Soccer and Self-Storage are both team sports.
My 7-year-old grandson played his second year of soccer this year and made the all-stars.
We were proud of him and he was proud of himself. But what I saw as the best experience this afforded him, was a direct experience of Habit 6 of Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Successful People – Synergy.
He really got to experience it. A new team was put together quickly with kids that used to play against each other. A new coach, new strategies, and they had only 2 weeks, and 3 practices to get it together. The kids quickly had to learn to play together, trust each other, figure out what each other’s strengths were, and coordinate together on the field.
You can understand “synergy” or experience it. Only the latter has any impact on you. In many ways, the team that experiences the most synergy wins.
Same is true in self-storage.
If I have learned one thing, it is that it takes the leverage of other people to do great things. If you are going to do everything, try to not have partners or stake holders, hire people who only do what you tell them to and nothing else, and otherwise totally run the show, your world and business are going to be small.
The real “art” in putting anything together is to gather people around you who are (1) better than you in ALL the areas you are weak in, and (2) empower, trust and value them.
This really does take something.
I never cease to be amazed at the ownership our employees and Managers have. They run those facilities so much better than I ever could. Almost every new idea and thing we have done to streamline operations has come from either my partners or managers.
I have a good handle on how to grow the rental income and keep my eye on it. Much of our value growth in the next year is going to be in ‘cost containment’ and increased employee production. The specific strategies to implement are most likely going to come from the team members, working together and creating synergistic outcomes.
Covey says Synergy is like 1 + 1 = 3. The value growth in the existing facilities we own in 2016 is going to come from that. When I put the managers and partners together, what they can come up with is so much more than any of us can sitting alone in our offices. It’s amazing.
I know often when we start in the self-storage business, it is us doing everything. I know this. But even then you have partners you can synergize with. Your vendors, accountant, banker, lawyer etc. No matter who you are in life, it is not hard to have a team.
Now as the owner, or leader, it really takes something to let this process happen. Here is what I think it takes; changing a fundamental habit and belief system.
I know as an owner and leader, you have had to trust yourself to get to where you are. You have learned a lot, worked hard, and know more than most people about whatever it is. That is valid.
However, this mentality can also totally block allowing synergy to happen. You don’t have to do anything to let synergy happen. It naturally is there when people gather to focus and create. You can only impede it.
How?
By knowing more than others. More specifically, thinking there is one right way or approach.
Try this on. All ways, all approaches are valid. No one is right or wrong. All are valid. Now let’s create something together.
I know, you are like this already. Right?
Well, if you are a “Republican” (I know everyone is an “Independent”, but if you lean to the right politically), try taking on “Obama Care”, or the Affordable Health Care Program is a valid approach. There may be some ways to make it better, improve, but overall, it is valid to attempt to make health care a “given right” for everyone, no matter the cost.
Or if you are “Progressive”, it is valid that our spending is out of control. Nothing should be off the table, especially entitlements. Try taking on that is just as valid as your knowing the government’s primary job is to take care and help people who need it.
Give up right or wrong. That is the old way of thinking.
I am not concerned with what is right. I have my attention on workability. In the space of workability, every approach is valid. When there is no energy spent defending a position, feeling shut down, all the creative energy flows towards creation and solution. When that happens 1 + 1 is way more than 2.
Yes…it really takes something to create the space for synergistic outcomes to happen.
But you know what, that is where the juice is in running a business. Especially in this great self-storage business. We get to grow and evolve so that our companies and business can.
You will win in the self-storage game if you can get your team to play well together.
You will win the game of life if who you are is: “Where ever I am, synergy happens”.
