Leadership for team building

Just as generals have to get the best from their troops, so business leaders must make the most of their teams. The key is ensuring that individuals work together to achieve a common goal.

How it works

From statesmen such as former British prime minster Winston Churchill to former General Electric CEO Jack Welch, great leaders know that to achieve a long-term goal, they must not only use their own capabilities but also maximize the combined strength of other people.They have a passion that sweeps people along with them; they learn from mistakes and are prepared to alter their course to meet changing circumstances. Much academic work has been done to study the traits and strategies of such leaders.

BUILDING AN EFFECTIVE TEAM

In their book The Wisdom of Teams (1993), Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith make a distinction between teams and ordinary groups of people who work together. They define a team as “a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.” They found that leaders who manage to build successful teams tend to:

• ❯ Select members for skill and potential, not personality.
• ❯ Focus on a few immediate tasks and goals at the beginning, to help the team to bond.
• ❯ Set boundaries and behavioral norms.
• ❯ Stimulate the team regularly with new information, encouraging open discussions and active problem-solving.
• ❯ Ensure that the team spends lots of time together, both in and outside of work

“Don’t find fault – find a
remedy”

Henry Ford,
American industrialist

How leaders inspire their teams

Focusing on goal

• ❯ Defines goal in clear and inspirational way❯ Helps each team member see how they contribute to goal
• ❯ Does not play politics

Encouraging collaboration

• ❯ Allows open discussions
• ❯ Demands and rewards collaboration
• ❯ Involves and engages people

Building confidence

• ❯ Accentuates the positive
• ❯ Shows trust by assigning responsibility
• ❯ Says “thank you”

Providing know-how

• ❯ Knows own area
• ❯ Gets expert help for other areas
• ❯ Shares context with team

Setting priorities

• ❯ Demonstrates focus; avoids ambiguity
• ❯ Is clear about what must and must not happen
• ❯ Is prepared to change course if priorities switch

Managing performance

• ❯ Sets clear objectives
• ❯ Gives constructive feedback; confronts and resolves performance issues
• ❯ Aligns incentives with team goals

“Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower