I’ve always had a strange way of looking at things, weird descriptive analogies and a quirky sense of humor. So, “The Champagne Tower” unsurprisingly becomes my next weird foray at explaining the positive flow of leadership.
Combining learnings from Pat Lencioni’s views on clarity, Ken Blanchard’s servant leadership theory and many others, this latest thought is one of gravitic flow, “The Champagne Tower”.
For those who haven’t seen a champagne tower before. Imagine a tower of 30 champagne glasses stacked into the shape of a cone. Now imagine a champagne bottle is opened and is poured into the first glass at the top of the tower. After the first glass has been filled the champagne keeps flowing to spill down to the next level of glasses, then down and so on. It is quite impressive to see and the results are intoxicating…
Now imagine you as a leader, imagine your structure and your team. Is your glass full? Is your knowlege and inspiration flowing through to the next level?
Information flow is so important, clarity is so important. Your champagne (knowledge) must flow through your organisation, the gravitic flow needs to be constant. Information continually pouring and cascading down.
Work on ideas and goals with your team. When everyone is on board with decisions and outcomes are understood with total clarity, share. Share the clarity, share your ambitions and expectations, share the champagne.
I am lucky to have a great team that binds together with a high level of trust. We can discuss problems with honesty and select outcomes that will benefit all. And once we make a decision, we share it. From senior management to technicians to apprentices to contractors, our champagne is flowing. It hasn’t always been easy, we’ve smashed a few glasses along the way. But once we got it right, our organisation went to another level.
“Connect the dots between individual roles and the goals of the organization. When people see that connection, they get a lot of energy out of work. They feel the importance, dignity, and meaning in their job.” ~ Ken Blanchard
Information sharing, inspiration, and providing clarity is a leader’s way of filling everyone else’s glass, connecting the dots. Your team will be more successful and your outcomes will be more prosperous.
A final note:
As a leader you always need to ensure your cup is full. Fill your cup first. If our cups as leaders aren’t full we can’t reach our full potential or our team’s goals. So fill your champagne glass by what inspires you and fill other’s through your leadership.
GRAVITIC 