We all have career defining moments when we know that we were part of something unique. I was part of a management team several years ago that had it all. We had a regional set of customers across several industries who were growing their businesses as well as their business with us. We had a dedicated group of knowledgeable sales and technical sales professionals who understood our offerings and how to help our customers use them to run their businesses. We had a leader who thoughtfully accepted their role and had a goal to deliberately create something unique. We had a management team that was dedicated to our customers, our employees, and each other. We were aligned with regard to finances & forecasting and were constantly collaborating on new ideas to help us grow our business. We openly discussed our employees’ performance across each of our sub-teams and freely shared praise and areas of improvement for each others’ direct reports. We were a well tuned, world class sales organization that had everyone in sales and technical sales rowing in tandem to serve our customers and grow our business. In short, we had each others’ backs.

As always, business evolves and talented people move on to other roles, organizations, and companies. Even though our merry band of managers has now dispersed (in fact, many of us are now competitors), about every year several of us gather to renew bonds and share in some professional revitalization. Our gathering this year reminded me of the power that organizational trust can have when a management team truly gels. Although we all recognize that our former team was somewhat of a perfect storm as a growing business met a talented sales force and a motivated management team with compatible personalities, everyone still agrees that it was one of the most collaborative and rewarding work environments that any of us have ever experienced. Our approach, enthusiasm, and results were noticed by upper management and we were asked to pilot several new coverage models and employee engagement methods for the company. This further expanded the experiences of the management team beyond merely driving revenue and customer satisfaction and opened up some new feedback mechanisms for employees. To this day, many of us strive to create that same environment within our current organizations, with varying degrees of success.

So how can such an organization be created? Several years removed from this experience, I have come to believe that such an organization cannot be forced. But it can be encouraged via:

• Strong leadership. Someone dedicated to the principles of servant leadership and who is as much interested in the people as they are the process and the profits. And has specific ideas about how they will lead the organization.
• Transparency. Each manager must understand their peers’ goals, financial incentives, products & offerings, and employees. From that the management team can develop a desire to help each other – which leads to helping customers and employees to achieve their full potential.
• A belief in the possibilities. Every manager on the team must have a desire to create some sort of legacy for themselves as a manager. Managers who have a mission to build something unique for customers and employees will look at every situation with fresh eyes and push the envelope with new solutions.

As you close out 2014 and finalize planning for 2015, take some time to consider your level of organizational trust? How well do you understand the goals of your peers? What are you doing to help your manager create a culture that is focused on the success of your customers and employees? Do you have each others’ backs?