Leading and Developing Successful Teams

I have been fortunate to have had a distinguished career with a very reputed professional services firm and also a second love in my life, which is sports. Both these have one thing in common – Leading and Developing Successful Teams. I have had an opportunity to be a part of and also lead teams and it has been an enriching experience. This topic is diverse and lots of things go into leading and developing successful teams.? My endeavor is to keep this simple and touch upon a few relevant topics.?

Being a cricketer myself and an ardent cricket fan, let me take an example of a couple of great leaders who developed very successful teams. In 15 years of the IPL, 2 teams have together won the trophy 10 times – CSK and Mumbai Indians. Two great leaders – MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma.? How were they different??

They were excellent cricketers – role models whom the team members would look up to. Both these men had a clear and measurable goal – to win the IPL. They created ‘Trust’ in the team and gave team members discretion to perform once a plan was agreed upon. They created an atmosphere of ‘Engagement’ within the team. Did these 2 teams have the best 15 players playing IPL – Clearly No. Were they the 2 best teams – By a long way.

What are the lessons learnt? A good leader should be very good in his trait – he ‘deserves’ to lead. The importance of Planning has generally been underestimated. An important differentiator of Successful teams is the importance given to meticulous planning.? Goals are set and the Results are defined. It is easier to set Goals but defining measurable and objective Results is often challenging. A major pitfall in underperforming teams? is that they do not do this well. Add to that – the Goals and the Results are not adequately communicated to all the team members. ?Research shows that 60% of team members feel that they are not well informed about their company’s goals, strategies, and tactics. This uncertainty leads to chronic stress

An integral part of leading teams is to Develop the team members too. In sports, good coaches are known for the teams they developed – Sir Alex Fergusson is regarded as one of the finest coaches in the history of football and his team Manchester United won more trophies than any other football club. What did he do different? He developed a great team.?

How do you develop teams – Easier said than done. Lots of answers but let me keep it simple and talk of 2 specific things. – Building Trust and Engagement. Let us talk about Trust. It is important to know your team well. This helps to build Trust and also identify their strengths and weaknesses. Every individual has a unique strength or quality and understanding this and leveraging this is a hallmark of successful teams. Recognizing excellence is important. Good leaders also build Trust by giving people discretion in how they do their work. Once employees have been trained, allow them, whenever possible, to manage people and execute projects in their own way. Being trusted to figure things out is a big motivator. Leaders in high-trust workplaces ask for help from colleagues instead of just telling them to do things. Asking for help is a sign of a secure leader – one who engages everyone to reach goals.??

People at high-trust companies report:?74% less stress,?106% more energy at work,?50% higher productivity,?13% fewer sick days,?76% more engagement,?29% more satisfaction with their lives,?40% less burnout.?

Lastly, Engagement with teams is very important. Good leaders recognize that it is not possible to develop and lead successful teams by sitting in their glass cabin. High engagement—defined largely as having a strong connection with one’s work and colleagues, feeling like a real contributor, and enjoying ample chances to learn—consistently leads to positive outcomes for both individuals and organizations. The rewards include higher productivity, better-quality products, and increased profitability.?

Empathy is important. Knowing more about the personal life of team members helps. Knowing without interfering. It is common to receive invitations for personal events of team members – say their engagement or marriage or achieving a milestone. I realized that treating these events as priority and attending them made so much of a difference even when it came to working together in office.

To summarize some of the ingredients of Leading and Developing Successful Teams – Be a deserving leader, Prioritize Planning, Build Trust, Recognize Excellence, give people discretion to do things their way, engage with teams and empathize.