Vehicle maintenance operations could be likened to a professional sports team. Along with good training, the entire team must resist the temptation of putting one’s ego before the team spirit and focus on the goal.
That is the contention of Kerstin Plehwe, a German bestselling author and international speaker based in Berlin, Germany, who helps people and organizations to be “courageous, excellent and innovative.”
Being focused “is something Germans excel in, sometimes so much that they appear over efficient, non-humorous and insanely organized,” says Plehwe, a successful German business owner who has advised hundreds of top executives and politicians and has become a highly regarded TV analyst, author and communication expert (www.kerstinplehwe.com).
“In German, a Weltmeister is the best in class, the leader of the pack, the one who has reached the pole position,” she explains. “Establishing Weltmeister qualities pays off in multiple ways for any business.”
Becoming a Weltmeister organization involves five key steps, according to Plehwe.
1. Put the team first and implement a serving attitude.
Pointing to Germany’s victory in last year’s 2014 FIFA World Cup of soccer, Plehwe notes that the team “had several world-class players, all of them alpha males with long personal records of success. Nevertheless, they never allowed one ego to step up and leave the others behind.
“They understood, and were deeply convinced, that by helping their teammates, they would all reach the highest goal.”
Any business or team leader can use this approach “to establish the qualities of team spirit, a dedication to service and a willingness to help one another within their team,” she maintains. “By doing this, teams help themselves grow towards a new level of success.
2. Identify and nurture talent.
In the case of the German victory, the roots of success were “sourced from a continuous, relentless search for young talent and a bold investment, not only into their talents, but into everything that the team needed,” which included new training facilities, diversified and trusting coaches, plus great relations inside and outside of the organization.
“Applying this quality to any business leads to a new look at anything that increases the team’s productivity,” says Plehwe. “Those investments might sometimes hurt the bottom line in the short view, but they increase the success and profit in the longer run.”
3. Reach out for excellence.
Reaching for nothing less than excellence requires a lot from everybody involved, she says. “It requires setting the highest goals in every form of quality: product quality, customer satisfaction quality and leadership qualities.
“It is possible for any organization and individual to restart their own quest for excellence – and forever step away from mediocrity and failure customers regularly experience, even with established brands.”
4. Be willing to pay the price.
Often, the road to gaining, or regaining, the number one position is long, Plehwe observes, “but it is always worth it, as long as you are honest with yourself and the rest of your team about the price that comes with the package.”
In the case of the German soccer team, the price was high, she notes. It included endless physical training sessions, competitive video analyses and enduring team development.
“Applying those actions into the business world also means a lot of persistence. It also means precise attention to every detail; keeping the team spirit up within the company, even when it seems that all odds are against you; setting different priorities in every day’s work; and going the extra mile for the customer.”
5. Focus on inspiration rather than motivation.
While motivation has its place in achieving success, inspiration is “a must-have for any world-class team because it comes from within a person and not from without.” maintains Plehwe. “But inspiration itself won't secure the trophy.
“It has to be followed up with persistent, daily actions – which is exactly what the German soccer coach did – and any business leader can achieve,” she adds. “Inspiring a team instead of relying on old-world motivational patterns, like bonuses, followed up by a joint plan of action is the key to the big win.”
Can Do
By establishing and following Weltmeister qualities, what the German soccer team showed game after game “was not only impressive and inspiring, it was the best proof that everyone who is willing to pay the price for excellence can rise from the ashes of their past towards a successful future,” Plehwe asserts.
