What separates the great teams from the rest? It all starts with trust.

A lack of trust, where vulnerability is not respected or rewarded, leads to fear of conflict among team members. Without healthy debate and critique, they never go deep, causing an absence of commitment to develop where team members avoid accountability all together. Team members pursue personal gain and status over team victory. Ultimately this inattention to results – team results – brings an end to a once promising group of talented individuals.

Pat Lencioni has named this chain reaction of failed leadership The Five Dysfunctions of a Team in a book by the same name. I suspect most of us have been on a dysfunctional team or experienced dysfunctional leadership.

“The best team is the one that challenges you as a leader to be better.” – Tracy Hutton

Tracy Hutton is CEO at CENTURY 21 Scheetz and this episode's guest. She didn't get there by chance, but by sticking with a career choice at a young age and working her way to the top. A shared love of sports brings Tim and Tracy into a conversation about teamwork and how leadership isn't a one-person game. Also, Tracy gives insight into how having that edge and being successful has its fair share of sacrifices.

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“You put yourself in a position to get lucky.” – Ryan Hasbrook

Ryan Hasbrook and his team built a company from scratch out of a basement in Broad Ripple. This district of Indianapolis is infused with culture and family. These are two values the team at Eight Eleven Group wanted to insure would define them through the years. Ryan talks with Tim about creating luck and how to keep a culture.

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Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Connie Chwan, Certified EOS Implementer™. We hope you enjoy Connie’s wisdom and perspective.

“Urgent things shout…important things whisper. Listen to the whispers.” Though I do not know whom to attribute this quote, this powerful sentiment has rung true throughout my lifetime.

It is easy to focus on the urgent in our businesses and in our personal lives. The urgent is standing right in front of us, demanding attention, poking us in the shoulder if we momentarily avert our gaze.

Addressing the urgent things in our business feels productive. There are times when you could make the case that solving the issue that shouts at you loudest is productive. But I doubt you can make that case every time something urgent pops up. More importantly, if you find yourself constantly choosing the potential for productivity as your purpose for solving an issue, some deeper issues will likely stay hidden underneath.

I can make the case that productivity isn’t about getting more done; it’s about what you get done.

"Trial by fire made me realize that if you break it down to process and common sense, things aren’t as complicated as they seem." – Matt Wojewuczki

Matt Wojewuczki is a retired Air Force Lt. Colonel and never stopped taking risks throughout his career. At age 45 he decided to go all-in on Microtech Welding Corp. With a strong team and a family that was willing to make sacrifices, Matt found himself at the helm of something new that he was sure would ultimately pay off.

Check out this episode of The Edge Podcast:

Who is your all-time favorite teammate? What virtues do they demonstrate that endear them to you?

It’s likely they epitomize what Pat Lencioni has labeled an Ideal Team Player (ITP):

• They are humble – without concern for their own status.
• They remain hungry – always pursuing growth and giving their best effort.
• They’re smart when it comes to people and relationships – emotionally intelligent, exercising good judgment and intuition within the team.
  
  

“Companies and leaders that are decisive in their people moves get their goals accomplished faster.” – Todd Smart

Being part of a winning team is a privilege. We all understand the frustrations of working with a team that doesn't feel the same passion for a project that we do. But, once you get a team sharing a singular vision and rowing in the same direction, the clarity is remarkable. Todd Smart believes that by using the simplification and prioritization techniques, that EOS provides, creating that winning team is easily within reach.

On this episode of The Edge Podcast we have Todd Smart, EOS Implementer and Co-Founder of Traction® Tools.

Have you ever felt like you're on the edge of something great? You've put in the work, you've done the hard stuff most people aren't willing to do, and now you can just sense a magical run lies ahead.

In the first season of The Edge Podcast, we talk with leaders across a wide variety of industries and learn what it's like to ride that edge and own it. You'll hear what separates out those special teams, the kind, if we're lucky, we get to be a part of maybe three or four times in our life, from the more ordinary experiences.

Join host Tim Leman as we discuss leading on the edge.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Cat Edmonds of Blackink IT. We hope you enjoy Cat’s wisdom and perspective.

Approaching company culture in a hybrid environment can be overwhelming. Especially when circumstances arise without much forewarning (insert a global pandemic here) and require immediate action. As a leader, it becomes your responsibility to ensure your employees are able to work safely, productively, and collaboratively while also working remotely. And if this wasn’t enough stress, your leadership is also a key factor in encouraging and promoting your company’s culture.

There are different approaches on how to implement culture while working in a hybrid environment and we discussed these during a recent webinar. Below are our top 5 takeaway points for leadership.

We are playing an infinite game at Gibson. The purpose of our game is different from the finite games most of us are used to playing.

Our desired “win” is not to beat some other group, but rather to keep our deepest values “in play”. It’s our values – being authentically lived out by our amazing employee-owners – that’s creating our greatest impact. From our own employees, to our clients, friends, and community members, we’re in business to help others find their edge.

Winning a new client, hitting our numbers for the quarter, or nailing our annual goals are all meaningful milestones or measures of progress. We aim to achieve those. But they are only finite scores, with defined winners (and losers). Even a multi-year plan is just that: a longer-term goal with a specific outcome, and still a defined end.

Maybe a “goal” of continuing play doesn’t sound very exciting to those on the outside. Perhaps it inadvertently signals a lack of accountability. Nothing could be further from reality.