In Special Force Operations, we had an operational pattern of suspending any communications, moments before the actions in the objective. We could not in any way miss the surprise effect because of some out-of-hours radio call.
Perhaps you’re wondering, how did we do the necessary coordinations so that nothing went wrong and the mission was accomplished?
Actually, no coordination was needed.
In addition to thoroughly rehearsing the actions on the objective, the mission was so clearly transmitted that all team members were able to make the decisions necessary to accomplish the mission in case something went off the plan. And I must say that often this happened..
Last month, the press published several articles about large companies that are shrinking their offices, in Brazil.
Here in Rio, 40% of the Downtown’s offices are already empty and the forecast of the Brazilian Association of Real Estate Administrators is that it can reach 53%, with a chance of even having a new residential area in downtown Rio de Janeiro.
The fact is that the dynamics of working in an office is no longer the same. The home office provides increased productivity and, although I don’t like using the term, the “new normal” is already a reality. The combination is great! Higher productivity and lower cost!
This new dynamic, however, requires a decision-making process very similar to the one we used in Special Force Operations.
After missions in Somalia, Haiti, and Bosnia, General Charles C. Krulak of the U.S. Marine Corps developed a concept called the Three-Block War. He concluded that in order to accomplish missions of various kinds, Marine teams, even three blocks from the other teams or central command, needed to be trained to make decisions for themselves.
They needed a new strategy called The Strategic Corporal, defined by General Krulak as the strategy that allows leaders of low-level units be able to act independently and make important decisions.
Likewise today, there is no time to make decisions at the top and broadcast them. Often, team members need to make decisions in a very short time. Decisions that can have a serious impact on the organization’s reputation and brand recognition.
The main responsibility of the leader is to ensure that these decisions are right. The question is how?
You need to develop a high performance team and it all starts with changing your mindset as a leader!
Here is how you can start:
- Clearly communicate the purpose (why),
- Allow and accept errors, mistakes,
- Celebrate diversity,
- Focus on the development of each member of your team,
- Do not provide answers, but ask questions.
They are part of the principles for the creation of a high performance team, with the ability to make the necessary decisions, during the actions that lead your team to achieve the objective, the result.