Success impulse: Franz Beckenbauer was right!
Even though the World Cup is now over, the game of football still provides many impulses for success in one's own business. Another input from our columnist Volkmar Völzke.
In an interview a long time ago, football legend Franz Beckenbauer had answered the following, mutatis mutandis, to the reporter's question "What do you want most from your team?": "I would be happy if every player could at least receive the ball correctly."
Even a Franz Beckenbauer has to know the basics
For all non-football fans: Receiving the ball after a pass from a fellow player is a basic requirement for good play. Every amateur player can tell you that this is not always so easy.
What does this have to do with business? Well, if you want to get your team to higher performance and into the famous metaphorical Champions League, then first of all make sure that everyone can "take the ball". In other words, that the "basics" are mastered.
Where the biggest deficits lie
I recommend starting with these three topics, where I see the biggest deficits in "ball reception" from my experience:
- Reliability. Unreliability is like a disease that, in my observation, is becoming more and more widespread: Requests are ignored, deadlines are missed without warning, clear commitments are not kept with flimsy reasons, etc. Reliability is not only a virtue, but a necessity for high-performing teams! My tip: Make 100% reliability a non-negotiable standard in your team. If you are a leader, you must of course exemplify this at all times.
- Responsibility. Accepting the ball means taking full responsibility for it. As soon as I have the ball at my feet, I can't blame anyone else for my successes and failures. But that's exactly what's missing in business: many people complain to their environment and others that they can't achieve results themselves.
- Act. Once you've accepted the ball, you can't just stand still; you have to do something with it. However, many team members in business seem to believe that once they have taken on a task, they can now wait and see, and are then surprised that the ball moves to the opposing team (i.e.: the competition). Incidentally, this occurs not only with operational tasks, but especially with strategic initiatives: people are often much too slow to take action.
The good news is that all three topics can be learned and trained. Top teams master this to a greater degree than average teams. The decision to do so lies with each individual and, of course, with the leaders.
So then: Go to training camp and practice "ball acceptance"!
To the author:
Volkmar Völzke is a success maximizer. Book author. Consultant. Coach. Speaker. www.volkmarvoelzke.ch
