Not everyone builds cathedrals. Some build walls. Others lay bricks. Confused? Understand? In any case, read this for a primer.
Got it? No? Read it again and think about your peers, your managers, and your clients. When you encounter people in your vocation and in theirs, you can likely classify them into one of these categories.
You’ve Got Personality!
Let’s take a sharp turn and briefly discuss personalities. Anyone who has attended a personality training session has learned the following:
- You have a personality.
- So does everyone else.
- Their personality might not be yours.
- Don’t try to change them to be like you.
That is definitely an oversimplification, but it holds no matter which training you received: Myers Briggs, DISC, what type of dog (or bird) are you (yes, I’ve attended these). Basically, what you learned in personality training also applies to the cathedral builder concept.
Everybody Is Different
Let’s say you are a cathedral builder. You always have something to say, attract an audience, and have vision. You always seem to be in control – not necessarily of others, but of yourself. What happens to your project if you treat your teammates as though they are all cathedral builders? Not everyone is like you; not everyone builds cathedrals.
Based on personal experience, I would say the bricklayers are put in an awful position. If a cathedral builder expects them to see the vision, buy in, and be as much an evangelizer as they are, they are putting undue pressure on the bricklayer, and asking them to do things they just are not in a position to do. Either the capability isn’t there, or it is not suitable for the role they are playing.
Conversely, what if you are a bricklayer, and you’ve worked yourself – through competency, loyalty, and merit – into the management ranks? What happens when you treat everyone like a bricklayer? My guess is you have staff that feel stifled, smothered, unable to use their talents. They might even feel untrusted.
Managers…Am I Right?
And wall builders, you do not get a free pass. Wall builders are the process and procedure people, who need the process followed and all the check boxes checked. Think…middle management. You think you are doing what the company needs, right? Caught between a rock (bricklayers) and a hard place (cathedral builders), you have visionaries and disruptors to the right, “9-to-5ers who just do what they’re told” to the left. And none of them want to focus on getting the wall built. That’s either too long-term (“just let me get through today”), or small thinking (“think of how much MORE we could do!”).
My Kingdom For a Team
What if I told you that all three types are needed to make a project work? Not everyone builds cathedrals, and you probably don’t want a team staffed with only cathedral builders. How about I blow your mind…what if I told you that the at-work bricklayer might be a cathedral builder in another facet of their life? What if you learned, through water cooler chit chat, that one of your bricklayers was a cathedral builder, until he got burned on a specific project and found it better to lay low?
What is the best way to deal with people who are not like you?
Five Simple Steps
First, be thankful that they are on your team. This may sound crass, but not everyone can be the 1990s Cleveland Indians, with an all-star caliber athlete playing at every position. Not everyone can be the New York Yankees with the multi-hundred-million-dollar budget. Do you have a fully staffed team? Good! Are they who you wanted? No? Good!
Second, respect each person for who they are. Remember the takeaways from personality training? They apply to the cathedral builder, wall builder, and bricklayer concept, too. Each person has their strengths and add value to the project. It is not up to them to tell you what those strengths are. It is up to you to get to know your people.
Third, work with them…where they are! It is not your role to turn them into your Mini Me. It is your role to drive the project to success. If members of the team want to learn how to take the next step up, you can counsel them as long as it does not impede the team’s progress. You all have roles to fill and goals to achieve.
Fourth, celebrate the victories. While laying bricks might seem mundane to you, it’s what they get paid to do. If they finish in record time, or with superb quality, or identify a better way to perform a task (future wall builder?), compliment and thank them; reward them, even if it is only with a gift card for coffee or a little public recognition.
Fifth, continue being the cathedral builder that you are. Someone needs to bring the vision, the desire to change, and the influence to move the team forward. It means you will need to explain yourself differently to different people. It will always be worth taking that time.
Wrapping It Up
Maybe those five steps aren’t so simple. It takes investing time in your team, assessing how to communicate with each of them (stakeholder management), learning how to work with them (resource management), and setting a schedule and responsibilities that optimize their performance (scheduling). In other words, nothing different than you already do to bring any project to successful completion.
Remember: Not everyone builds cathedrals, and not everyone is like you. Work with your team where they are. It will be worth it!