{"id":16425,"date":"2015-09-07T22:00:37","date_gmt":"2015-09-08T02:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/creator\/?p=16425"},"modified":"2020-03-30T18:28:05","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T22:28:05","slug":"in-a-competitive-company-culture-everybody-wins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/in-a-competitive-company-culture-everybody-wins","title":{"rendered":"In a competitive company culture, everybody wins"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I started Hawke Media<\/a>, I hired seven people to provide custom marketing solutions for our clients.\u00a0One of them, Tony Delmercado, came in specifically to run our strategy and client services.\u00a0After interacting with clients, he would come back and tell the team what was needed.<\/p>\n

Before long, Tony took the reins.\u00a0Rather than merely report, he guided clients on strategy and coached the rest of the team on how to best support them. When needed, he would even dive in and perform these tasks himself.<\/p>\n

I quickly realized that he had become an indispensible part of the organization.\u00a0In three months, Tony\u2019s position went from client strategist to director of operations to chief operating officer.<\/p>\n

We\u2019d originally agreed on a model of compensation based on revenue from the strategy side, but soon that didn\u2019t make much sense. Tony was touching the entire business, so we made a profit-sharing deal.<\/p>\n

Then he made his intentions known. After he saw the results of the profit share, Tony came to me and said, \u201cI don\u2019t think we should pull money out of the business to compensate me. I\u2019d rather leave it in the company and be an owner.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a no-brainer. Tony stepped up before anyone else and went over and above.\u00a0I\u2019ve never regretted the decision to make him my partner.<\/p>\n

The drive to compete at work<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a little secret no one wants to admit: There\u2019s only so much room at the top of a company. You\u2019re bound to hire people who are entirely focused on getting there. And that\u2019s not<\/em> a bad thing.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re\u00a0honest about the fact that everyone on your team is competing among themselves and with outsiders for a certain position, it\u2019s easier to make it a healthy, productive contest.<\/p>\n

Competition gets a bad rap, but it usually brings out the best\u00a0in people. It also increases innovation.\u00a0Ashley\u00a0Merryman, who wrote a book<\/a> on competition, cites studies<\/a>\u00a0that show how competition boosts creativity for everyone\u2014from children to musicians to startup employees.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important for people in a startup to want to grow and move up. You don\u2019t have the room or the capital for employees who come in and are doing the same thing 10 years later.\u00a0Fostering a competitive culture helps you quickly identify weak links.<\/p>\n

Avoiding potential pitfalls<\/strong><\/p>\n

The biggest argument against competition in the office is\u00a0that it contradicts camaraderie and creates a cutthroat environment. While I love competition, there has to be a balance.<\/p>\n

Here are some ways to ensure internal competition encourages positive growth:<\/p>\n

Be open. <\/strong>At\u00a0Hawke\u00a0Media, we\u2019re open about the level of competition. For instance, I might walk into a room and announce that a new department is being created and needs a director. Each person has three months to prove that he or she is the best candidate, and if no one meets expectations, we\u2019ll hire from outside. Everyone knows the stakes and who their competitors are. Game on.<\/p>\n

Give people what they deserve. <\/strong>Don\u2019t create a toxic atmosphere where one person gets what several people deserve. Instead, reward employees appropriately to keep everyone motivated. Only one person can get that job, but the second-best is entitled to a raise or another opportunity.<\/p>\n

Make it fun. <\/strong>Don\u2019t be so serious! Type A people enjoy competing, no matter the risks. Use competition to nurture healthy friendships among your employees. For example, we hold an optional fitness competition. Everyone who opts in has to work out three days a week, and if they don\u2019t, they have to pay $10 into the pot. This creates a fun spirit as we spur one another on to win.<\/p>\n

Compete as a team. <\/strong>Ultimately, you all share the same objective, so it\u2019s important to communicate company goals early and often. Once the team hits those goals, celebrate extravagantly together. When we hit our first year\u2019s audacious goals, we took the whole team to Vegas for a weekend\u2014because what good is a competition without the locker room champagne?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s only logical: You\u2019re going to succeed if you work hard and do your best. So create opportunities for other people to do that. Healthy competition will help them grow. And when your employees flourish, so does your business.<\/p>\n

Photo credit: Lauren Kallen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I started Hawke Media, I hired seven people to provide custom marketing solutions for our clients.\u00a0One of them, Tony Delmercado, came in specifically to run our strategy and client services.\u00a0After interacting with clients, he would come back and tell the team what was needed. Before long, Tony took the reins.\u00a0Rather than merely report, he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1545,"featured_media":16430,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43902],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-professional-development"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIn a competitive company culture, everybody wins<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Healthy competition will help your employees grow and succeed. 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