Page 201 - How to Create a Winning Organization

Make Greatness Attainable by All
cific and important roles as it best served their “Personal greatness is not 183
team. That is what mattered most to me. determined by the size of
It is your responsibility as leader to edu- the job, but by the size of
cate those within the organization that each the effort one puts into the
role offers the opportunity to achieve per- job.This applies to
sonal greatness. When all members of your everyone on the team.”
organization strive for personal greatness—
and derive pride from what they contribute to the group—you will
unleash powerful forces that will make your unit more effective
and, ultimately, more competitive.

ENCOURAGE AMBITION
In any competitive environment, there are ambitious and talented
individuals who may be great team players but are also looking for
ways to expand their role in the group. This goal cannot always be
attained immediately, but you must not destroy their desire or di-
minish their ambition. Ambition, properly controlled and di-
rected, is vital.
Let the ambitious individuals know that before advancing they
must first perform their assigned roles with great skill. Before cal-
culus comes geometry; before geometry comes addition and sub-
traction. Each must be mastered in its turn before the individual
advances to the next level. Before a player on our team could move
to an expanded role, he must have demonstrated complete mastery
of the role he had been given.
Remind your most ambitious people that they must have pa-
tience, and if proficiency at their current job continues unabated,
their chance will come, often when least expected. I cautioned am-
bitious players: “Be ready when your opportunity arrives, or it may
not arrive again.”