Flashback Friday: I know my parents don't love this story, but it is one of our most popular blogs and the experience taught me some valuable lessons. 

“You know it’s illegal what they’re doing. Making you work and all,” said Larry’s mom. Larry and his family lived next door to my family growing up. He and I were typical neighborhood buddies. While Larry and I liked all the same things boys our age typically did, our parents were anything but similar.

As my 6^th grade year was coming to an end, my Dad made it known that it was time for me to “go to work.” I would have my choice of working around the house every day of my summer break doing various chores, for free; or I could find someone willing to pay me. But either way, I’d be working forty hours per week.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Nancy Owsianowski, Founder of RoundTable Consulting, LLC. We hope you enjoy Nancy’s wisdom and perspective.

What’s getting lost in translation within your organization or between your organization and others? Effective communication is the backbone of a high-performance organization. Statistics reported by Pumble indicate that more than three-quarters of employees and executives attribute workplace failures to a lack of effective communications. Similarly, when teams communicate effectively, productivity could increase by as much as 25%. Onsite, hybrid and remote working options place new demands on everyday communications. In addition, five distinct generations are now present and active in the workforce and need to collaborate.

Take a close look at your own organization. Are your habits of communication building bridges for collaboration and trust or creating barriers that fragment your company culture and undermine mutual respect?

The most common question I encounter daily is “How are you?” Typically, my response centers around being busy.

What does it mean to "live abundantly" in business and how do we take ownership of this mindset? There’s no shortage of information on what "living abundantly" means from a spiritual or philosophical perspective (22.7 million search results on Google) and specifically what it means in different faith traditions. However, the phrase takes on a bit of mystery when  reappropriated for the world of work.

It begins with humility and gratitude in knowing that we’re fortunate and empowered to attract opportunities and realize our potential. However, with current scarcity of resources whether through labor shortages, rising costs, or supply backlogs, it can be challenging to find pathways toward living abundantly in business.

At Gibson, our core values provide guideposts around what it means to live abundantly and how to take ownership of the mindset. Let's review some of these to get a better grasp on the idea of abundance in business and how it's applied within our organization.

Flashback Friday: Do The Right Thing is still a value we live by at Gibson. Give this popular blog from 2014 a read. Does integrity “live” at your organization and in your relationships?

One of our Core Values is: Integrity Matters - Always Do the Right Thing. It seems elementary to ask why integrity matters. The answers are all too obvious, right? Yet all too often there are examples of integrity issues in our world, in business and in our personal affairs.

I checked out a few dictionaries online and they define integrity as: The quality of being honest and fair; the state of being complete or whole; an adherence to moral and ethical principles; to be honest and have sound moral character.

One of my partners, Mark Wobbe, pointed me to another website that offers a simple formula to define integrity:

Integrity = (Accountability + Competence + Ethics) – Corruption

“The common thread [of great teams] is tenacity and willingness to compete, but also the expectation of excellence.” – Chris Camacho

Chris Camacho, President & CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, shares stories of leadership and teamwork from his years of athletic and economic development experience, noting the parallels between high-performing sports teams and business. Chris and host Tim Leman also talk about cultivating leaders and the expectation of excellence.

“You can't predict what people are going to do, you just have to be able to respond in the most appropriate way you can.” – Vikki Scarafiotti

Vikki Scarafiotti joins host Tim Leman for a conversation about developing your people, the power of great mentors, and the importance of being prepared for the unexpected. Vikki shares leadership and team development stories from her extensive experience in the nonprofit sector, as well as invaluable advice for those serving on nonprofit boards.

Do the right thing. That phrase seems obvious, right?!? And generally, it is. There is a common set of rules most of us tend to live by: treat others the way you want to be treated; act with integrity; conduct your business and personal life in an ethical way. That’s the easy stuff. Oftentimes, this concept is listed as a core value, or within the mission/purpose of an organization.

We’re wrapping up the third season of The Edge Podcast with two final episodes.

In these episodes, host Tim Leman continues to talk with leaders about what it’s like to ride the edge and own it. He also digs into what makes for a truly special team.

Flashback Friday: This is our most read blog of all-time. Even though it was written in 2014, the qualities discussed are just as important to teams today. When this was written, I was celebrating 17 years with my best teammate, Kimra. Next week it will be 25! Happy Anniversary, Kimra!

We are committed to teaming at Gibson. Perhaps more than any other firm in our industry.

• We have a teamed relationship for client service delivery.
• We have an executive leadership team with very clear roles for each member.
• About five years ago we went against years of legacy and tradition to change our typical “lone wolf” salesperson model into multi-person risk advisory teams complete with a shared compensation model. Talk about breaking China!

Building an effective team isn’t so easy. Good teams have a sum that is greater than the individual pieces. This requires that egos are set aside to allow the entity of the team to be greater than any one member. By putting everyone on the team in a position to do what they do best, high achievement is possible. I find no coincidence that since evolving to the team model, we’ve also had the best growth in our eighty year history.

So what are the top qualities of an effective team player? I consulted the For Dummies to learn what great teammates do differently than others.