Teamwork

Happy New Year!  Yes, October 1st starts a new year for BNI Chapters.  The new Leadership Teams are set to start their new term as of October 1st.  For BNI Chapters to be successful as a whole and for chapter members to be successful, it takes everyone in the chapter working together and doing their part.  It takes Teamwork.  

So what is Teamwork?  I like this definition - 'A cooperative or coordinated effort on the part of a group of persons acting together as a team in the interests of a common cause.'

 

Here are the ingredients that I believe make a good recipe for a successful Team and for a successful BNI Chapter.

Goals - Every BNI member becomes a part of a BNI Chapter to receive referrals in order to make money.  But in order for the individuals to reach their goals, the chapter has to have a set of goals and a plan to be successful, which in turn will help each individual member reach their goals and see the value in their membership. What are your chapter's goals?

Everyone doing their fair share - I believe that every member in a chapter needs to have a role/responsibility.  As the description says, 'everyone working together as a team.'  Like a football team, the water boy's role is essential to the quarterback staying hydrated in order to make a touchdown.  Every role and responsibility contributes to the success of the team.  What role/responsibility do you have in your chapter? What skills do you have that would benefit your chapter?

Communication/Feedback - BNI chapters are made up of a diverse group of people with different backgrounds and different styles of communication.  When issues are raised, it's not necessarily a complaint, but an awareness that needs attention.  Perhaps it is a lack of understanding of the process or the procedure.  How does your chapter handle feedback?  The Chapter Success Meeting provides a great place for sharing information, providing feedback and working out issues.  Does your chapter have a monthly Chapter Success Meeting that is open to all members?  Do your members know the process for handling issues?

Growth - Just like every business wants to grow to make more money, BNI chapters need to grow in order for their members to have more opportunities for referrals.  What is your chapter's plan to have more visitors and to grow the membership?

Accountability - This is a hard one for some chapters.  In BNI, members get to be friends and it is sometimes hard to tell your friend they are not doing their fair share.  But in high functioning teams, it is a necessity to provide feedback and hold members accountable.  Think about if you were part of a rowing team and one member was not doing their fair share of rowing or not rowing in the right direction, what would happen?  You would be going in circles, staying in one place, or going backwards.  In order to be part of a high functioning team and reap the rewards, you have to be willing to work at the level expected of a high functioning team and give and accept feedback on ways to improve.  What are the expectations for the members of your chapter?  

Continuous Improvement - I like Maya Angelou's quote, 'Do better until you know better and then do better.'  In order for teams to be successful, they have to have goals and a plan and they need to review their progress continuously to see how they are doing.  By reviewing, analyzing, making adjustments, etc. they can keep the chapter on course to reach and exceed their goals.  What goals and mechanisms does your chapter have in place for making improvements?

Fun and Recognition - Lastly and one of the most important parts of a successful recipe of successful teams is to have fun and celebrate success.  Celebrating individual as well as group achievements gives a team a since of accomplishment.  With every accomplishment it gives encouragement to work for more.  How does your chapter have fun, celebrate, and recognize success?

Your Support Team is here to help you, i.e. Your Director Consultant, Area Director, Senior Director, and Executive Directors.  If you or your chapter needs help or have questions, reach out.

Here are some additional resources:

Creating a Great Culture

Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast

Good to Great

5 Dysfunctions of a Team

Behaviors and Credibility

For previous articles refer to my Notably Green Blog.

And join the Facebook Group - Notably Green

I encourage you to access the podcasts via BNI University so that you show up on the Leader board for your Chapter and your area.  To make it easier, you can also download the app to your smart device.  It's available from ITunes and Google.  Also, be sure and report your CEUs, 1 hour = 1 CEU.

Let me know if you have any questions and how I can be of help.  

 

To Your Success,

 

Annette Mason

Area Director Consultant

404-376-9180

Annette@BNIatl.com

  

Please let me know of other topics you would like to know about that I can add to future newsletters. 

Charting Your Course

From June 2017 

I had the privilege of attending the BNI National Conference in May.  The Theme for the

conference was 'Charting Your Course.'  Wow!  It was Awesome!  I thoroughly enjoyed meeting lots people from BNI, i.e. members, BNI Global personnel, BNI Directors, Trainers, Executive Directors, etc.  It was like trying to drink from a fire hose!  I took lots of notes and will be sharing and implementing a lot of what I learned over the course of the next several weeks and months.  

The keynote speaker for the conference was Lt. Col Rob 'Waldo' Waldman. One of the best keynotes I've ever heard.  And he is from Atlanta.

Here are a few of the one liners from his presentation:

- 'Whose Values are you Shaping?' 

- Passion has to be bigger than our fear 

- Attitude plus action determine our Altitude 

- Are you trained and prepared or are you winging it? 

- Fly Like a Champion 

- Leaders Lift 

- Busy People find a way and find the time 

- Service before Self 

- Be a Commander Not a Demander 

- Are you coachable?  Are you approachable? 

- Lose Sight, Lose the Fight 

- Fuel of Performance - Recognition 

- We Survive Solo, But we Win Together 

- Fear Drags - Love Lifts 

- Be a Wing Giver

Here is a link to his website to learn more -  

https://yourwingman.com/meet-the-wingman/

Video Gallery -

https://yourwingman.com/video-gallery/

His Book -

Never Fly Solo: Lead with Courage, Build Trusting Partnerships, and Reach New Heights in Business (Business Books)

by Robert "Waldo" Waldman by McGraw-Hill Education

Kindle Edition ~ Release Date: 2009-12-04

Buy Now 

 

I highly recommend his book.  Be sure and give yourself CEU credits after you read it.

Typically in the summer months we tend to want to pull back the throttle and slow down a bit.  Was that part of charting your course the first of the year when you set your goals?  Are you on course with your goals?

Be sure and check out the training section for some new webinars, in particular Monday Morning Mugs.  Cathy Barbieri, BNI Atlanta Executive Director, leads these webinar every Monday Morning with insightful ways to get the most from your BNI membership.  This is specifically for BNI members & guests held each Monday at 8:30 a.m. to get better results from networking -- regardless of if you join or not! 

Leadership Are You Ready for This?

From September 2015

 

 

We've all heard that the speed and tone of the Leadership Team sets the speed and tone of the chapter. Leadership Team alignment is crucial to chapter success. At the Fall Leadership Training the Leadership Team will be asked to set their goals for the Chapter for the upcoming year. The Leadership Team decides what they want the chapter to achieve during their term and exactly HOW they plan to achieve it. The critical functions of chapter leadership is creating a consistent culture, setting the emotional tone, having goals, and a strategy to achieve them, making accountability an everyday conversation, and recognizing and celebrating success. The Leadership team has a whole year to get great results for your BNI Chapter.

So how does the LT help their chapter achieve positive results? It's been discovered that when chapters learn and train together, rather than simply getting the information on their own, the chapter thrives in new ways.  It's critical to gather the same information at the same time. Consider the great sports teams; they practice together before they win. Perhaps now is the time to ask your Chapter members what they what to achieve over the next year. With their input and buy in, develop the Chapter goals and steps to achieve those goals for the upcoming year.

There are five essential elements to any leadership team to take their chapter to the next level.  They are easy once you know them and consistently apply them. Think of them as your chapter's yellow brick road to chapter success.

Here they are:

 

1. Alignment. Are all the Chapter members on the same page?

2.  Goals. Do you have them? Does everyone in the chapter know what they are and agree with them?  (Hint: being in agreement is part of being in alignment.)

 

3.  A Plan/Process. Every team needs a plan, a playbook, a system to help everyone win together. What is your chapter's plan?  Does it support your alignment?

 

4.  Accountability. This is the hidden ingredient that makes all the rest work.  (Refer back to last month's newsletter) 

 

5.  Recognition and Celebration. This is one of the most important activities for any team. All great teams recognize and celebrate. Do you? What do you do to recognize your team successes and individual success?

It is important that one element builds on the next. In other words, it's not easy to have goals and a plan everyone follows if the leadership team and the chapter aren't aligned. Nor is it productive to try and build accountability without alignment, goals, and a plan.

 

Think of it this way. If every member understands all the different processes of BNI in exactly the same way and also understands why those processes are in place, the whole group more quickly comes together. And once they've come together, they can move in the same direction to achieve their goals! Use the educational segment of your meetings to educate and reinforce the processes of BNI and why they work. Education + Practice + Accountability = Results!

Speaking the same language creates a healthy chapter culture. Everyone feels included, and it's exciting for members when they know everyone is using the same BNI playbook. They can see the path to unlocking the true potential of BNI. Speaking the same language becomes a shortcut to building excellent referral relationships, as members understand the sequence, the timing, and the activities required to make it happen. The last element that makes all of this work, which can be scary, is (brace yourself) accountability.  Accountability is the secret ingredient that pulls all of the BNI fundamentals together.

 

So now is the time to create a team culture of accountability and productivity which will propel you to Success in the upcoming year!

GO BNI TEAM!