Everybody Wants to be on a Good Team

By Gregory Ballard
Mayor, City of Indianapolis

During my first year in office, I have had the opportunity to meet a great number of people and field a great many questions. Because of my background as an officer in the United States Marine Corps and as an author and instructor on leadership, many of these questions concern leadership. Although my current role is more public and high-profile, the principles remain largely the same.

The overriding paradigm from which I lead is embodied in what I call Reality #1—Everybody Wants to Be On a Good Team. Below is a relevant excerpt from my book. I find it applies no matter the situation or organization.

No one shows up on the first day and says "I think I’ll be the worst employee I can be." It just doesn’t happen. Most people want to work for a company in order to provide for life’s necessities, to connect with a certain community, or possibly to improve themselves. Some people join organizations, such as nonprofits, in order to further a cause in which they believe. In any case, absolutely no one joins a company or an organization to do a bad job. No matter what circumstances caused a person to join a company or an organization, a person inevitably walks in the door wanting to do a good job for what he hopes is a top-notch outfit. Poor performance is usually a learned, or even worse, an expected behavior.

The very important corollary to this thought is that good people want to be around other good people. They do not want to belong to an organization that tolerates bad behavior or lack of direction, and they will actively seek to move out of the organization if at all possible. This has enormous implications for volunteer organizations, but also impacts for-profit companies if the economy is doing well. Therefore, it is incumbent upon the leader of any organization to realize he must strive to develop a good team that people actively seek out. This means setting realistic standards of behavior and objectives for productivity; good, motivated workers find standards and objectives comforting because they are not ambiguous. It also means creating a positive atmosphere where people feel comfortable to work and develop. Ideally, employees should want to come to work because the work environment is enjoyable. A good work environment also enhances performance.

If you don’t create the proper work environment, then your good, talented people will leave as soon as another opportunity presents itself.

If I ever had another "light bulb" moment in leadership, this was it:

As the Commanding Officer of a recruiting station, I had a number of very competent recruiters. However, I was being forced to accept as a sub-station commander a senior non-commissioned officer (Staff NCO in the Marines) who had burned too many bridges at another recruiting station in the Midwest.

Within the first month, this new Staff NCO committed an ethics violation. As was my custom with sensitive issues, I discussed this matter with my trusted advisors, one of whom was my senior recruiter trainer. He was an exceptionally professional Marine with a great sense of humor. When I asked him what he thought I should do, he looked me dead in the eye and said "Sir, I don’t want to belong to a unit that would have a guy like that in it."

That got my attention. I realized right then that if I did not deal with the unethical behavior, I would soon be losing the trust and respect of all my very competent, professional Staff NCOs. Certainly, performance throughout the command would suffer.

I had multiple courses of action available to me, but I did what I thought was right for all concerned. The disciplinary action I took allowed the Marines to maintain pride in their unit, thereby saving the performance and morale of the command. Once my senior recruiter told me he did not want to belong to a unit with unethical personnel, the choice was clear, because everybody wants to be on a good team.

I wish you all success in your leadership journeys and in building good teams.

On November 6, 2007 Gregory A. Ballard was elected as the 48th Mayor of Indianapolis. A native Hoosier, Mayor Ballard was raised on the east side of Indianapolis and is a proud graduate of Cathedral High School. After earning his undergraduate degree in Economics from Indiana University, Mayor Ballard entered the United States Marine Corps. During his time in the Marines, he served in the Persian Gulf War and upon his retirement, was awarded the Legion of Merit. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel after 23 years service.

After leaving the Marine Corps, Mayor Ballard successfully transitioned to the corporate world. He worked for several years as North American Operations Manager for Bayer in Indianapolis. He also is the author of The Ballard Rules: Small Unit Leadership. Mayor Ballard has been active in the community, serving as a tutor and an Advisory Board Member for the Lilly Boys and Girls Club, as a contributing editor to both the Indiana Minority Business Magazine and the Indiana Parenting Magazine, and as founder of the Indianapolis Writers Group.

Mayor Ballard resides in Pike Township with Winnie, his wife of 25 years. Their son, Greg, Jr. and daughter, Erica, recently graduated from Indiana University. Mayor Ballard is proud that despite the many places they lived throughout their military childhoods, his family still considers Indianapolis their hometown.

Contact Mayor Ballard at jcarnell@indygov.org to share your feedback on his leadership lesson.