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Exceptional individual performer, or team player; which is more rewarding and which is more valuable? Most organizations talk “team” but unfortunately many primarily recognize and incentivize individual performance. Further, some organizations unwittingly go out of their way to attract and promote people who actually resist the idea of linking their performance to someone else or the “greater good.” They seek out the lone wolf with the gaudy numbers for that silver bullet fix and regrettably those gaudy results are often achieved at the expense of others and the long term health of the larger organization. It is a fact in both team sports and business that a seamlessly executing team is the best way to accomplish complex tasks and sustain long term exceptional performance. Effectively integrated teams are also central to cutting across boundaries to get things done - - truly becoming organizationally agile and successful.
So in a short-sighted world that glorifies and rewards the individual in spite of the proven negative consequences to sustained performance, how do you assure the building of effective teams? Fortunately experts like Michael Lombardo and Robert Eichinger have some ideas:
Practice #1: Have a Plan. A clearly articulated plan energizes, aligns, brings focus, encourages efficiency, and empowers. Involve team members in creating that plan and you will only enhance their energy and commitment to “The Plan”.
Practice #2: Run Interference. An effective team leader has made the effort to become a “Maze Bright” organizationally agile person and is therefore an extremely good advocate for their team. As discussed in my July 28, 2013 blog on Organizational Agility, no skill is more respected by your team. When you can go off into the wilderness of the organizational maze and consistently come back with results that benefit your team and make their professional lives easier, their loyalty to you, the team, and “The Plan” is assured.
Practice #3: Make a Concerted Effort to Communicate and Inspire. Show an interest in the work of your people, adopt a learning attitude toward mistakes, celebrate successes, have visible measures of success. Invest time in understanding each person uniquely. You don’t have to agree with them, you just have to understand them. Give them the benefit of your thinking, particularly with respect to key objectives.
Practice #4: Build a sense of joy and fun in the team. Learn to celebrate wins. Use humor and support it in others; look for opportunities to build group cohesion outside the office.
Building a “Dream Team” is not an easy task. Blending individual talents and ensuring that you are taking advantage of each person’s strengths and avoiding unreasonable exposure to each person’s weaknesses is hard. However, it is very much worth the effort. High performing teams establish an uncommon trust between the team members in which individuals value the team above their own singular objectives. Weaknesses are not considered “bad.” They simply represent opportunities to cover for each other for the good of the team and take part in achieving a shared ultimate objective. When the team is at its best, this exceptionally valuable behavior happens without any ill feeling, it just happens. In the words of John Wooden, the immortal College Basketball Coach, “The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.”
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