Who's More Important: Your Team or Your Customers?
they’re actually two sides of the same coin
Photo by Samar Ahmad on Unsplash
With a slight build and common attire, the figure walking into the city wouldn’t register among the other people going about their business inside the castle walls.
The figure turns out to be Merlin. We’ve followed him into Camelot in the first episode of the BBC series that bears his name.
Seeped in Arthurian lore, the twist lies in telling the story from Merlin's perspective (as the name of the show might suggest).
The show wastes no time revealing Merlin’s unique capabilities. For those of you playing for the home team, Merlin has magic — great magic unlike any seen before.
We also meet Arthur in the first episode. Blond, broad-shouldered, and clad in chain mail, we find him knocking a servant about while practicing his fighting skills.
But the show doesn't focus on his abilities in the first episode; it features his need.
In addition to needing a major attitude adjustment, he also needs protection. When Merlin arrives, he walks through the gates and into an execution, after which a witch (say that five times fast) threatens Arthur's life.
And by the end of the episode, we watch her get within a few chain mail of taking it.
Merlin's magical abilities allow him — and only him — to be in a position to evade the witch's spell and move Arthur out of the way just before the knife blade strikes his chest.
After saving his life, Merlin then takes on the role of Arthur's primary servant.
Your company — and by definition, your team members — are Merlin. Your unique capabilities are perfectly paired to deliver the person you serve the value they need.
It takes both of you working together to run and grow a thriving business and ultimately achieve the world depicted in your vision.
Or as the dragon chained under Camelot tells Merlin, "You're like two sides of the same coin. You are one side, and Arthur is the other. Without him, you cannot hope to succeed."
As a business, you must deliver value effectively to the people you serve. If you don’t, they will fade away, and you won’t have a business anymore.
But you can’t deliver that value without your team. You must support and enable them to do what they do — and to do it better than anyone else.
That requires you to deliver value to them too — first and foremost by compensating them for the time they invest in their work.
Value also takes other forms, like growth opportunities, resources, flexibility, respect for their time, and recognizing their contributions as critical to your success.
And remember, you deliver value to both sides by bringing them together around a common purpose that’s greater than themselves.