Teambuilding
My executive clients each want to lead great teams and be remembered as a Vince Lombardi or Phil Jackson. They want to be winners with great and grateful followers and admirers. And it is natural for them to seek assistance in this very important aspect of their executive role, that interestingly enough cannot be delegated. Teambuilding is an arena that almost required a 3rd party.
My colleagues report the same flaw in the request they receive. They seek the help without giving thought to the pre-requisite question; what game am I playing? If I am in the track and field business, my team and the actions to make it great are very different than if I am in the basketball or baseball or football business. A great tennis team is led and managed somewhat differently than a great golf team and extremely differently than a great soccer team or rugby team. And yet the assumption is that teambuilding is teambuilding.
The need to be supportive rather than collaborative is often needed more in today’s international matrixes than is the case in a local, one location business where everyone is and can be focused on the same goals with visibility and daily accountability. If you find yourself in the corporate office of a multinational company but once ran the Cleveland office of the same company your game has changed, whether you know it or not. Therefore the type of team you need to develop is different.
It is just common sense that teams are not developed to excellence using the same tools and it is independent of the abilities or background of the leader and coach. To a great degree dictated by the game you are playing. Attempting to develop and coach a track team the very same way you do a basketball team is a mistake. Having the 100 yard dasher work closely with the shot-putter is a complete waste of time and may even hurt the development of individual skills. In the same vain, not having the starting 5 spend numerous hours’ together means sloppiness as they work individually to perform a dance that can only be accomplished by practice at working together. “No look” passes don’t just happen, but are the result of the trust stemming from hard work at being able to anticipate your teammate’s actions.
The question of what to do with the “Super Star” who is not a team player (one of the most famous examples was Dennis Rodman whose rebounding unquestionably helped the Chicago Bulls win an NBA Championship, but led to such teammate revulsion that broke the team up so badly it has taken 15 years for them to even come close) is a tough problem faced at some time by every leader. While there is room for superior performers, there is no room on a business team for someone who drives others away or puts their ego needs before the greater good. And dealing with that value based issue separates great leaders from the pack. This is particularly tricky as the world is likely to make the Super Star the hero, and so he or she is the one most likely to fall into the ego trap.
However that does not mean there are no similarities. Role clarity, a clear definition of winning, pride in being on the team, respect for the others’ contributions, recognition of their successes and the stimulation to always do one’s best and give ones all, are all leader driven qualities that are common to all winning teams. In addition, humility, giving others credit and sharing the limelight are also traits of great teams that last more than one season. Above all the ability to develop the potential of each team member and inspire them to have a self confidence that they will prevail against the odds in their individual assignments is essential. When this occurs the team will reach its “clear and elevating goal” and when teams win they become proud and unified as a result. Losing teams in business, as in athletics are likely to splinter and bedcome demoralized.
This raises a chicken egg question, are the members proud to belong to a team because it is winning or is it winning because the members are proud to belong. As it turns out you need to inspire greatness to get to the winning in a competitive market but the team spirit that is enjoyed is a lagging indicator of the success, regardless of the game.
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