Unbreakable Teams

Stop focusing on results if you want to build a great team. Focus on building trust and the results will take care of themselves. Time for a BIG talk.

Carlo Odicino

CEO at One TEAM Partners

March 13, 2024

Unbreakable Teams

When people think about great teams, the focus is almost always on the results they achieved.

And yet, when I reflect on the best teams I've been part of, it's not the results that immediately come to mind. In fact, sometimes I can't remember the actual results but there are things I do remember.

• I remember how it felt to be part of the team.
• I remember the constant learning and growing.
• I remember the challenges we faced and overcame.
• I remember the fun and laughing until my sides hurt.

The teams felt unbreakable and, yes, we also accomplished great things.

As I reflect on these experiences and what made these teams unbreakable I keep coming back to three essential elements.

Trust. Commitment. A drive towards excellence. In that order.

Trust building over results

In the relentless drive for companies to deliver results, one fundamental element often gets neglected: trust.

Great organizations are not merely a collection of talented individuals who happen to accomplish something remarkable. They are a dynamic web of human relationships. Without trust, this web tangles, and the best of each individual is diminished.

Imagine a team where every member, from the newbie to the veteran leader, feels an unwavering sense of trust in their colleagues and the environment they operate within.

It's a climate that transforms an organization to new heights.

Common missteps in trust building

Too often, organizations misconstrue trust as a commodity rather than the bedrock of their teams. Superficial team-building sessions or hasty token rewards are peddled as trust-builders, yet they barely scratch the surface.

Superficial Approaches to Trust

Picture the clichéd trust fall or the periodic team outings that are meant to knit the group closer. These are flimsy facades, failed attempts at fostering true trust. Trust is not a gimmick, it's a daily practice, an ongoing dialogue that is incorporated into the very fabric of the work environment.

Undermining Trust

Furthermore, there's a nuanced art to trust-building that is often marred by inadvertent actions. Opaque decision-making processes, secretive information sharing, and a lack of unified company values, vision, and mission violate the trust that must be the foundation on which the organization is built.

The path to unbreakable teams

With trust set as the foundation, commitment starts to appear and that is when magic starts to happen. A trusting team can then be fully committed to the cause. And this commitment comes in many forms. Here are key signs you have a highly committed team.

Transparency

Transparency, especially when it's uncomfortable, demonstrates commitment to learning and reinforces trust. It builds a narrative of honesty and openness. Gone are the dark corners where suspicions breed; instead, teams bask in the clarity of purpose and direction.

Genuine relationships

Beyond professional camaraderie, unbreakable teams recognize the human behind the role. Personal connections and a genuine interest in team members' well-being go a long way in cultivating trust. When a team member is seen, heard, and valued, their commitment to the collective cause is unwavering.

Aligned goals

When a team is aligned towards a common vision, goals and their pursuit are no longer solitary endeavors. Instead they are collaborative experiences, reinforcing the team's unity, commitment, and trust.

Delivering results

I have seen the ruins of teams that couldn't withstand the storm of challenges. But amid these disaster zones, there stood edifices unscathed, shining examples that can be emulated.

In my experience, the most exceptional results were not born of pressure or promises of perks. They flourished from the environment of trust and commitment, where each team member was empowered to be themselves and contribute without constraints.

When trust is the foundation, you generate commitment, which leads to exceptional results and the cycle keeps reinforcing itself. Results aren't the end destination, they are simply outward signs of what's been built - an Unbreakable Team.

-Carlo