Page 158 - The Bible On Leadership

144 THE BIBLE ON LEADERSHIP

ings notes, ‘‘Unlike other firms, we do not have a star system. Here it’s
always putting the team first and the client first . . . you are rewarded
for . . . being a team player, unlike other firms where everyone is out
for themselves.’’ 21
A. G. Edwards accomplishes this ‘‘team spirit’’ through their actions,
not just empty talk or cheerleading. In a business where ‘‘money talks,’’
they shout the ‘‘team message’’ loud and clear by tying all management
bonuses to company profits, not the overrides on the earnings of a man-
ager’s direct reports. This assures a minimum of backbiting and a uni-
fied, company-wide effort, where all are willing to help each other, not
just for that sometimes-ethereal ‘‘team feeling’’ but also for group fi-
nancial success. You won’t be asked to give up your mother and father,
but if you’re willing to sacrifice overrides, you’ll make a good ‘‘team
player’’ at A. G. Edwards.
GE Plastics was faced with a double challenge when it acquired
Borg-Warner Chemicals in a merger: how to preserve the effectiveness
of its existing team while integrating the members of the acquired com-
pany into the overall team. The corporate cultures were disparate, as
were many of the skills. GE Plastics had a younger, more individualistic
and aggressive culture; Borg-Warner Chemicals had older employees
who were accustomed to a more paternalistic culture.
The solution to integrating these two cultures was to form them into
a team with a mission: Renovate five nonprofit facilities in the San
Diego area, including a YMCA, a homeless shelter, and a Boys’ and
Girls’ Club. Joel Hutt, manager of marketing communications for GE
Plastics, assembled the ‘‘troops’’ and showed them pictures of the run-
down facilities. ‘‘The director of this ‘Y’ says fixing up this place will
cost $500,000 and take years. Well, I’m here to tell you . . . This GE
Army is going to attack this place. We’re going to do it in eight hours,
and we’re going to do it tomorrow!’’
Deliberately mixing people from the two companies (and also mixing
their skill sets), the teams rebuilt a soccer field, landscaped the grounds,
and put in new windows and a retaining wall. (Unlike Nehemiah’s
team, they did not have to contend with armed attackers trying to pre-
vent them from building!) They used up 11,000 square feet of tile,