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Teamwork = Success
by John Bolton
Have you ever tried to steer a boat with a group of people who are rowing in different directions? When some of the people are rowing forward and some backward, what usually happens is the boat goes in circles.
I recently went whitewater rafting and was drilled by the raft guide about the importance of rowing together as a team. I listened intently as he described what could happen if we did not do exactly what he instructed our team of paddlers to do. Since the possibility of serious bodily injury did not appeal to any of us, we heeded his instructions.
As we were gliding down Tennessee's Ocoee River, I thought about the importance of our team working together. If we did not paddle correctly and in the same direction, we would overturn our raft and be at the mercy of the river. I realized that team-building is an integral part of any organization, whether you are whitewater rafting, coaching Little League baseball or managing a business. The true team concept could not be more important in a cemetery or funeral home operation.
I have worked for the largest cemetery and funeral company in the world; I have worked for a small cemetery that does fewer than 100 burials per year. I started out push-mowing and weed-eating 19 acres of cemetery and now manage six properties. I have coached numerous athletic teams and played on countless others while growing up. I firmly believe that building a strong team is the foundation to success. Look at the most successful leaders throughout history: Each was surrounded by a successful team.
I am not the coach of a professional sports team; I am not the CEO of a Fortune 500 company or the owner of a management firm, but through personal experience I have discovered several cornerstone principles to keep in mind if you want to establish and maintain a strong team concept.
Cornerstone #1: Remember Everyone Is Important
Establishing cohesiveness should be paramount in developing a team. This begins by instilling the concept that everyone who works for you is important. From the company president to the part-time custodian, everyone has a role in making the cemetery or funeral home great.
ESPN named Michael Jordan the greatest athlete of the past century. At times during his career he was unstoppable, but all 12 men on the Chicago Bulls roster were important. Some were needed to rebound, some to make stellar defensive plays. In 1997, the Bulls averaged 103 points per game; Jordan's average was 29 points. Even though his scoring output was tremendous, he only accounted for part of what it took to win.
In a cemetery or funeral home operation, everyone is important. Our company always considered our grounds staff to be key players-they are the front line. They have much more contact with our families and visitors than our company president does. We want them to feel just as important as anyone else, so they can reflect that feeling to our visitors. I try to do little things to demonstrate how I feel. Showing up at lunch time with a cooler full of drinks and several large pizzas is always a hit. I also offer them financial incentives based on what the entire cemetery operation accomplishes, not just how the grounds look.
Cornerstone #2: Define Your Focus
As a leader, you must define your goals and establish the direction you want your company to move. It is extremely important to keep team members focused on common goals. Running your company without direction would be like baking a cake without a recipe. It may look like a cake when it's done, but it may not be worth eating. Without focus, our cemeteries and funeral homes may look acceptable on the surface, but when families come in to make arrangements, they may find a staff that is unorganized and uncaring.
Have a focus, and share it with the team. Remember, everyone is important, so we should share company goals with all team members.
Cornerstone #3: Choose The Right People
When you buy eggs at the grocery store, you first open the carton to see if any are broken. When you buy a house, you first inspect it thoroughly. You wouldn't dream of investing your dollars without first doing research, but do you ever choose people to represent your cemetery or funeral home without doing your homework?
Your team members are an investment and should be treated as such. They can either help a company excel or begin to destroy it. Not only is it important to pick the right people, it is just as important to put them in the right jobs. Often, you must be able to see staff members for who they could become, not who they are.
A young man from Nazareth selected His team based on what they could become. He provided the tools, materials and resources to meet the goals He set forth for them. He made sure they were well prepared before He sent them out to be His representatives. Our jobs as a team builders should be no different. We need to choose the right people for the right jobs, train them properly and provide them with sufficient materials to effectively represent our companies.
Successful team builders develop a propensity for recognizing the right people for the right jobs, and they help those people achieve their personal goals as well as those of the company. A good team builder will always help employees build on their strengths instead of focusing on their weaknesses.
Cornerstone #4: Confront Problems Head On
Unfortunately, part of being a team builder is dealing with adversity. The best way to handle problems within the team is to address them immediately and directly. Beating around the bush or enlarging the problem by sharing it with everyone but the people involved won't help. Keeping things simple, specific and direct is always a good policy.
Handle problems with professionalism. One of my old college professors used to say, "Praise in public, punish in private." Calling a team member down in front of others is a great way to destroy team morale.
Cornerstone #5: Be a Model for Hard Work
"Been there, done that." This old adage could not be more important than in team building. A good leader develops by example. Our company's philosophy is that managers will not ask someone to do something unless we have either done it ourselves or would be willing to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the employees and do the task with them.
Nothing brings a team down more quickly than the "ivory tower" concept. How many times have we heard employees say, "All management can do is sit in their 'ivory towers' and look down on us." That type of leadership style demoralizes the team.
Cornerstone #6: Always Be Ethical
This cornerstone should be a "no-brainer" for the team builder. We operate in a business held in high regard. Whether you are a preneed counselor, a vice president or a grounds employee, maintaining high ethical conduct should be expected. Nothing will destroy your team and your company more quickly than to be infected with poor moral judgment.
As a team builder, not only do you need to hire individuals with good character, you must constantly emphasize the importance of maintaining the integrity of the team. Team builders and team members must all be accountable to each other. We must remember that the public evaluates our companies through the people we employ.
Establish and maintain high standards of personal moral responsibility, character and business integrity.
Cornerstone #7: Maintain Your Priorities
As a team builder, you must keep your priorities in order. Many of the cornerstones listed above may become your priorities when developing your team, but keep your team focused on your priority for your particular operation. Our company's main priority is to identify and meet the unique needs of everyone we serve, with compassion and competence. In other words, our main priority is to serve our families.
It is also important to develop the staff, earn a reasonable profit, maintain our parks, etc., etc., but our focus is on our main priority. If you want true and lasting success, then you must keep your priorities aligned with what is truly important.
There is no magic formula for building a team, but its importance should be obvious. Whether you are running a cemetery or funeral home operation, a lack of teamwork will affect the people you serve.
Good teamwork can nurture an organizational chemistry, or synergy, so that the team's combined work is better than the sum of the individual parts. That special chemistry can be found among team members who truly believe in the value of what they do, who are positive and upbeat, who keep a sense of humor and find joy in their work, who can easily share credit and who are committed to excellence.
John Bolton is general manager for Heritage Family Cemeteries Inc. in Johnson City, Tennessee. He can be reached at (423) 283-4800 or at john@heritagefamily.com.
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Copyright ICFA 2002
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