Last week I took my entire team on a Caribbean cruise to mark a major accomplishment. Celebrating success is something I really believe in.<\/p>\n\n
Family is also something I really believe in\u2014and that\u2019s why we included not only our employees and key contractors, but also their spouses on the trip.<\/p>\n
That meant accommodating more than thirty people, but I wouldn\u2019t have missed the chance. It was the perfect opportunity to strengthen the team and<\/em> recognize the people that make it all possible.<\/p>\n There\u2019s far more at stake here than you might think. Based on my experiences in both corporate and entrepreneurial environments, there are at least three reasons why leaders should consider including the spouses of their team members.<\/p>\n Sometimes we like to think there\u2019s a sharp divide between home and office. There might be a commute, but there\u2019s no divide.<\/p>\n The person who creates marketing plans, fields customer calls, and follows sales leads is the same person who helps kids with homework, pays the mortgage, and lays in bed talking about her day with her husband.<\/p>\n One environment affects the other. The stresses and strains of one get dragged into the other. It\u2019s inescapable.<\/p>\n I once had a boss who seemed distant and aloof. He would come to work and retreat behind his office door. It turned out that he was in the middle of a divorce, and the difficulty of his home life directly impacted his effectiveness at work.<\/p>\n But the opposite is also true.<\/p>\n A positive home life can positively affect our work. I\u2019ve seen this thousands of times with my wife, Gail. Her support and encouragement has made me a better husband\u2014and leader. In fact there\u2019s a direct relationship between the success I\u2019ve experienced at work and the encouragement I\u2019ve received at home.<\/p>\n This is especially important for entrepreneurs and smaller teams where the impact on one person can have an outsized effect on the business. Including spouses is just one way of recognizing this reality.<\/p>\n For me one critical reason for including spouses on the cruise was to pull them into the discussion of our team\u2019s values and vision for the future. In fact, we set aside one day to cover this in detail. Why?<\/p>\n We\u2019re building a fantastic company, and I want the buy-in of everyone\u2014team members and spouses. When people are invested in a vision, they support that vision. They feel good about it, and become advocates for it.<\/p>\n I also wanted the spouses to see how much we value everyone on the team. To help with that Megan, my daughter and the dean of Platform University, created job-specific awards to honor each member on the team. It was awesome. And it communicated our deep appreciation for what each person contributes to our success.<\/p>\n Beyond that, each night on the cruise we created conversations designed to increase our connectedness as a team. We discussed what each of us personally is proud of accomplishing in the past year and what\u2019s in our sights for the next. To have our wives and husbands present was key for putting our achievements and our goals in perspective.<\/p>\n Since the personal is professional, leaders can help their organizations by knowing what\u2019s going on in the relationships of their team members\u2014and no relationship is more important than a team member\u2019s marriage.<\/p>\n This has been a key part my hiring philosophy for years now. If I have a key hire, there\u2019s no way I\u2019m doing it without meeting the candidate\u2019s spouse, preferably over dinner with Gail at my side.<\/p>\n By following this policy I\u2019ve been saved from at least one hire I\u2019m certain would have been disastrous. We\u2019d already been through several interviews, and I had the offer in hand. But when it came time for dinner Gail noticed something off and actually kicked me under the table.<\/p>\n Her intuition helped me make the right decision. Why? Because she saw something in the relationship that gave her pause\u2014something that wasn\u2019t clear from the application, CV, and interviews.<\/p>\n\t\t1. The Personal Is Professional<\/h3>\n
2. Inclusion Increases Buy-in and Connection<\/h3>\n
3. It\u2019s the Best Early Warning System Available<\/h3>\n