Developing a Winning Team

In this series of articles, we explore 8 Key Leadership Skills that the best leaders I’ve had the pleasure of working with (or for) have demonstrated:

1.??Highly effective communication

2.??Ability to inspire and motivate others

3.??Effective at leading change

4.??Prioritise developing, coaching and mentoring others

5.??Set clear goals and expectations

6.??Empower their workforce, including effective delegation

7.??Develop a winning team

8.??Able to make hard decisions

In this article, we will focus on the seventh skill, “Developing a Winning Team”.?Now, you may find it a little strange that I used the term “winning” but with a background in sport, I have often resorted to my sporting experiences when thinking about leadership and successful teams.?These learnings and observations have influenced my approach to leadership during my professional career and I think they translate really well.?Essentially, one of a leader’s key goals should be to develop a high performing or successful team.

If you’ve been involved in sport yourself, or perhaps been an avid supporter, you may have made some of the following observations of a successful team:

• The team contains members who demonstrate strong leadership - people who lead by example and to whom team members look up to and respect
• There are high levels of trust within the team
• There is great communication between team members as though they are all “in-sync” with one another
• The team as a whole is highly focused on goals and results
• Everyone contributes
• Team members are supportive of one another
• The team is highly organised with everyone understanding their role
• The team enjoys what they do and has a lot of fun along the way

Sounds pretty good right??I think most people would like to be a part of a team with those attributes.?In many ways, what we will discuss in the following paragraphs is a culmination of a number of the skills we have discussed in the first six articles.?The five steps below are based on the concepts by Patrick Lencioni in his book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team – it’s a model that I really like and is relatively simple to remember.

Step 1: Develop trust and respect

The development of trust is a critical step in developing a high-performing or winning team.?Trust in this environment is the confidence of team members that those around them have good intentions and that it is a safe environment in which they can be themselves.?Some signs that there is a healthy level of trust within a team include:

• Willingness of team members to admit mistakes and acknowledge weaknesses
• Team members seek help from one another and leverage off each other’s skills and experiences
• Feedback, questions and input is welcomed from one team member to another
• People give each other the benefit of the doubt and don’t immediately think the worst
• Time and energy are generally spent on working important issues and not dwelling on interpersonal or office politics
• People look forward to working as a team and participating in group activities or meetings

So how do we build trust within a team??If you go back through the first six skills we discussed, there are some common themes that arise.?Firstly, communication is essential.?Be authentic and transparent in your communications with the team.?Talk openly with your team about the company’s visions or goals, any opportunities, as well as challenges.?Make sure your team members know where they fit into the bigger picture and what role they can play to contribute towards success.?Be sure to demonstrate vulnerability where appropriate – this is not to say that the leader puts on some sort of act but rather it needs to be genuine.?In so doing, this will encourage others to be vulnerable also.?Listen empathetically and create a space where people feel safe being themselves – this is the key to truly open and honest communication.?Empowerment of your team is also important - let your team feel like they are making a significant contribution by providing them with meaningful work and responsibilities. ?Provide them with more responsibility by communicating the “what” and the “why” and let them figure out the “how”.?Have your team members co-create goals and expectations wherever possible.?Finally, you can consider conducting team activities or exercises that encourage members to work together in an environment where everyone can learn and have fun at the same time.

Step 2: Create mutual understanding and alignment

The key to mutual understanding and alignment is encouraging “healthy conflict”.?Healthy conflict is the ability and willingness for team members to express their thoughts without being judged or receiving an adverse reaction from others just because they have a different point-of-view.?The types of discussions we are talking about here are constructive i.e., related to concepts and ideas.?It's not destructive fighting, nor is it gossiping or discussing office politics.?Healthy conflict is a way of discussing and resolving issues more completely and efficiently.?This is not possible without first developing trust within the team.?Some signs that there is mutual understanding and alignment within a team include:

• Meetings are lively and interesting and team members are engaged
• Input is sought from all team members
• Problems are identified, discussed and resolved quickly
• Office or interpersonal politics rarely surface in group discussions
• The issues tabled in a meeting are typically significant or critical i.e., the team is not just tiptoeing around the edges

As we said earlier, developing trust within the team is critical to promoting healthy conflict.?As a leader, its important that you not only encourage these types of conversations but that you also allow them to unfold and not try to stop any debate too early (unless it is no longer constructive).?Of course, the leader must also lead by example and demonstrate a willingness to enter healthy conflict themselves.?Problems and issues must be confronted promptly and where possible, ensure that all team members have the opportunity to provide input.?

Step 3: Establish commitment

Once you’ve established an environment where the team can participate in healthy conflict, you can start to develop commitment and buy-in. A winning team is able make quick decisions that have buy-in from the whole team, even those who may not have originally supported a particular direction.?Patrick Lencioni talks about the two greatest causes of the lack of commitment being a desire for consensus and a need for certainty.?In terms of consensus, it's often not possible to get everyone happy with a decision but the most important thing is to make sure that everyone feels like their perspective has been heard.?When it comes to a team wanting certainty, it often means that decisions are either not made or take an extremely long time.?Not making a decision is often making a decision i.e., foregoing a potential windfall because you weren’t able to make a decision and respond quickly enough, missing the window of opportunity.?Some signs that there are high levels of commitment within a team include:

• The team has clarity around its objectives, priorities and directions
• The team is able to learn from mistakes
• Decisions are made quickly enabling the team to make the most of opportunities prior to competitors
• The team moves forward with purpose and without hesitation
• Team members are highly engaged during meetings or team activities

As a leader, we can encourage commitment and buy-in by setting clear goals and expectations.?As discussed in earlier articles, find opportunities to co-create goals and expectations with team members – when the team feels like they have contributed to a particular direction, the likelihood of buy-in and commitment is high.?Review key decisions at the end of a meeting to ensure that all team members are aligned – often this process will flush out whether people aren’t aligned and provide an opportunity to close any gaps in understanding.?Ensure that any deadlines or targets are clearly communicated and understood and make sure that all actions have an owner.?Just as important is to follow through and honour dates to demonstrate that you, as a leader, are also committed.?Its important to note that if you are leading an executive or leadership team, a lack of commitment at that level will often filter down through the rest of the organisation – conversely, clearly demonstrated commitment from a leadership team can have a hugely positive impact.

Step 4: Drive accountability

Once you have established clear goals, expectations and/or decisions to which your whole team is committed, you can start to hold each other accountable.?Accountability is the willingness of team members to call out one another on any behaviours or performances that might be detrimental to the team.?Again, returning to the sporting analogy, a winning team is made up of people who will go to almost any extent to avoid letting down their team-mates.?This is just as true in a work environment.?Some signs that there are high levels of accountability within a team include:

• Potential problems are identified quickly by calling out one another’s approaches without hesitation
• Team members have a high level of respect for each other, and everyone holds one another to the same high standards
• Performance management and corrective actions are taken quickly without excessive bureaucracy
• Everyone shares responsibility for outcomes and the success of the team.?There is a distinct lack of excuses when things don’t quite work out

Leaders must ensure that the same standards apply to everyone within their team.?Poor performers must be confronted in a timely manner and managed appropriately.?Ensure the team has clearly defined goals and provide regular and transparent updates on progress.?Create an environment where the team can learn from mistakes or initiatives that didn’t quite go to plan.?Be sure to recognise and celebrate success but think about how you can reward the overall team as opposed to recognition of individual performances.?This encourages team members to hold each other accountable as they are unlikely to sit quietly when someone is not pulling their weight.

Step 5: Pay attention to results

This brings us to the final step where a winning team is focused on the collective results of the team.?Once you can get your team to this level, you are likely to see extraordinary performance on a recurring basis and the team will be highly motivated.?When it comes to defining “winning”, it's not limited to financial measures such as profit or revenue. It can be any number of goals that a team wants or needs to achieve over a given timeframe.?Some signs that there is a high level of focus on results within a team include:

• Team members put the goals and objectives of the team before their own
• The team is highly focused, and distractions are minimised
• Achievement-oriented employees are retained - people want to be a part of a winning team
• No individual is bigger than the team
• Members enjoy supporting and being a part of the team

As a leader, it is critical to lead by example and set the required focus on results.?As an athlete, one of the greatest tips when it comes to goal setting is to let others know what you intend to achieve (in a humble and respectful way of course).?This serves to further your commitment towards those goals because it is now more than just you holding yourself accountable.?The same is true of teams that are willing to openly commit to goals.?When it comes to rewards and recognition, reserve them for truly meaningful contributions and accomplishments.?

None of the above steps are easy or quick fixes – if they were, every team would be successful.?In my opinion, one of the keys to leadership is being authentic and leading by example – this is a great first step towards developing a winning team.?Remember, leading a team is a position of privilege and you are there to “serve” your team…not the other way around.?As Henry Ford once said, “Coming together is a beginning.?Keeping together is progress.?Working together is success”.