Ezard Tracey - GLUE: the stuff that binds us together to do extraordinary work

Copyright 2017 Tracey Ezard

www.traceyezard.com

First published in 2017

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, except as provided by international copyright law.

For Justin, Conor and Layla
I am because of who we are

Contents

We don't need conventional teams;
we need 21st-century tribes

Introduction

I have written this book for leaders and teams who want to create something extraordinary with each other, but are not sure how. What they do know is that relationships are important. They understand that the environment we create in our workplaces is linked to wellbeing and working in more intelligent ways. They are frustrated with silos the attitude that occurs when departments or groups within an organisation do not want to share information and knowledge with each other. They want to collaborate more but are not exactly sure what that looks like. They also want to make an impact. These people are committed to doing their very best, wherever they sit on the journey to high performance.

This book is for teams who want to lift beyond convention. They want to work differently, let go of the rules and structures that keep them mediocre, and move with momentum. These teams want to find the glue that will help them provide a service to their clients that is more than excellent.

In a fast-moving world, collaboration is key. We need savvy, smart thinking and ways of working that blur lines between people, tasks and departments now more than ever. Disruptors are upsetting the previous even keel of every sector. The ability to be flexible and open, to learn new ways of working and to create a buzz around the work is critical to thriving in this chaotic environment.

Fear drives many organisations. Fear of raising issues, rocking the boat and moving out of default comfortable behaviour. There are thousands of teams who have no autonomy over their work, are treated like children and head to work with dread every day. Distrust and disconnection are daily issues that create stress and a lack of commitment to our jobs. It's time for us to change this paradigm. Humans crave connection. We crave relationships that support us and value our unique qualities. We want to belong, and we want to do our best. We just need the nutrients and fertile soil to grow.

My background in education, and specifically in building collaborative staff learning cultures, makes me passionate about creating environments where people thrive not just survive. I have seen leaders who can bring out the best in their people, and others who prefer to use control and command to force their agenda forward. That military paradigm of leadership no longer serves us. The impact on the engagement and motivation with this approach is detrimental not only to the bottom line but also to health. My many years working with leaders has helped me identify the key elements that are in place when we are pushing the status quo and providing the safety nets that allow people to learn and collaborate deeply. We are in an environment where agility, flexibility and innovation are the winning ingredients.

The first section of this book outlines why creating a strong connection within our organisations is crucial in today's business context. It outlines why we need to think beyond high performance and conventional teams. We need to create 21st-Century Tribes. The second part is devoted to the concepts of culture and strategy and the elements that bring them together with strength collaboration and learning. The final section delves into the foundational glue of 21st-Century Tribes the glue of trust.

Working as a leader in the education, automotive and hospitality industries prior to this work gave me a unique perspective of purpose-driven organisations that galvanise around something beyond profit. It opened my eyes to the invisible threads that draw people together to trust each other enough to take risks and step outside their comfort zone.

From a lifetime of facilitation and culture building, I understand the challenges of bringing people together and spurring them towards great outcomes. I help leaders and teams set the frameworks for collaboration and create environments to do amazing things.

I have had the honour of working with thousands of leaders and hundreds of teams over the last decade and seen the power that strong connection to purpose and each other can have. I love working with teams that want to be better. They want to co-create the future together and gain serious momentum in getting there. They want to co-create the culture and the strategy to do extraordinary work.

This book shows where to focus the attention of leaders, teams, and project teams so that they become 21st-Century tribes, able to deal with the complexities of the world with enthusiasm, deep trust and impact. These tribes build the glue of collaboration and trust and challenge each other to evolve and grow constantly.

We don't need conventional teams; we need 21st-Century tribes

Moving to warp speed

The need for speed in the world today means every organisation and business must work in a faster and more connected way. All sectors need to work swiftly and adapt to changing contexts. Yet our current hierarchical approach stymies any creative thinking from the people on lower rungs of the ladder. Hefty bureaucratic processes slow things down. Default thinking and ways of working mean we waste time and energy on things that don't matter. Lack of cultural growth and engagement in organisations creates stagnation. Low engagement brings no traction to businesses needing to speed up and stay with the wave of global transformation.

The imperative of being able to work in a more flexible and agile way in the world today is well documented. Ever increasing technology advancement, global disruption to industries and increased consumer choice are causing both chaos and opportunity for organisations in all sectors. Technology democratisation gives everyone the world in their pocket. What's out there is coming to me rather than me having to go out there and find it. Markets are demanding choice, high-quality service and value for money. Customers walk with their market share elsewhere to get what they need and what they want.

Back in the workplace, we sit through meetings with repetitive agendas, listening to people drone on about tasks that don't value add to what we need to do. Most of us are tempted to face plant onto the table in frustration or boredom. The important work to be done is mentioned fleetingly at the end of the meeting when we've run out of time. We nod to each other that we'll get to that critical discussion next meeting. Back at our desks we hurriedly complete a siloed task before the next meeting of no consequence is due. Decisions take a torturous route on their way to being made, delayed through micromanagement and a tight control fixation. This creates frustration and lag in response to changing contexts and consumer needs.