Individuals Play the Game, but Teams wins Championships

The greatest asset for a leader is his team. How well the team performs mostly depends on how the leader develops his squad. We all have seen great teams failing, just because of poor leadership and vice-versa we have all also seen average teams giving surprises, all thanks to their leadership team.

How well the team performs is vastly dependent on how well the leader develops and prepares his squad. In this article, we will discover some great ways to help you build a team that will perform exceedingly well in any given circumstances.

BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF TEAMWORK - The foremost thing of importance to build a high-performance team is to value and believe that nothing big in life is achieved alone. If you roll back the pages of history, you will find the evidence that every big victory or achievement has been a result of good teamwork.

"No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it."

– H.E. Luccock

Have you ever seen a group dance performance? It does not matter how well the lead dancer performs if he has not been able to synchronize his steps with fellow dancers; the entire performance looks terrible. Similar is the case with any team if you are unable to sync and get everyone together in the group, the results will always be below than what you expect.

FOUR REASONS THAT PUSH PEOPLE TO PREFER WORKING ALONE

1. Ego
2. Temperament
3. Insecurity
4. Naivete

You need to remember that as the challenge escalates, so would the need for teamwork. If you plan to climb a hill, you may be able to do it alone, but when the ask is to climb the Mt. Everest, you need to unleash the power of teamwork.

FOCUS ON THE VISION - For any team to succeed, it is of vital importance that they are focused on the big picture. The team needs to understand where the organization aims to reach and how their contribution will help the organization reach where they want to. Leaders often put the big picture aside and begin to focus on the short-term gains. It may produce quick results; however, in the long run, the team will see the after-effects.

"Seeing the bigger picture opens your eyes to what is the truth."

– Wadada Leo Smith

As a leader, we need to focus on why before what and how this will create harmony in the team. Doing so you will enable the team to take up any role as the focus would have shifted to the big picture and the desired outcome. Sports are an excellent example of such a belief. When a team runs for a championship, a great leader makes the team focus on winning the tournament, and in the process many times, players willfully play different roles, sometimes those against their instinct.

We can't develop an eye for vision overnight; it requires you to put in extra efforts below is how we may get the process started.

1. Lookup at the big picture
2. Size up the situation
3. Line up needed resources
4. Call up the right players
5. Give up personal agendas
6. Step up to a higher level

Once the team clasps the vision, they look focused, are filled with energy, and appear confident. To ensure that vision is communicated and appropriately understood ensure our vision processes

1. Clarity
2. Purpose
3. Strategy
4. Passion
5. Goals
6. Challenge

UNITE THE TEAM - Once a leader casts the vision he needs to leap forward in creating an environment that helps to unite the team. Many leaders take this for granted and feel that by just holding a townhall and spreading the vision they will have the team because they want to.

 "None of us is as smart as all of us."

-- Ken Blanchard

The process of uniting the team begins by making each of the team members embrace the strengths of others and giving them clarity on how their contribution is helping the organization grow. As a leader, you need to ensure that you are there in the front when the team makes a mistake and at the back when the team sees success.

Below are a few activities that can help unite teams

1. Team Lunch
2. Knowledge Sharing Sessions
3. Birthday Celebrations
4. Fun Indoor Games
5. Praise the Team Members for their strengths

Now that as a leader you are getting the team to unite and bond, you need to take the next step in building the team stronger. Some of us would be inclined to say that I have got the team to unite, have set the vision, and curated a belief in teamwork what else do I need to do do.

The next step deals with the Individual in the Team, Yes we all say that there is no I in the team but it's true that it's curated with a lot of I's working in harmony.

DEVELOP A RELATIONSHIP WITH EACH TEAM MEMBER - Whatever time you have invested in getting the team to come together and casting the vision will get in the vein if as a leader you are not focused in building a relationship with individuals.

We, humans, carry strong emotions who makes us feel valued. As a leader, you need to tap into that emotion and foster a relationship on a personal level. The best way to do that is by inviting each of the team members for an occasional "One-on-One" discussion.

Remember one thing, do not go too much on the performance front in this discussion rather focus on the difficulties the member may have been facing both personally or in performing his jobs. Understand his aspirations and help the member with a path to reach there.

You might find challenges in the beginning as the members will not open up about the difficulties. This is where you need to make the person believe that you are here to help them strive through all the challenges. Make him feel comfortable by discussing his strengths and how you see him adding value.

This discussion is where you will build a team that no only strive for each other but see you as a figure who is there to help them see through any challenges.

MONITOR & REVIEW - This is the stage where you monitor how the team has been progressing as a unit. Somites you have to look beyond the results and the performance. A team that is leading in numbers may not necessarily be a result of teamwork.

Take tune to analyze and see the trends in the day if you find that the team is soaring high with just a few individual soaring high it should raise an alarm and indicate that either others are not getting enough opportunities or they are not showing keen interest.

During this session as a leader, we need to ask ourselves the below questions

1. What is going well?
2. What can be improved?
3. What has changed?
4. What has the team learned?

To conclude as a leader we need to get others focused and put a value system in place. This value system should act as the fundamentals of every decision the team makes. When the teams are built on the back of a value system they would always be speaking and treating others the way the organization does.

What are some team building lessons you would like to share with others?

#leadership #management #team #teamwork #values #vision