The 4 Critical Elements for a Great Team Leader

While researching a book called Leading Teams with a colleague, we discovered that successful teams require a team leader with 4 critical behavioral elements: A great team leader establishes trust, treats people well, creates a safe and supportive culture, and executes a clear strategy. Also, breakthrough team research at Harvard by Richard Hackman and Ruth Wageman determined that teams themselves required 3 essential conditions (a real team, the right people, and a compelling purpose) and 3 enabling conditions (structure, support, and coaching) to have any more than a 21% chance of success. Rooted firmly in and amplified by Hackman and Wegman’s research are the 4 critical elements of a great team leader.

#1 Critical Element: Establish Trust

First, we need leaders. No leader, no team. Teams don’t magically form or stay together without leadership. Groups can be mandated, but that doesn’t make them work like interdependent teams. Groups are gatherings of people who resemble kids in parallel play—each doing their own thing and only thinly connected. However, such groups are neither aligned nor take advantage of the team’s diversity or experience. It takes a great leader to turn groups into a high-performing team. Worth noting here, we are not talking about a hero-leader. Reliance on hero leaders, who ride in on a white horse to save the day, never ends well. In fact, such leaders may give an immediate boost to the team; however, when they leave or get worn out, they leave a crater difficult, if not impossible, to fill.

And at the very essence of real, lasting leadership is trust. Without trust, a leader only possesses positional authority—one is a leader in name only. We’ve all seen this kind of positional leadership in action. People on teams led by such positional leaders only do what’s required and never reach within to their true selves. At best, untrusted leaders craft groups that only make incremental micro-progress—if any at all.

However, if you want team members who are “all-in” all the time, you need personal leadership—trust that comes from three places based on research: Character, competence, and compassion (as described in one of our previous books, The Trusted Leader). Let’s examine these three trusted leader traits. First, the character sits at the base of the “trust triangle” because it’s fundamental—basic. If there is no respect for a leader’s character, then the leadership engagement is doomed.

· Character: The basic elements include candor—honesty with self and others is fundamental to leaders; communication—trusted leaders speak, write, and listen well; and, have commitment to their teams and the organization. Trusted leaders have integrity and are consistent. They show up, day after day, in the same dependable way. Finally, courage marks a trusted leader—the ability to speak truth to power when necessary.

· Competence: People will follow a leader who has both personal and professional capacity—knowledge and experience. Great leaders know themselves—and have self-awareness. They know others—understand and respect differences. They know their profession—competent lawyers and doctors lead successful law firms and medical practices. They know how to learn, adapt, and survive in their professions. They also know how to teach, coach, and mentor others.

· Compassion: Finally, trusted leaders are compassionate. They are compassionate with themselves—self-compassion. They’re compassionate with others, not just feeling other’s emotions but engaging with them. They’re also compassionate with their companies, their communities, and their country. They care and do something about them all. They help, volunteer, and are the lifeblood of the community.

However, leaders cannot go it alone; they need partners—people, followers. And leaders who treat people well, provide the oxygen to allow a thriving team.

Tune in the following Monday for Critical Element #2: Treating People Well.

#leadership #leader

Steve Gladis Leadership Partners

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