Page 101 - Harnessing the Strengths

84 ■ Servant-Leadership in the Intercultural Practice

as the reverse: how to make the team responsible for sup-
porting creative talents of the individual group members,
working together to reach the best solution for the whole.
This approach has also been called “co-opetition.” As the
name suggests, this approach unites the best of two worlds:
cooperation and competition.

Individual Versus Team Rewards

An excellent example of this involves the advice of author
and consultant Mr. Gallway, given to IBM’s sales force.
Instead of giving the biggest bonus to the person who sold
the most computers, a practice that discourages sharing of
information between members of the sales staff, Gallway
recommended an alternative that rewarded both the sales-
people and the clients. To be eligible for a bonus, salespeo-
ple had to make a presentation to each other every quarter
about what they had learned from their clients. As a result
of this initiative, sales rose by 25 percent, the clients were
happy, and there was an exchange of information between
sales staff. This is also an example of co-opetition: compet-
ing to cooperate with the client. An interesting outcome of
this exercise was that the highest sellers turned out to be the
ones who had learned the most from their clients.
The idea that there is a relationship between motiva-
tion of an individual and of the team has consequences for
reward systems. As an example, an American company
introduced an interesting way of recognizing achievements
by the creation of a system based on a 50 percent variable
reward, including options, which only became valuable for
those who stayed with the company for at least three years.
This approach reconciled short- and long-term thinking,