The sum of the group is greater than the individuals.

We've all heard about teamwork and the benefits it can bring to any organization or team. But what is real teamwork? Practicing our trade? Working together for a common goal? Absolutely. Yet so many times a person will not be on the same page inside an organization and will cause issues with a group moving forward. And what is most difficult is having the group focus on improvement each and every day, even when things are going great.

This is where the best teams and organizations shine. They figure out how to improve even when they're on top. It takes great leadership and motivation to drive the group each day. We see it in the best of sports teams and businesses. Bill Belichick has figured this out with the New England Patriots. So did John Wooden at UCLA basketball back in the 1960 and '70s. How about Apple? Walmart? Oprah? All continue to thrive, even as they are on top.

They have found a way to live by the 5 percent rule.

Be Better Every Day

Whenever I speak to a group, I talk about the 5 percent rule. Without it, it is difficult to keep advancing your organization. What is this valuable tool? In order to sustain long-term success, year in and out, you have to find a way to motivate your employees and players to get a little better each week. It seems like a simple task, yet a good leader pays great attention to guiding his or her employees to do the “little” things necessary to grow in small ways, to grow 5 percent in a week.

Find a way to motivate your employees and players to get a little better each week.

Find a way to be 5 percent better. We spoke in Chapter 15 about the difference between “teams” and “programs.” Another winning trait of a program is the ability to have each individual be 5 percent better after each week, which will grow the organization in large ways. Teams consist of individuals who will engage in getting better each week, yet that effort is not intended for the organization's growth, but for individual gains. Again, the sum of our organization can surely be greater than the individuals. Each person's 5 percent effort in a given week, when added to everyone else's effort, can add up and lead to huge gains. I have found that motivating people within an organization can be quite easy when you first set out, as a leader, to show results.

Naturally, practicing longer, providing more training, and working an extra few hours in the week can lead to initial increase in production, especially when everyone in the organization is on board with the 5 percent rule. What proves to be difficult is finding ways to motivate your organization once your group engages in the 5 percent rule for a period of time and has seen the benefits through successful gains. This is where it takes a whole other level of leadership, as we will tackle later in the chapter.

The Power of a Group

I want to share a great story about just how powerful the 5 percent rule can be to an organization. When people on a team or within a group are fully invested to improve not only as individuals but as a group as well, that organization has the ability to grow their core values tenfold.

A few years ago, I was asked by the principal of a middle school to speak to the entire school about leadership and how each student can be a better person. When we sat down to go over the content of the speech I would give, the principal indicated that the students were struggling with communicating and this led to fractures within the classes of grades 6–8. He thought a motivational talk on teamwork and leadership could bring the school closer together. I was happy to see if I could help him build the culture he wanted to bring to his students.

What struck me as odd was his observation about the lack of communication among the students and teachers in the school. It was apparent the lack of communication ran not only student to student, but teacher to student as well. In his view, no one was taking the time to talk, work though problems, and push each other to become better.

It just so happened that my own daughters attended this particular school, and when I quizzed them, they confirmed that many of the students hung out in small groups of friends, never mixing as a large group.

Later that week after I met with the principal, I was able to get everyone together in the auditorium for what I hoped would be a great speech on being a better schoolmate and leader, even at the 13- to 15-year-old level.

I described my 5 percent rule. When you are part of an organization, you have the power to add huge value to the group. The ability to bring a positive outcome to an organization, as one of its members, can be done in many ways, no matter how small or big. Whether it's working later than expected, coming in early, a few extra minutes of studying, or that one extra set of bench presses in the weight room, it's about giving an extra 5 percent effort each day. I use a little saying all the time when I speak to not only my team members, but at every talk I give to organizations: You have to be willing to give your best effort, then give a second effort.

You have to be willing to give your best effort, then give a second effort.

This means 5 percent more, all the time. It can be something as simple as picking up an empty coffee cup from the ground and throwing it in the trash as you enter your workplace. It's probably not in your job description to clean up around the building, but you never know when that next big client is about to walk through the door. Something as small as a piece of trash can affect the entire image of your company, or the school I was about to speak to.

As I began my talk on leadership to the students, I addressed values such as attitude, energy, image, and so on. But I wanted to weave into my talk the value of communicating among the entire school. I came up with a way not only to have them try to communicate more often, but put the 5 percent rule to the test.

I challenged the entire group to be better communicators, and for each one of them to try to be 5 percent better at this for the coming week. There were close to 600 students in the three grade levels at this particular school. I gave a message of just how much impact their group could have if they all tried to be 5 percent better with my challenge, and told them to find the time throughout the day to have a quick conversation with another student or a teacher. Have them ask a simple question of another person to generate quick communication. Where do you live? What's your favorite subject in school? Do you have a pet?

I instructed them to spend the next week, starting the following day, having little chats, at first with someone they knew, then someone they didn't know as well. Huddles was the catchy term we came up with to call our little conversations. Everyone was challenged to have quick huddles throughout the day to engage in better communication.

The students eagerly took my challenge, and I asked them to report back after the week to see how the challenge went. I told them I predicted they would find it awkward at first, but after the ice-breaking period, they would become increasingly confident, along with creating a positive environment within their school.

I found out later that the students fully embraced my challenge and took just a few extra minutes a day to talk with a fellow classmate or a teacher. They witnessed the power of the 5 percent rule. I found it funny when the principal of the school reached out to me again and explained that I caused a bit of a dilemma. The many huddles in between class switches led to late starts each class period! When people in an organization—or in a middle school—do the little things, the gains are immense! These kids proved that by their small individual effort. Everyone has the power to have a huge influence within our organization every day.

It's not always easy to motivate employees and teammates to improve 5 percent each week, but that is where great leaders can share the importance of doing small things to benefit the group. Leaders need to get to know their people and find small ways to push each one, no matter how small, to greatness.

Focus on Small Efforts for Long-Term Success

As with the story about the middle school kids, one thing that happens by practicing the 5 percent rule is the addictive factor that becomes contagious. Remember my discussion about the handshake? When one middle schooler decided to invest in better communication because of the challenge, others followed. One person's attitude can be highly contagious, especially when it is positive and produces positive results. More people within the organization want the same results, and decide to copy what seems to work for others. If you, as the leader, principal, boss, or coach, can motivate your group to strive to be 5 percent better, it undoubtably leads the program, not just the team, to long-term success.

But there can be snags. After a period of time when everyone is engaged in the 5 percent rule and gains are made, what's next? How do you find the next way to be 5 percent better? There are only so many extra hours you can put into the workday. You can only volunteer for extra training for so long.

This is where great leaders will constantly find ways to challenge the group to do small tasks that have positive outcomes. The challenges a leader sets can be outside the employees' comfort zone or even not part of their job description. Yet finding small things for the individual to become 5 percent better at will grow the organization on a consistent basis.

Don't neglect to do the little, simple things.

Be great at the things that really should not take a huge effort. Walk into your place of employment each morning and survey the scene, noticing whether the place looks “recruit ready.” Can I, as an employee, help the image of our company? Do I leave my desk a mess or can I take an extra few minutes to tidy it up at the end of each day? Can I have a quick conversation with a fellow employee, one I might not know very well, in order to build a better relationship? There are little things that we all can do; we just have to put forth that 5 percent extra effort.

Be Great at Little Things

There is little doubt that developing and sustaining the ability to lead takes effort and energy each and every day. What separates the good leaders from the great ones is when you can still bring leadership traits to your group even when things do not go your way. You have to possess the ability to grind through the muck, because setbacks and failures are inevitable.

Each person must set examples of being a little better each day, especially at the little things.

Find ways to have a quality routine when things are not going well, along with navigating your organization to improve on things when success does happen. The 5 percent rule allows two important factors to happen. First, it gives everyone a plan to work at the simple traits you and your team value, so when the you-know-what hits the fan, you can refocus. Second, when your group is on top and it seems like nothing can go wrong, it grounds your team a bit, and keeps them focused on the idea that success happened because they took care of the little things.

So, to be a great leader, look at doing 5 percent more each week. Your people will follow, allowing the contagious effect to set in. Great leaders, along with great programs, will be 5 percent better when it goes south or when they are on top of the food chain. They find it easy to be consistent though thick and thin. And we all know that organizations will be on both ends of the success-and-failure spectrum time and time again. The best approach to tip the chart to the positive side for sustainable periods of time is to instill the 5 percent rule.