Page 155 - The Bible On Leadership

Team Development 141

ated ‘‘one body’’ with ‘‘many members’’ and ‘‘differing gifts,’’ all de-
voted to an overriding goal.
Another organization where a strong leader focuses on ‘‘letting the
me become servant of the we’’ is Disney. Michael Eisner realized that his
top executives will work better if they are developed as a team. He also
realized the importance of their understanding the roles of the entire
Disney ‘‘cast.’’
So Eisner has instituted a program called Disney Dimensions for his
top team, which he has dubbed his ‘‘synergy boot camp.’’ For eight
days, these executives experience every aspect of the company, not from
a training room, but firsthand. They play the Disney characters on the
grounds of Disney World. They see the beds made in the hotels (and
even make a few) and they watch 100,000 meals being cooked (pre-
sumably they are not permitted to ‘‘ruin the stew’’ by actually cooking
the food—since that is not something that can be trusted to ‘‘unskilled
labor’’).
Says Eisner, ‘‘They learn what it is like to work in 100-degree heat
and 100 percent humidity (shades of the Israelites in the desert here), to
clean bathrooms, cut hedges, check out guests, and soothe tired chil-
dren.’’ The executives keep up this routine from 7:00 .. to 11:00
.. for over a week.
At first, they dread this experience, says Eisner. ‘‘But by the third day,
they love it. By the end of the eighth day, they’ve totally bonded.
They’ve learned to respect what tens of thousands of people do, and
they’ve become close friends at the same time. When they go back to
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their jobs, what happens is synergy, naturally.’’ The Disney executives
may have started out as ‘‘reluctant group members,’’ but this experience
forged them into a team that willingly, even enthusiastically, sacrificed
individual ego for the unity and goals of the group.
King David was also a master team-builder who knew how to in-
crease team spirit by getting all to contribute willingly. David encour-
aged his followers to ‘‘let the me become the servant of the we’’ by
setting a large example. He wanted his people to donate their efforts
and their money to the building of the temple (which would be carried
out by his son Solomon). David literally put his money where his