· In the context of work, how many times do you say “I”?
· Now reflect on how many of those should have been “We”?
It’s a common mistake. Food servers who say “I have” rather than “We have” a menu item. Substitute any job and the same happens often. I think it’s a mindset, one that can be set straight by leaders. Stress the benefits of working together AND acknowledging one another – discuss those benefits and continually recognize the “We”. Talk about the many ways that people and jobs intersect with each other to create the whole product or service – like automobile intersections, getting it right takes practice. Catch people using “We” and gently correct people using “I” – not by calling them out, but by recognizing and rewarding all the times you hear “We”. And every time you use “I”, stop and apologize – be a role model for “We”. At the end of the day, the ratio of We’s to I’s is the best indicator of the development of a team. It’s a work in progress, but one you should reinforce today.
Lewis B. Ergen: for only the 2nd time in my 15 years of writing these daily messages, I can’t find any bio info on an author. Let me know if you know who he is.
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