E pluribus unum. Since America’s founding, this Latin phrase has graced our seal and countless coinage. Out of many, one. Our founders dream, back in the day, was to unite thirteen colonies and form one country. Yesterday, during practice 145 with a team of twenty some mostly twenty somethings, we attempted to do likewise. You see, our aim at BTL aligns quite nicely with our founders. “We Awaken, Challenge, and together we Transform a few individuals, teams, and leaders into ONE. ONE, distinct, deeply connected, and BTL.” This is why we are here. This is why we practice one on one, one on a few, and one on a few more. This is why we practice speaking and listening BTL style until our clients achieve mastery.
Yesterday, Dantheman didn’t let me go easy on them. He grabbed the reins when I attempted to move the many onto something a bit easier to swallow. He wanted to tackle a tough topic and so we did. His challenge to the team was exactly what the team needed to raise their game. Never forget, the best challenges come from within the system. We, the BTL Builders, are agitators attempting to stir things up. Kinda like Batman a few weeks back, the participants job is to not be afraid to open the proverbial “can of worms.”
Monday, I’ll be in K.C. and a more mature team of mostly 40 and 50 somethings will engage in practice faux (four). They are a high performing team filled with talent and overflowing with success. And, they’ve been enjoying this kinda success for decades. Only recently, however, have they begun the hard work to practice with BTL and attempt to transform a team of individuals into a team of ONE, distinct, deeply connected, and BTL. They are far from unified as they once were back in the day when they, kinda like our thirteen colonies, were younger, much smaller, humbler, and a bit more open to ideas that weren’t their own. Normal. So, Monday, BTL will facilitate another practice and try to deepen the trust between a few distinctly different. And, we’ll agitate a few along the way.
E pluribus unum. Easy to say. Hard to win. Harder to order. And, hardest to maintain over time and through success. Funny, almost any system can handle adversity. It’s too much of a good thing that tends to divide. Funny, huh.
What kinda system you building, friend?
BUILT TO LEAD 