The Necessity & Power of Teams

In order to be successful in life, both professionally and personally, you must constantly coordinate action with others to produce a different future environment.

A team exists whenever multiple people coordinate action to produce a similar desired end state.

Becoming an expert at identifying, joining, performing, building, and eventually, leading teams is a fundamental set of skills required for success.

The power of teams comes down to three roles...

(1) Leading

(2) Managing

(3) Following

Regardless of the time, situation, or domain, every team (large – 100s or small – 2) must have someone acting as a leader, a follower, and a manager.

The strength and power of a team will always come down to the ability to work within and between these three roles.

So, what makes the difference between a Leader and a Follower?

Time and Situation.

You may never take the lead at work, but as soon as you get home, you lead your family. You may be the newest employee with no positional authority, but you come up with the idea that changes everything.

The person with the most effective distinctions, choices, and actions will lead, while others naturally follow.

That means that Leadership is not a trait, it is represented by effective actions.

This understanding differentiates the SEAL Empowered Leadership model from all other leadership models.

Leadership is not a trait, it is represented by effective actions.

Therefore, we are all Lead-Followers and are in the practice of Lead-Following. Lead-Following is that dance between taking the lead and following others.

The last leg in the trifecta of Lead and Follow is Manage.

You become a manager by having Positional Authority.

Positional Authority comes with a title.

These titles vary from the official standpoint, such as CEO, Department Head, Superintendent, Lawyer to the unofficial such as Father, Wife, or Friend – all that still carry the same management responsibilities as official titles.

Now that the three roles of Leader, Manager, and Follower have been established, the next step is to design the most effective interaction between these roles.

SEALs have found that the best and most effective managers do NO leading.

They manage and they follow.

As a manager, you have an obligation to manage, but it is a choice to lead.

The most effective managers create an environment that enables and supports those who lead…

…THEN they follow their leaders.

Here’s a scenario that might resonate with you.

When you have been given a task, you have solid control of said task, and you do not ask for help, BUT your manager is hovering over you giving you detailed directions (usually wrong), what do you call that type of manager?

…all together now…

Micro-manager

You don’t like Micro-managers, do you?

That brings us to the culmination of this lesson, the functional definitions of Lead, Manage, and Follow that we will be building on for the rest of this course. Leaders create the environment that enables Followers to make the right choices. Managers create the environment that supports Lead-Followers in making the right choices.

This brings us to the most important part of this trifecta, and usually the most under-represented…

Followers.

Without Followers, nothing can be accomplished.

Followers make the choices that create the Desired End State.

Leadership is not a trait; it is represented by actions.

And... high-functioning teams pivot between the roles of Leader, Manager, and Follower as effortlessly as the time and situation dictate.

Do your teams pivot effortlessly?