3-7-0 Teamwork

F. C. Barcelona . Everyone that likes and follows soccer would agree this is the best soccer team right now – and many would consider it the best soccer team of all times. The way they play the game fills up everyone’s eyes.

As I was watching the last match between Barcelona and Real Madrid for the Spanish Liga, I started to notice the formation Barcelona was using: 3-7-0. No one has ever seen this in professional soccer before. The surprise relied on the fact that anyone from the midfield and up was able to help on the offensive line. This was only possible by the way this team works together. For this reason I would like to use the example of F.C. Barcelona to talk about teamwork.

Teamwork is defined as the coordination of a group in the interest of a common goal. When a soccer team like Barcelona plays, it is extremely easy to see what is their goal; more than score 5 or 6 times, their interest is in playing with simplicity and effectiveness. These are the keys for their success.

In a team everyone cooperates and everyone makes sure the ultimate goal does not get overseen. The options to reach the goal increase as every team member understands the collective work is more important than the individual reward. Many work teams get blind-sighted by team members that believe their agenda is more important than the team’s; this is easily noticed when you have members that drive attention just to them without considering if their actions affect others in the group.

FC Barcelona has lost games, however you can have certainty that their chances of winning are always better than its rivals. Your work team may have losses as well, but you need to make sure the chances of succeeding are always high. How do you reach to that level? Well, you need to make sure the standards for the team, its rules and beliefs are understood by everyone in it. The culture of the team is the first base where the rest will be created. As you make everyone understand the way the team needs to work, it will be easier to work during the tough times the team will need to face.

As I keep analyzing this amazing team Barcelona has become, it is imperative to talk about the pieces that make it work: a head coach that understands the philosophy to make the players mentally strong and the leaders this team has. One scene that I do not forget about the clásico is the reaction Carles Puyol had when Real Madrid made the first goal with less than a minute from the start of the game. Immediately after the action, he started to push his teammates to keep up the spirit of fight, the will to win the game in spite of the situation, and the belief that they were better prepared than their opponents. This type of leaders are natural, however this does not mean you cannot nurture those with certain key characteristics: those that are good followers, those that are conscious about their mistakes and work towards improving them, those that demonstrate willingness to do things well.

Teamwork can be very fulfilling when goals are met; they also can be of great support when things do not go as expected. As the main lead of a group, make sure your team works just as the F.C. Barcelona plays: with simplicity and effectiveness.

Everything

I look at everything I have

I think about stuff I want

I judge the different things I see

I am judged by everyone around me

I hear half of what I should.

But at the end I am grateful

because I can do everything

that I just told you.

 

 

Roses, Gardens, Projects

My brother-in-law is starting his own business. He funded a landscaping company, taking advantage of  the great experience (more than 10 years) he has on the field. I decided to help him with the advertising of his services, so I began looking for catchy facts about gardens, plants and so on. As I was reading these facts it caught my attention when I read about roses: You need to make sure roses get an important amount of sunlight so the flowers blossom to their best. I also read that making your garden wider on the front and narrow on the back you make the illusion of having a very deep space.  The project of helping my in-law with his business made me think of the different aspects you need to consider and possess when you have a project of your own.

Here are just a few items you need to take into account when starting a project:
A) Acquire the necessary knowledge: Just as with someone whose project is to plant roses in the garden, you need to have the necessary knowledge to start your project. You need to understand the external factors around it (competitors, providers, vendors) without forgetting about the most important external factor: Your client. The same applies for internal factors ( the skills needed to create the product or service, the money you have to invest in it). Once again, you need to understand that the human talent you have in your project will be the most important internal factor for success.

B) Understand your limits and maximize your potential: We all are going to have some boundaries when working on our project. We can go from the economic limitations through time constraints. Regardless of what it is, you need to maximize every aspect at hand in order to minimize those roadblocks. Just as in the example of the illusion of the small garden, you need to be able to work with creativity and imagination.

C) Do not let it cool off: It is normal that when you just started with your project you will dedicate a lot of thinking to it. As time starts to pass by, you may start to lose some drive. The reasons will vary: you have less time for it, you have more roadblocks than expected or you just simply get back to a certain routine that puts you away from your idea. If this starts to happen, stop it! Do not let yourself lose the drive you once had. Find partners that help you stay focused and always try to look at your project as a diamond to be shaped.

As I continue to think of effective advertising techniques, I start to think about my in-law having to consider all these aspects in his start-up company. I am amazed by looking at him work with the passion and determination that just an all-time dream gives you. I hope you have that same drive when you get to start your own project.

Motivation

It is not uncommon to hear that people are unmotivated. The reasons behind this feeling vary: Many find themselves stuck in their lives; others are missing a loved one and others are unhappy with what they do for a living. No matter what the situation is, every one of us has heard people complaining about their situation.

If you look up the word motivation in the dictionary it will explain that the term is related to the intention of maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain – including physical, psychological or emotional pain.

There are 2 main ways someone can get motivated. We have the option of looking for motivation within ourselves; think of the ultimate goal of having a fulfilling career for instance. We also find motivation from the exterior in the ways of being rewarded for something we do or having someone to demonstrate appreciation for an act we have.

As this is a term that it is many times related to an emotion it becomes highly complex to analyze and understand. The complexity of it relies on the fact that one has to have a clear understanding of what are those aspects that increase motivation. Such and increase would depend on the drivers that we have for it. As motivation is either external or internal, we need to have a bit of both to feel truly motivated.

When someone at work says “I do not have motivation to do what I am doing” we need to understand if this statement refers to internal motivation or external motivation. By identifying which one it is, it would be easier to set up actions to work on the overall feeling.

After we identify if lack of motivation comes from the interior or exterior, we should review our circles of influence in order to change it. The circles of influence refer to those parties to which you have control on. The influence can go from you having the hierarchical power to tell someone what to do until the persuasion of having someone convinced of doing something. With clear circles of influence we are ready to take on the next step: making the change.

It may sound so simple, but it is definitely the toughest step to make. To make the change implies the willingness and conviction of doing something different that what you are used to.

Let’s use an example: let’s imagine that I was able to identify that my motivation is low because I was recently competing for a promotion at work and I did not get it. At this point I feel someone is better than me and that I will not have another shot to reach a promotion in the short run.

From this situation we can identify that it is something external that lower my motivation (someone deciding I was not the person to be promoted). As I identify this, I can check what my circles of influence are to start changing that feeling; I can start a course that would prepare me for another opportunity within the same company I am working for or even looking for someone else to get me something similar to that promotion in another company. Of course that we can have many options in between and this would depend on how much thought and work you dedicate to your networking opportunities. However, the toughest step is to actually make the change. One thing is to say that you are going to start a new course that would help you get the necessary knowledge for a promotion and a totally different one if you are determined to make sacrifices (in time and money) to reach that goal. Moreover, are you really determined to step out of your company in order to look for your promotion? Do you think you would feel the same way you feel with your job at your current company?

If you analyze these questions, you would find a word I used several times on purpose: “determination”. If you are not determined to make the change, you will get stuck where you are right now. The drive you need to alter things has to be very powerful. Otherwise, your success will vanish very soon or it will not come at all.

So, make sure you analyze your current situation, set up actions to understand where you really are and make the change you need to make without any hesitation.

Based on a true story

Most people have experienced what it is going to a job interview. Many feel distressed, as it is a moment when someone you do not know is judging your skills and capability to perform a job role. Moreover, you are being analyzed from a psychological point of view; whether you will fit in with the company’s values and beliefs or not.

Once I was interviewing a lady for a data administrator role. Throughout the 25 minutes we were talking she was getting closer and closer to having the job. I decided to ask about a situation where she felt uncomfortable at work. She told me and one of my coworkers at the time about a phone call she had to do in her previous job. The person she had to call started to ask her to questions of sexual content. She told the man on the phone she could not respond those questions because she was working; if she were not, then she would have been able to respond! This is a moment where any interviewer, regardless of the company values and beliefs, would definitely be hesitant about hiring her.

For this reason, I want to present three tips of what you may avoid saying in a job interview.

The first tip is to avoid talking extremely negative about the task you do not like to do. While you want to be open about the expectations you have for the job, you do not want to sound absolutely inflexible about performing certain task. Talking too much negative about certain task you do not like to do can drive you away from the role.

The second tip is to connect your brain with your tongue.Many of you as readers could be thinking ” well, that’s sort of common sense”. After many years of interviewing people and countless stories of recruiting, I can certainly tell you a lot of people do not think before talking. Make sure your answers are well thought. A single mistake can turn a”yes, we want you” to a ” we’ll let you know”.

The third tip to avoid in a job interview is related to your body language. As you may have heard somewhere else, body language talks tons about the message you want to share. You need to keep a balance in your interview:you want to show confidence but you do not want look over-confident about your skills. This may upset the interviewer. If you give short answers to the questions you get, and with a low or hesitant tone, the interviewer may feel you are either not too interested about the position or even that you are not very knowledgeable in the topic. Make sure you practice your body language.

These tips may decide if you get the job you are looking for or not. One single question – like the one I did to the woman I interviewed for the data admin role – could determine if you end up showing you are the person for the role or have you in the job hunt a bit longer.

I wish….

” I wish I could start all over again”. How many times have you said that same sentence in the past? The idea of having a fresh start always captivates us.

It is amazing how human beings always are obsessed with the idea of having the opportunity to delete and forget everything they did wrong and start over. However, it is pretty obvious to me – and I believe that to you as well- this is not the answer to our problems. We need to face the fact that we are owners of our actions, and if not, destiny wanted things to happen the way they did.

I am going to give you 3 reasons you can start feeling different about your past, without the need of having a time machine to change things.

1) Your personality: There is a theory in psychology that says you have certain personality traits that define who you are. Whether you are obsessive with organize stuff or just could care less where things are, this is defined by a personality trait. As things happen in your life, you acted upon the different situations because that is your personality. If you made a mistake, you would eventually be more careful not to expose to a similar situation in the future, but you would be acting in a very specific pattern no matter what.

2) Own it: Whatever has happened in the past, you need to accept it. This means that you need to accept the things you did not do well and make something out of it. We learn the most out of our mistakes and so always be certain to accept those things that went wrong and try to change them for the future. If you ride a bike and down the street you fall off  because you did not see a big hole, next time you will be more careful to keep your eyes on the road in order to avoid falling off again for the same reason. You could easily start finding excuses on why you fell; the kid that was near you, the breaks did not work, etc. At the end, you were the one who decided to ride the bike and you were not focused on what you were doing.

3) Don’t sweat it: “Everything, at some point or another, goes away” my grandfather used to say to me. Things that are in the past will remain where they are if you make a change for the future. It is true none likes bad history, but at the end it is history that will not hunt you down forever. You always have the option of correcting things by being open and sincere with you and with others. This is the best way to stop worrying too much and start doing something about it.

“I wish I could start all over again”. We would still think about it. However, we need to make a stop in the run and manage the situation instead of just wishing for things that are not going to happen.