Disclaimer: These communications are intended for the employees of HB Global. We recognize that the general public will have access. The views expressed in these communications represent Bob Whalen in the context of HB Global and may not apply to broader audiences.
At HB Global, we have four core values: Trust, Team, Grit, and Growth. But we find ourselves spending a disproportionate amount of time on the Team core value. Why is this?
Let’s look to sports as an example that is easily relatable. One person can’t carry an entire team, especially as the teams get larger. AJ Brown, wide receiver on the Philadelphia Eagles, had a phenomenal December at the individual level, but the Eagles struggled as a team.
On a sports team, each position player needs to do their job and be a good teammate to be successful. Business is no different. We each have a job to do. We each bring unique skills to the table. We each need to be a good teammate.
And as an ESOP, when we win as a team, we also win as individuals. Let’s talk more about why we spend so much time on the core value of Team.
Why Team Is So Important
Team is one of the core values where there can be the most variability. It’s fairly normal for people to join a team, leave it, or change their role. These changes can totally shift the dynamic of the team, and it doesn’t take a lot to get going in the wrong direction.
That’s why it’s so important to have a strong foundation as a team. The stronger the foundation is, the less likely it is that these changes will have such a drastic impact. Establishing and maintaining this foundation takes continual time, effort, and focus. While it takes a disproportionate amount of our time and energy relative to the other core values, we recognize the importance of making this a priority.
Our company has over 1,700 employees. One person is not capable of carrying that team, no matter what their role is in the organization. Each employee owner is part of our team for a reason. We all bring unique skills, insights, and knowledge to our roles. When all these things come together, we’re able to be more successful as a team than we would be individually.
Teams also help us to perform over the long term. Business isn’t a short game. Our teams need to be set up so that our company can continue to make an impact over many years and even decades to come. People will come and go, but consistency and strength within our teams will help us to stay on track to fulfill our mission and goals.
Behaviors of a Great Teammate
If we say Team is so important to us, it’s also important that we define what it means to be a great teammate. There are a lot of details and behaviors that go into this. And like so many other things dependent on human nature, circumstances are also important. But there are a few key behaviors and attitudes that will always be consistent for great teammates within our organization.
One of these behaviors is checking our ego at the door. Another way to think of this is showing humility. We are all part of a team, both our direct team and our organization as a whole, for a reason: we bring certain skills and knowledge to the table. We each have different areas of expertise and experience. No one really knows the details of another person’s day-to-day job. We may know generally what they’re responsible for, but we need to recognize that we aren’t walking in the other person’s shoes. The decisions they make, the priorities they choose, and the way they operate may be for reasons we can’t see. We should be humble enough to recognize that we are not the experts on what our teammates are doing because we don’t have the same perspective they have.
This also means that active communication is a behavior we expect of great teammates. We cannot know what others are going through, and we can’t expect them to fully understand our day-to-day responsibilities. Things happen and priorities can change. When this occurs, we need to communicate to our teammates what’s going on, what the expectations should be, and where we may need help.
Sometimes, we’ll still fall short though. No one can execute perfectly all the time, so it’s also important that we treat our teammates with respect and give them grace where needed. Often, we’re quick to expect others to give us grace because we know the context of why we fell short. But we should start with that same mindset for others. It helps us to practice blameless problem solving, allowing us to get done what needs to get done rather than focusing on where the fault should be. There are times when people are going through things outside of work, or even at work, that we’re not privy to. We should react to people’s typical performance, and not judge them for their bad days.
Really what it all comes down to is respect. If we respect one another, we’re likely to fulfill all the behaviors we would expect of a great teammate.
Playing the Long Game
Business is a long game. We want the organization to survive over generations. That means balancing short-term goals with the long-term strategy and vision. As individuals, it can be easy to focus on what we need to get done today, this week, this quarter, or this year.
We need to balance grit and our drive to execute in the short term with other priorities, goals, and behaviors. It’s detrimental to our teams if someone is so tunnel-visioned on accomplishing their goals and tasks that they sacrifice being a good teammate in the process. Bulldozing teammates for the sake of a goal is short-term thinking. It ultimately has long-term consequences. It doesn’t just matter what we do, but rather how we do it.
One person cannot carry a team, and so it’s just as important to cultivate a strong team environment as it is to have strong execution. It’s not sustainable for an individual to work at a super high rate of execution over the long-term. But as a team, we can have continuous strong performance by being a great teammate, asking for help, offering help, communicating, and showing respect.
Have your own thoughts or questions about what it means to be a great teammate at HB Global? Send them to [email protected].