Beyond Co-operation
By Dr. John C. Maxwell
For the past 20 years, John Maxwell has been my strongest mentor and one of the greatest story tellers whom I've modeled my life around. I learned from him that it was ok to Fail Forward, because you see that's the way I learned, adapted, changed and grew. Thank you John!
When a group of soldiers found themselves locked away in a German prison camp during World War II, they easily could have waited out the end of the war there. Or, they might have made a few small attempts to free one or two people.
At one such camp, however, the goals were much bigger. These prisoners organized themselves around the collective goal of freeing 250 soldiers in one night. Their story became the basis for the 1963 movie "The Great Escape."
Imagine the teamwork required to pull off such an ambitious goal. Groups of prisoners had to engineer and dig tunnels, build supports from wooden slats, dispose of dirt, create bellows to pump air into the tunnels, and light the tunnels.
According to one list, the supplies included 4'000 bed slats, 1'370 battens, 1'699 blankets, 52 long tables, 1'219 knives, 30 shovels, 600 feet of rope and 1'000 feet of electric wire.
In addition to finding materials for the tunnels, each escapee would need civilian clothes, German papers, identity cards, maps, homemade compasses and emergency rations.
Everyone had a job, from tailors to pickpockets to forgers. There were even teams that specialized in distracting the German soldiers.
"It demanded the concentrated devotion and vigilance of more than 600 men ... every single one of them, every minute, every hour, every day and every night for more than one year," John Sturges, who directed the movie account, once said. "Never has the human capacity been stretched to such incredible lengths or shown such determination and such courage."
To pull off such an elaborate mission, the soldiers moved beyond cooperation and into collaboration. You see, there's a difference between co-operation and collaboration.
Cooperation is working together agreeably. Everybody sits down, and they're agreeable. Collaboration is working together aggressively; and there's a world of difference between those two.
There are four changes needed to become a Collaborative type of a player:
1. Perception. You need to see teammates differently; you need to see them as collaborators, not as competitors.
2. Attitude. As a team player, you need to be supportive, not suspicious of teammates, because if you trust others, you'll treat them differently, in fact you'll treat them better.
3. Focus. A collaborative type of team player concentrates on the team, not himself or herself. Cavett Roberts said it right: "True progress in any field is a relay race and not a single event," so the focus is different.
4. Results. You begin to create victories through multiplication.
One is too small of a number to produce greatness. In fact, nothing can be accomplished in a great way without help. You have to learn to collaborate. You have to learn to come together.
When you're developing a team that collaborates, it begins to be aggressive, not just agreeable. And it begins to accomplish a vision that mere co-operation never would allow.
Feedback is essential to good leadership, but it only works if the leader is ready and willing to listen and consider change. John Maxwell also offers these do's and don'ts for getting good feedback:
DO:
Explain how you would like to receive your feedback.
Let the person finish what he or she is saying.
Paraphrase what you are being told.
Ask clarifying questions.
Thank the person for being helpful.
DON'T:
Become defensive or explain your behavior. Just listen.
Interrupt the other person...you asked for the feedback, now listen to it.
Be afraid to allow pauses and silence when you ask for feedback. People may need time to think about what they say.
Ask the person to defend his/her opinion. Feedback is purely about subjective perception and information.
Seek feedback from your fan club only.
So, my friend.... are you a Co-operator or a Collaborator?
To Your MLM Success Made Easy
Christiane Beaud
This article is used by permission from Dr. John C. Maxwell's free monthly e-newsletter 'Leadership Wired' available at www.MaximumImpact.com.
For the past 20 years, John Maxwell has been my strongest mentor and one of the greatest story tellers whom I've modeled my life around. I learned from him that it was ok to Fail Forward, because you see that's the way I learned, adapted, changed and grew. Thank you John!
When a group of soldiers found themselves locked away in a German prison camp during World War II, they easily could have waited out the end of the war there. Or, they might have made a few small attempts to free one or two people.
At one such camp, however, the goals were much bigger. These prisoners organized themselves around the collective goal of freeing 250 soldiers in one night. Their story became the basis for the 1963 movie "The Great Escape."
Imagine the teamwork required to pull off such an ambitious goal. Groups of prisoners had to engineer and dig tunnels, build supports from wooden slats, dispose of dirt, create bellows to pump air into the tunnels, and light the tunnels.
According to one list, the supplies included 4'000 bed slats, 1'370 battens, 1'699 blankets, 52 long tables, 1'219 knives, 30 shovels, 600 feet of rope and 1'000 feet of electric wire.
In addition to finding materials for the tunnels, each escapee would need civilian clothes, German papers, identity cards, maps, homemade compasses and emergency rations.
Everyone had a job, from tailors to pickpockets to forgers. There were even teams that specialized in distracting the German soldiers.
"It demanded the concentrated devotion and vigilance of more than 600 men ... every single one of them, every minute, every hour, every day and every night for more than one year," John Sturges, who directed the movie account, once said. "Never has the human capacity been stretched to such incredible lengths or shown such determination and such courage."
To pull off such an elaborate mission, the soldiers moved beyond cooperation and into collaboration. You see, there's a difference between co-operation and collaboration.
Cooperation is working together agreeably. Everybody sits down, and they're agreeable. Collaboration is working together aggressively; and there's a world of difference between those two.
There are four changes needed to become a Collaborative type of a player:
1. Perception. You need to see teammates differently; you need to see them as collaborators, not as competitors.
2. Attitude. As a team player, you need to be supportive, not suspicious of teammates, because if you trust others, you'll treat them differently, in fact you'll treat them better.
3. Focus. A collaborative type of team player concentrates on the team, not himself or herself. Cavett Roberts said it right: "True progress in any field is a relay race and not a single event," so the focus is different.
4. Results. You begin to create victories through multiplication.
One is too small of a number to produce greatness. In fact, nothing can be accomplished in a great way without help. You have to learn to collaborate. You have to learn to come together.
When you're developing a team that collaborates, it begins to be aggressive, not just agreeable. And it begins to accomplish a vision that mere co-operation never would allow.
Feedback is essential to good leadership, but it only works if the leader is ready and willing to listen and consider change. John Maxwell also offers these do's and don'ts for getting good feedback:
DO:
Explain how you would like to receive your feedback.
Let the person finish what he or she is saying.
Paraphrase what you are being told.
Ask clarifying questions.
Thank the person for being helpful.
DON'T:
Become defensive or explain your behavior. Just listen.
Interrupt the other person...you asked for the feedback, now listen to it.
Be afraid to allow pauses and silence when you ask for feedback. People may need time to think about what they say.
Ask the person to defend his/her opinion. Feedback is purely about subjective perception and information.
Seek feedback from your fan club only.
So, my friend.... are you a Co-operator or a Collaborator?
To Your MLM Success Made Easy
Christiane Beaud
This article is used by permission from Dr. John C. Maxwell's free monthly e-newsletter 'Leadership Wired' available at www.MaximumImpact.com.
posted by Christie Beaud @ 9:43 PM
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