As a leader, you shape the culture of your team. You have the opportunity – and responsibility – to transform a collection of individuals into a high-performing group. As much as you may want to, you know that you can’t mandate teamwork. Plotters and schemers can undermine your efforts, unraveling not just your team’s performance, but your customer relationships as well. The reality is that every organization is inherently a political entity. Some team members will vie for attention, resources, and positions. That’s why culture is crucial – and why it begins with you.
Senator Marco Rubio chugged a tiny bottle of water during his State of the Union Republic response and instantly became comic fodder. In a swig heard 'round the world, he demonstrated why every executive must learn how to effectively communicate when Teleprompted. Lesson one: Always have water within arm's length – not off-camera. Here are a few other crucial tips I learned to master the prompter from my twenty years as a news anchor.