Build Unity
You, your team and bank can do so much more when you are
unified. In EntreLeadership, author Dave Ramsey writes there are
five enemies of unity, and to champion their removal, everyone
in the organization must help make sure these five enemies do
not return. Champions want to work at an organization with no
gossip, a shared purpose, and high levels of communication. In
other words, where there is unity.
The five enemies of team unity3:
1. Poor Communication. It’s frustrating when the right hand
doesn’t know what the left hand is doing. Always let everyone
know what’s going on—good news or bad.
2. Gossip. We all understand gossip to mean when someone
talks in a negative way about someone else, but it’s more
than that. We define gossip as any negative that is discussed
with anyone who can’t fix the problem. Passionate people
will become frustrated when they run into a negative. I want
passionate people working on my team. But I want them
to pass the negative up to people who can fix the problem.
I don’t want them to talk to others who can’t fix it. If they
do, they are basically saying your team/department/bank is
incompetent. Gossip is a cancer that will kill your unity and
culture, and it is intolerable.
3. Unresolved Disagreements. These typically result from poor
communication or the avoidance of confrontation. Don’t let
disagreements fester. Get them resolved quickly.
4. Lack of a Shared Purpose. We must all know the vision/pur-pose of the team. Talk about the purpose and vision of your
team and then talk about it some more (over and over again).
5. Sanctioned Incompetence. Sanctioned incompetence is when
one member of the team does not pull his or her weight,
or when a member has a negative attitude. If management
does not do anything about it, then they are allowing this
incompetence to continue. The rest of the team will become
demoralized. This behavior kills unity, and the worst worker
eventually becomes the standard until management steps in.
Why does it Really Matter?
1. Regulatory Health. Compliance officers need cooperation and
collaboration from all departments of a bank. As a compliance
officer, how you lead as an agent of change, and what you do
in the process of helping your bank to process new regulatory
requirements is crucial. Your decision to foster strong organizational health and alliance with others will drive the success
of your regulatory management program. Without those
elements, you’re fighting a losing battle against defiance and
dysfunction that will ultimately lead to regulatory violations.
2. Job Fulfillment. I believe every manager should read The
Three Signs of a Miserable Job by Patrick Lencioni. Lencioni
states there are three things that everyone needs to find true
job fulfillment, and they are: 4
• Be known––We all have a need to be understood and appreciated by someone in a position of authority.
• Relevance––We need to know that our job matters.
• Measurement––Everyone needs to be able to gauge their
level of contribution for themselves.
3. It’s a lot more fun if work matters. If you’re going to work to
make money, so you can buy food, so you can go back to work
to make the money, so you can buy clothes, so you can go back
to work to make the money, so you can … Get my point?
You will derive so much more pleasure from your work when
you enjoy what you do, as well as those with whom you do it.
Be an Agent of Change.
If you don’t like the culture in your bank, change it! Be intentional.
If you don’t act, don’t expect it to change.
Organizational health is more important that being “smart”. An
organization that is healthy will inevitably get smarter over time.
That alone should be an incentive to work on your organization’s
health. And when you do, your job will be more rewarding and
become easier. ■
Endnotes
1 The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni, www.tablegroup.com/advantagemodel/
org-health/orghealth_model.pdf
2 The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni, www.tablegroup.
com/books/dysfunctions
3 Dave Ramsey “EntreLeadership by Dave Ramsey “The Five Enemies
of Team Unity”, www.daveramsey.com/article/the-5-enemies-of-unity/
lifeandmoney_business/entre_content
4 The 3 Signs of a Miserable Job by Patrick Lencioni, www.tablegroup.com/
books/signs/
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DAVID A. DICKINSON, CRCM, began his career with the FDIC as an
examiner and later became a Loan Officer for a 110-million dollar
bank. In 1993, he established Banker’s Compliance Consulting. He
has written numerous compliance articles for prestigious banking
publications and has developed compliance seminars that Banker’s
Compliance Consulting produces.
He is an expert in compliance regulations. He is a motivational
speaker and innovative educator. His quick wit and sense of humor
transforms the usually tiring topic of compliance into an enjoyable
educational experience. David is on the faculty of the Center for
Financial Training, the American Bankers Association National
Compliance Schools and is a speaker at the ABA’s Regulatory
Compliance Conference. David is also a speaker/trainer for hundreds
of webinars. David is a Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager
(CRCM) and has been a BankersOnline Guru for many years. He can
be reached at ddickinson@hamilton.net.
You will derive so much more pleasure from your work
when you enjoy what you do, as well as those
with whom you do it.
