In the field of Ghost Hunting, investigators not only go to a location with their equipments and talk in the dark and then process the data from their tools to find if they catch a voice of a spirit or a figure or a shadow of some sort of energy.
It is more than that. The field of Ghost Hunting are ran by people. People who bring to the table their skills, energy, personality and so on. Because we all are so unique, everyone has to overcome the challenges of working WITH each other. Conflict is inevitable, but members should not forget the reason why they are all there working together - to help clients, may it be business owners or people living in homes , make sense of their experiences. There is another set of clients we all have, in a way, acquired. And they are the ghosts that we "hunt".
Without sounding like a starchy business-suited nerd, I just want to bring up the concept of Customers - in all businesses , there are internal and external customers. The business of Ghost Hunting is not an exception to this concept.
Who is our internal customer(s)? Our internal customers are EACH OTHER. So a group should learn to work together. A group should play on each other's strengths, provide constructive feedback and be able to respond to constructive feedback, create a non-hostile work environment and leave their egos at home.
I was never fond of having a "leadership" role, I'd rather be the one working in the corner and contributing to the cause, whatever skills and resources I have to move forward to an agenda.
But to a groups designated leader/facilitator - remember that you have to deal with different personalities but you have to recognize the dynamic of your group and also your group's maturity.
If most of your members are fresh-faced and green, then have more patience in training them and give them a chance to be comfortable and grow.
On the other hand, if your members are experienced and self-sufficient, recognize that too. They can run the show, even in the absence (due to sickness or other reasons) of the "designated" leader.The team/ company will not fall apart just because the designated leader is not there to facilitate the task at hand.
I always cite the Chrysler example. When Iacoca came on board, Chrysler as a company did so well - profits, great products and alot of skilled workers. When he left Chrysler, they kind of never recovered. When Iacoca left, the people who ran Chrysler became adrift when their anchor Iacoca left. Some say it was because Iacoca did everything himself but never really trained any potential successors on how things need to be run. When he packed, he also left with his knowledge and skills.
On the other hand, former CEO Jack Welch of General Electric knew he was leaving the company in good hands when he chose his successor Jeff Immelt. Why? Because built within GE is a great mentor and training program to help develop their GE leaders.
Leaders, develop your team and respond accordingly based on your team's level of maturity.
I will have to stop here because this post is very lengthy. In a future post, I may discuss about external customers.
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