From the CEO

It’s hard to believe we’re half way through 2008 and knocking on the door of 2009! Honestly, it’s difficult to believe that it’s 2008 at all!

Having received an invitation to attend my 30-year high school reunion, I had to stop and catch my breath. Even as I try to quiet my mind to compose this letter to you, it’s been six hours since I opened the document.

Time seems to be flying by at an uncontrollable pace these days. Blink – February Leadership Meeting here and gone. Blink – Chair / CEO meeting here and gone. Blink – Atlanta Summit here and gone. Before we know it – blink - we’ll be in Anaheim celebrating Applied Systems’ 25th Anniversary. Blink.

I know I’m not alone. I hear this same sentiment from my colleagues, board members and staff. At our last management team meeting, I shared my concern about the pace at which upcoming deadlines and goals were approaching. I felt compelled to ask, “Are we moving in the right direction? Are we on target for meeting our goals? And are we paying attention to the things we need to in order to ensure that we don’t lose sight of what’s important?” The answer surprised me. They weren’t sure. It was a very quiet 10 seconds. Needless to say, I didn’t blink.

I knew right then and there – before another minute, hour or day passed – that I had to take action and get my team back on focus, back on track and back on target or risk missing our goals and objectives for the year. Just like many of you, our business is managed on a thin margin, so missing key sales targets can have significant impact on our business.

A few weeks prior, I had re-read Patrick Lencioni’s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable. It’s a great read about a fictional CEO who faces the ultimate leadership crisis. Throughout the story, Lencioni weaves the five dysfunctions that make even the very best of teams struggle. While I didn’t think my team was anywhere near “dysfunctional,” I couldn’t help thinking that perhaps part of the reason my team was unable to answer the question was because we had lost sight of working as a team. If they’d lost sight of working as a team, were we then dysfunctional?

One way to assess a team’s functionality is to check against Lencioni’s five dysfunctions of a team. To do that, answer these questions:
1. Do the members of the team trust one another?
2. Do they engage in unfiltered conflict around ideas?
3. Do they commit to the decisions made and plans of action?
4. Do they hold one another accountable for delivering against those plans?
5. Do they focus on the achievement of collective results?

In today’s market, we’re challenged to do more with less. Whether that means increasing sales or implementing a new program, your team needs to be fiercely committed and highly motivated to combine its energy toward the common goal and end result. To meet the challenge head on, it’s important to use resources as efficiently as possible. Teamwork has proven to be an exceptional means to get things done. The key for owners, managers and supervisors in motivating and leading teams is to continually reinforce what it is they’re working toward. You have to be able to communicate the vision and the desired results. And most of all, you have to reward success!

In just two short weeks since that team meeting, the team is more focused than ever. We are committed to growing ASCnet’s membership and hosting our most successful TENCon ever. We have trust in our abilities and competencies; we have open and honest discussion and debate; we are committed to our plan of action; we hold one another accountable for results; and we are focused on the end results for ASCnet.

Last but certainly not least, we’re going to celebrate our success – with you and 2000 other new and long-time ASCnet members, at TENCon in Anaheim, California. That’s right. Our goal is for you to be there with us, as part of the largest-ever gathering of ASCnet members, as we celebrate Applied Systems, Inc.’s 25th Anniversary.

If you want to chat more about teamwork and the value added for your agency or brokerage, drop me a note at linnw@ascnet.org.

Linn J. Wheeling, CAE
CEO