Guest Editorial
by Bill Boynton
Success depends on objective self-awareness and responsibility
for developing character and competency.
The Not-So-Silent "I"
One day, not long ago, I looked back over my career and all my experiences
working with people, and I discovered a repetitive flaw in my spelling.
This came as no surprise to me because I don't fancy myself a great grammarian.
My strengths lie primarily in practical engineering and management, and
my personal goals have involved building commitment for meaningful organizational
change, not building sentences.
Before this realization, I had always emphasized the word "we"
when discussing group or team performance. I used to say, "There is
no 'I' in the word 'team,' " stressing the sharing of accomplishments
toward goals-what leadership expert Stephen Covey calls having an "abundance
mentality." I had great contempt for "I did this" and "I
did that" statements, and for those who referred to others as "my
people." Such egotistical comments conflict directly with my belief
that everyone in the organization contributes to organizational goals.
My intent has always been to influence people to work together for the good
of the whole, not just for individual well-being. My research on leadership
reinforced this. Whether dealing with the military, businesses or the leadership
philosophies of people like Covey, Peter Senge and Robert Schul-
ler, I discovered that the "we" theme was predominant and built
around people learning and working together while sharing a holistic mentality.
Much importance is placed on establishing organizational visions and operating
principles based on shared values that involve trust, personal competency
and character. This strategy even crosses over into discussions about culture
and the environment. And there is even a professional discipline in many
human resource organizations that addresses "organizational behavior
and development" and new leadership practices that stress multifunctional
teaming.
It's true that the amount of useful change that organizations can expect
depends on people working together-from a team of two, to groups of hundreds
or thousands. But accomplishing meaningful change depends on individuals
taking responsibility for their own competency and character. That's where
my spelling error came into play. There is an "I" in team. In
fact, the "I" in team-the individual and the amount of responsibility
individuals embrace for personal and organizational progress-is the single
most important letter.
To maximize the "I"s, organizations need a vision that stakeholders
can understand and with which stakeholders can align their personal "stakes."
Organizational values and principles that identify operating norms and define
organizational culture are equally important. These establish a foundation
on which the "I"s work together, promoting synergism and building
a practical and useful process for managing change.
Understanding the importance of integrating individuals' needs with organizations'
needs is key. It encourages each of us to focus on ourselves objectively.
One way to do that is to "take the six I steps." The first is
the "I am" step. Success here depends on an inside-out approach
to change that analyzes individuals' strengths and weaknesses objectively.
This is where I begin to accept responsibility for who I am.
By acknowledging my strengths and accepting my weaknesses, I develop a stronger
sense of myself and a feeling of personal security that doesn't depend on
comparisons to others. Change begins to take shape at this stage, and it's
an important and difficult beginning.
The second is the "I wish I were" step. I begin this step by determining
what really matters to me and helps me establish direction and balance in
my life. This helps me establish a personal vision and direction. This is
a good place for reviewing opportunities and ways to maximize those opportunities
through personal change. To some degree, this includes "pie in the
sky" thinking that creates personal stretch goals and battles the disease
of complacency.
The "I am perceived to be" and "I wish I were perceived to
be" steps are the third and fourth steps, where I begin the sometimes
painful process of analyzing what I do, how I do it and why I do it. These
two steps really put my personal security to the test. Does my self-image
come from what I think of myself, my personal values and my competency?
Or does it come from how well I fit in with my peers, their values and their
competencies?
Personal integrity and value take shape here as I wrestle with this dilemma
and as I determine how my character and competency relate to those around
me. It's a struggle well worth the effort. Building personal integrity builds
responsibility, which then builds trust and respect-the true foundation
for effective relationships.
The fifth step is the "I can be" step. Here's where I establish
initiative for myself to get off my seat and start planning my future, and
the changes needed to get there. This is where personal development through
continuous learning comes in. It's also where I fit myself into a holistic
process, aligning my planning with realistic opportunities and laying out
milestones and time frames for measuring my success.
The final and most crucial step-the "I will be" step-tells me
how serious I am about the self-analysis in which I have engaged. I develop
and demonstrate to myself and others how committed I am to change and self-improvement.
I begin to put first things first and develop personal discipline, where
"I walk my walk," establish leadership capabilities and expand
my sphere of influence.
This process never ends. Once I reach the end of one cycle, I immediately
begin another. It isn't an easy map. Success depends on objective self-awareness
and responsibility in regard to continuous learning for developing character
and competency. My success as an individual and as a team member depends
much more on how well I reach my full potential than it does on my intellect
or other intrinsic abilities.
This is where "I" comes into the word team. I am the catalyst
for what my team needs to sustain itself and improve in the future. Working
together, the "I"s establish the synergy required for effectiveness
based on trust and respect. When we trust and respect each other, we promote
empowerment and leadership that helps us fulfill our individual vision.
And, when we fuse our visions, we create a successful future for our organization.
I've heard an old maxim that says, "What lies behind and what lies
before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." That's
simply a more poetic way of saying there is a letter "I" in team.
About the author
Bill Boynton is a leadership consultant based in central Pennsylvania
with 44 years of hands-on experience with AMP, a Fortune 500 manufacturing
company that is the world leader in interconnection products and systems.
He has significant middle- and senior-management experience, from shop and
engineering supervision to plant and division management, and has directed
various operations and quality programs.
Prior to Boyntons's retirement, he was director of the AMP corporate engineering
rotation program, which exposed close to 100 engineers each year to various
engineering disciplines. Boynton now provides leadership development education
to businesses and universities.
