things I'm talking about. So so many of you are in organizations where we have not defined and we're not talking frequently about the common purpose In our organization. The purpose of our company is not to drive top line revenue. It is a key result. That is an important KPI for us. We are not nonprofit and so revenue matters. Growth matters to us immensely, but it's not the foundation. The foundation is developing leaders. It's why we exist, it's what gets us up in the morning, it's what fuels us, it's what causes us to constantly be iterating on new frameworks and models and analyzing the data and looking at our own experiences and really listening to our clients and studying the trends that are happening across changing workplaces, because how can we better develop leaders? It's what caused this whole in 30 course Like well, what are the frustrations companies are experiencing? It's taken too long to train leaders. What are the core areas? They need to develop? These four areas. We'll leave the rest for everybody else. They can sell their 2000 courses and whatever else and that'll be awesome. We'll focus on these fundamental areas that actually drive business outcomes and we'll go on that. That's our purpose.

Speaker 1:

I've defined for you the enemy. It's the organization, the bad leader, the toxic leader, the ineffective leader. So what is it for you? So I'd ask you to define two things. This is what creates unity and reduces division. What's your common purpose? Why should people be excited to get out of bed? Why should they not be? Why should they be anxious to get in?

Speaker 1:

How often do you talk about it? How do you define it in a succinct way? It can't be growth, it can't be revenue, it can't be. It's got to be purpose-driven. So what is it? For some of you, it's super easy to come up with. For others of you, you're like well, I got to really think about that. Well, you need to define it. That's what unifies us.

Speaker 1:

When you speak to that, I have to constantly remind myself, russ, don't lead with just the key results in the meetings of our team. Talk about the purpose, why we exist, share stories of where we're having an impact in that. So, and then the common threat and it needs to be out there. And how often are you talking about it? What we're up against, why we do what we do, what we're trying to defeat. What's the problem we're out there trying to solve, what motivates us, what excites us?

Speaker 1:

And then key results. You guys know I talk about this so much. But having shared metrics when the sales team has one set of goals and nothing above that, and the marketing team has another set, and the production or innovation or research and development or whatever, has another set, and then HR has another set, and then finance has these other sets and they're all up against each other. Then you develop this division, this us versus them mentality, because we're measuring success by this and you're a threat to that. And so that top line, top of the house, enterprise, wide set of key results is so critical and and you, so you just, wherever, whatever level you're at in the org chart, you, that's what you can control. And so you make sure that the team underneath you, whether that's one team of five people or whether it's 25 teams of 50 people each, you think how do I unify them? Well, I've given you some ideas and it's uh, it's interesting to think about.

Speaker 1:

I wish somebody in society would rally around this, but the challenge is that, um, well, they're all. That's another podcast, that's another, that's another um genre of podcast. I don't have a lot of optimism that's going to be solved. The thing that typically brings us together are when evil or threats that exist against us are successful in at least occasionally rearing their ugly head, in at least occasionally rearing their ugly head and then, for a moment, we're unified because we have identified the threat that is common for all of us and we seek to defeat it. And then, typically within days, unfortunately, or weeks, we forget about that and we argue about so much and it creates nothing but bitterness and challenges when unity is such the better way to go. So, anyway, we can't solve all that, but we can solve what exists in our organizations. I've given you some things to think about and I'll talk to you in the next episode of the Lead in 30 podcast.

Speaker 2:

Share this episode with a colleague, your team or a friend. Tap on the share button and text the link. Thanks for listening to the Lead in 30 podcast with Russ Hill.