On today’s episode of No Bullshit with Alex Willis, you’ll learn the secrets to uniting others under your leadership. Alex dissects not only how to give directions and manage others clearly, but how to unlock your team's potential and super-charge their performance.
We all want to be part of an amazing team. And every leader wants to lead a high-performing team. But how do you do it? How do you get a group of people to bond, work together, and get stuff done?
On today’s episode of No Bullshit with Alex Willis, you’ll learn the secrets to uniting others under your leadership. Alex dissects not only how to give directions and manage others clearly, but how to unlock your team's potential and super-charge their performance.
Additionally, at the end of the episode, Alex will tell you how you can enter to win free No BS merchandise. So be on the lookout!
In our first segment, The Takeoff, you’ll start with the teams we’re most familiar with: sports. Alex shows how a misstep from one player can ruin a plan, and how taking ownership of mistakes is a secret super-power.
Tune into our next segment, The Level, where we take a look at the 10 Elements to Win when leading a team. If you’re slacking on most of these, it’s time to study up and get clear on your expectations!
Be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts as well as the YouTube channel to watch full video episodes and be notified as soon as the next episode is live.
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[00:00:00] Alex: Hey, what's up guys? It's Alex Willis here, c e o of Leadership Surge, and I'm super excited to have you to the show today. And I wanna personally welcome you to No Bullshit with Alex Willis, the go-to source for leadership development in the construction industry. And my friends, we have another phenomenal show for you today.
[00:00:25] Alex: Today we're talking about high performing teams. Right now, this is a topic that, truth be told is not discussed in the construction industry, but in the times in which we live with shortage of labor, with tasks that are very challenging, you have to have a high performing team to pull a lot of this shit off.
[00:00:44] Alex: So what are the key components of a high performing team? That's what we're gonna dive into today. How do you do it? How do you motivate? How do you encourage, how do you bring people together? That's what we are about to jump off into right now with the takeoff. So I look forward to checking you out. Come on to the takeoff.
[00:01:00] Alex: So welcome to the takeoff, my friends high performing teams right now. This is a subject, as I said earlier, that most people don't talk about in the construction industry, but if we're being honest, you need a high performing team, people that can work together, that can focus to get shit done. So how do you do it?
[00:01:19] Alex: How do you do it? Well, Before we jump into how you do it, a crazy, crazy study that was really shocking to me if I'm truly being honest with you. Now, most of you know former athlete played at the University of Florida Gold Gators played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and so for my entire life, my entire life, I've participated in some type of team sport, understanding the dynamics of team, understanding how people work together, the codependency of each other, what all of that entails.
[00:01:47] Alex: Now, the shocking set that I found. I'm talking about here in the United States. Now understand this. In the United States, only 20% of the population has ever played a team sport. That shit blew my mind. I'm like, whoa, wait a minute. Wait a minute. You mean to tell me? Only 20% of the population has ever played a team sport.
[00:02:08] Alex: Now, this is important. My friends, only 20% of the population has ever played a team sport, but every corporation. Every company, every uh, organization, as I mentioned, always talks about being a team player. Come on, we need a team. You need to be a part of a team. And truth be told, people just nod their head and they're shaking their head, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:02:29] Alex: Be a part of the team. But shit, they never played on a team before. So how the hell will they know what it looks like and what it feels like to be a part of a team and what a team means if they've never participated in a team sport. Crazy, crazy, crazy thing, my friend. So, Truth be told, oftentimes we're asking a ton of people to do something that they don't even know how to do.
[00:02:53] Alex: So today we're jumping into it because who does that fall on? Well, my friends, that falls on the leader of the team. So the leader of the team has to understand how to get the best out of people, how to create an environment to create a high performing team. And I'll be honest with you, my friends, oftentimes it's not the person who's the most skilled.
[00:03:15] Alex: With their tools. Understand the person who is the best with their tools oftentimes makes a horrible leader. Just because you're the best with your tools does not mean you should lead a hundred people who have those tools as well, right? Because there's another level of leadership skills that you have to refine in order to be a phenomenal leader.
[00:03:35] Alex: Now, in the construction industry, if I'm being honest, we've done a piss poor y'all with leadership development because I want you to think about this. Recently I got a chance to interview a hundred general foreman and superintendents, right? We spent the day together just talking about leadership, and I got a chance to ask them.
[00:03:55] Alex: I asked every one of them, Hey, describe to me how you came into leadership. For all of them, the story was quite similar. Most of them were just thrown out, kicked to the wolves and said, Hey, listen, sink or swim, make it or not. And that's a horrible way, if you think about it, for us to introduce leaders into leadership roles, sink or swim, right?
[00:04:21] Alex: Most of them said, Hey, I topped out as an apprentice, and the next thing I know, Alex, they had me running a job with a hundred people. Most of them were being totally honest, saying they were scared shitless, not knowing what to do, how to do it, let alone manage hundreds of people. Right. So there has to be a better way for us to do it.
[00:04:42] Alex: And so we're gonna dive into the nuts and bolts of it today as we kind of talk a little bit about that. But I wanna ask you a question for those who are listening right now, how did you get into leadership? How did you get into the role that you're in right now? If it's like most of the people we've talked to, it was that sink or swim mentality, and yeah, maybe you did a great job, maybe you were able to step up to the plate, but everyone shouldn't have to do that.
[00:05:04] Alex: I love to give this analogy a football analogy here. Have you ever seen a quarterback. A rookie quarterback who's never played before, never played before, and all of a sudden in the biggest game of the year, you bring them off the bench and you throw 'em in there. Now, what's the likelihood of them successfully doing a great job?
[00:05:25] Alex: Yeah, if we're being honest, there's a small percent that does well, but if we're really being honest, the majority of them fail. They fall flat on their face. And the truth be told, my friends, when we do that, Confidence lost. Usually they're not willing to step back up to the plate and try it ever again.
[00:05:45] Alex: And it's all because we didn't set them up to succeed. If you look in the league right now, some of the best quarterbacks have ever played the game. Tom Brady. Aaron Rogers, both of those quarterbacks spent time on the bench for several years watching a quarterback in front of them, working with the coach, getting prepared so that when their moment came, they could be phenomenal at doing a great job.
[00:06:10] Alex: So if we're gonna do a great job, truth be told, companies happen to do a hell of a job, created a farm system, kind of like baseball. In which we really began to take leaders through, to really develop them and refine their skills so that they can be phenomenal leaders. We have to do a phenomenal job of separating, working with your tools and leading people.
[00:06:32] Alex: Two totally different skill sets. You may be good at one, horrible at the other, right? And most times in construction, we spend all of our damn time on this one right here, right? So what is a team? What? What is a team? What is a team? If you had to ask, answer that question, most people. Don't even know how to answer that question Well.
[00:06:49] Alex: Well, if we answer that question well, a team is a group of individuals who are mutually dependent upon each other to achieve a common goal. Think about that for a second. A group of individuals who are mutually dependent on each other to achieve a common goal. So, so everyone knows what we're going after.
[00:07:10] Alex: I am so dependent on this person to get their job done, because if they don't get it done, we don't win. Right. Most people don't think of team like that in the corporate environment. Most times it's a doggy dog world. Everyone's out for themselves. There's a lot of selfishness and individualism going on, which both break down teams.
[00:07:33] Alex: My friends, some of the worst teams I've ever played on, people were all about themselves. We see this quite frequently in the nfl as people get closer to that contract year. Ah, they want the big payday, and so therefore they become very selfish. I mean, you talk about one person who was a pretty large cancer to a lot of teams, Terrell Owens, go back and look it up if you don't know that, right?
[00:07:55] Alex: He broke down a lot of teams. Why? Because he broke down the team aspect and made it all about himself. Most times in construction, our people come and they're thinking all about themselves. I have to do this. I'm gonna do this. There's no codependency. Right. There's no common goal of what we're going after.
[00:08:15] Alex: Now, it's the leader's job, my friend, to focus everyone on one particular task to say, listen, your job is this. Without you, we cannot make it right. Your job is a leader, and we talked about this before, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. It's to create a belonging environment in which all of your team members feel as though they're a part of the team.
[00:08:36] Alex: Fill the value, but then also fill the weight of their responsibility to the team right now when they can understand that, Hey, listen, we are depending on you to get this done, and if you don't get it done, we don't make it. Let's go back to a football analogy really quickly, my friends, when you think about an offensive unit in football, right?
[00:08:58] Alex: Everyone's codependent on each other. The offensive linemen, the running backs, the cornerback, the wide receiver. Everyone knows when you break the huddle, Hey, if I don't do my damn job, the play is not going to be successful. Now, here's the crazy part about this. Let's just say the quarterback calls the right play.
[00:09:21] Alex: The offensive lineman does a great job making their block. The running back covers, the quarterback's blindside and picks up the blitzer. The quarterback drops back, throws a beautiful pass to the wide receiver who all of a sudden as the ball comes. Drops the pad. Everyone did their job as except one person, and it blew the whole damn play up.
[00:09:42] Alex: Right? So when we can begin to have people on our teams in construction to understand the value that they bring and show how important their role is to the team, all of a sudden we get people who are co-dependent. With a single clear target, knowing what I'm going after with a common goal, knowing that if I don't show up and do my job well, we don't win.
[00:10:05] Alex: Now, this is what we like to call taking ownership, extreme ownership. The more you can get your players and your team to take ownership, the more of a high performing team you can have. Because all of a sudden, my friends, I feel as though this is a part of me and who I am. No longer is it mandated on me.
[00:10:22] Alex: No longer is am I being forced to do it. No, no, I, I'm a part of a team. My name is on the line. I see the value that it brings. I see the responsibility that I have, and I'm able to step up and perform and do a hell of a job doing that. Now, as a leader, as I said before, it's your job to really set the tone and the atmosphere for people to understand this.
[00:10:44] Alex: Now the problem is in construction, though, we feel as though people are very expendable. Oh, and understand that that is a horrible place to be, a horrible thing to do. When you make your team feel like they're expendable, oftentimes I hear things like, Hey, if you won't do the damn workout, fire your ass and bring someone else in.
[00:11:03] Alex: Understand this, my friends, if if you're leaving like that, you're going to get halfass effort, right? Be because people aren't all the way bought in. And as a leader, it's your job to inspire and motivate, right? Look you, you've put your tools down so you're not necessarily using the physical tools anymore, but what you have to do in order to have high performing teams is you have to pick up the people tools now, right?
[00:11:28] Alex: There's another set of tools that you have to refine yourself to youth to be phenomenal. And most leaders never think about that, right? So what do they do? They lead with what I like to call dictatorship. Uh, and that's some of the worst leadership possible. When I am demanding and I'm dictating, we call that a positional leader that's at the very, very bottom of the totem pole.
[00:11:51] Alex: My friends, when I began to lead only outta my position and my title, I get half-ass effort from people because they follow me, because they have to, not because they want to. Some of the best coaches I've ever played for. They were phenomenal coaches who understood how to push you and get the best out of you, but at the same time, they showed that they cared about you.
[00:12:12] Alex: So therefore, they were great player coaches, but at the same time, very honest and real. To bring the best out of you as a pheno phenomenal leader in construction, you have to be able to do both and right. How do you become a player's coach so that your players on the field know that you care about them?
[00:12:30] Alex: And at the same time, they understand that you are going to push them and drive them. Let me be honest, my team that I work with right now here at Leadership Surge, I have a phenomenal team. Hands down, I'll put 'em up against anybody, man. Phenomenal team. But, but I'll tell you this, we've done a hell of a job of understanding the value that each person brings to the table, the responsibility that every person has to the team, and every person knows that, Hey, listen.
[00:12:58] Alex: If I drop the ball, I'm letting everyone down. So there's a sense of ownership that we've all come together with. And as a result of that, we're able to have high performing performances, not once, not twice, but constantly. Right. I like to say we we're like the dynasty New England Patriot, or the, uh, Alabama Crimson Tide.
[00:13:20] Alex: We're able to win championships consecutively over and over and over and over again. And why? Because we've understood the value that each person brings. We've created an environment of belonging, and we've done a hell of a job of doing that really, really well in everyone's pointing to the exact same direction, which I like to call a North Star.
[00:13:38] Alex: Everyone knows what it takes to win. So as we close this segment down, I wanna know. Does your team feel valued? Have you done a hell of a job defining and refining your people's tools so that you really understand how to master people? Because at this level that you're at right now, that's the most important thing, right?
[00:13:58] Alex: As well as have you clearly defined what the win looks like, right? The win? W i n. What does the win look like? Right, because if you haven't clearly defined the win, then please understand people are walking around on your team clueless, not knowing where to go, not knowing what it takes to win. That's what we call that North star.
[00:14:19] Alex: When you've done a hell of a job defining that North Star, pointing everyone in the direction of the win, you as a leader can do phenomenal things. Your team comes together and you'll begin to find that things aren't coming in place because people have more clarity. They understand the value that they bring, they understand their responsibility, and they understand the ownership and take the ownership so that they could be phenomenal.
[00:14:42] Alex: This is step one of creating a high performing team. Right now, in the next segment of my friends, we're gonna dive into what are the key components that you as a leader must put in place right there? There are nine key components that you must put in place. In order to do a phenomenal job of bringing this thing together.
[00:15:03] Alex: Now we just did a high level kind of touching on them in this segment. In the next segment, we're gonna dive deep into those key components that if you do this, it will bring your team together. They'll perform at high level and be the best that they could be. You know what I like to call that? That's your playbook, right?
[00:15:18] Alex: That's your, that's your playbook calling your plays. It's not as difficult as it may sound at times. We've made it scary because we haven't outlined and identified what the play is that we need to call. But in the next segment, my friend, we're gonna do a to stick Around. I'll look forward to seeing you in the next segment.
[00:15:34] Alex: Have a good one. Hey, I wanna thank you again for tuning in to No Shield with Alex Willis, the number one source for leadership development in the construction industry. If you are watching on YouTube, my friends, We are doing our first ever giveaway, and trust me, we have some good shit for you. You don't want to miss it, my friend.
[00:15:52] Alex: So one of those things, this phenomenal, awesome mug with some hard hat stickers, no bullshit hard hat stickers. All you have to do to participate is leave us a comment to let us know where you may have challenges as well as. What you think about the show, right? We will pick a random winner and we'll reach out to you with detail.
[00:16:09] Alex: So don't forget to hit play to check out the next segment.