Christian Whamond Leadership learnings

Members of a team must have mutually beneficial shared goals

3/5/2013

In a culture that sings the praises of individual gold medals and where a person fights for rights instead of focusing on responsibility, people tend to lose sight of the big picture. In fact, some people seem to believe that they are the entire picture: Everything revolves around their own needs, goals, and desires. I once saw this message on a T-shirt that expresses the attitude well: "My idea of a team is a whole lot of people doing what I tell them to do."

A team isn't supposed to be a bunch of people being used as a tool by one individual for their own selfish gain. Members of a team must have mutually beneficial shared goals. They must be motivated to work together, not manipulated by someone for individual glory. Anyone who is accustomed to pulling together people and using them to benefit only himself isn't a team builder; he's a dictator.

Show the team that you are willing to make sacrifices for the team

19/9/2012

If a team doesn't reach its potential, ability is seldom the issue. It's rarely a matter of resources. It's almost always a payment issue. The team fails to reach its potential when it fails to pay the price. If you lead a team, one of the difficult things you must do is convince your teammates to sacrifice for the good of the group. The more talented the team members, the more difficult it may be to convince them to put the team first.

Begin by modeling sacrifice. Show the team that you are willing to . . .

•Make financial sacrifices for the team.
•Keep growing for the sake of the team.
•Empower others for the sake of the team.
•Make difficult decisions for the sake of the team.

Once you have modeled a willingness to pay your own price for the potential of the team, you have the credibility to ask others to do the same. Then when you recognize sacrifices that teammates must make for the team, show them why and how to do it. Then praise their sacrifices greatly to their teammates.

Teams that bond, build!

30/7/2012

Teams that don’t bond, can’t build. Why? Because they never become a cohesive unit. Why do wounded soldiers strive to rejoin their buddies on the battlefield? Because after you work and live with people, you soon realize that your survival depends on one another.

For a team to be successful, the teammates have to know that they will look out for one another. When a team member cares about no one but himself, the whole team suffers. I have found that one of the best ways to get members of a team to care about one another is to get them together outside of a work context in order to build relationships.

Plan retreats and other events that put people together in social settings. And during these times, make sure that they spend part of their time with staff members they don’t really know very well. That way they’re not only building relationships, but they’re being prevented from developing cliques.

Here are six common attitudes that ruin a team:

15/5/2012

People always project on the outside how they feel on the inside. Have you ever interacted with someone for the first time and suspected that their attitude was poor, yet you were unable to put your finger on exactly what was wrong? Here are six common attitudes that ruin a team:

1. An inability to admit wrongdoing
2. Failing to forgive
3. Petty jealousy
4. The disease of me
5. A critical spirit
6. A desire to hog all the credit

Certainly this isn't every bad attitude-just the most common ones. Simply put, most bad attitudes are the result of selfishness. If one of your teammates puts others down, sabotages teamwork, or makes themselves out to be more important than the team, then you can be sure that you've encountered someone with a bad attitude.

Never forget that every person's role is contributing to the bigger picture

14/5/2012

People who build successful teams never forget that every person's role is contributing to the bigger picture. One of the best examples of this involves Winston Churchill. During World War II when Britain was experiencing its darkest days, the country had a difficult time keeping men working in the coal mines. Many wanted to give up their dirty, thankless jobs in the dangerous mines to join the military service, which got much public praise and support. Yet without coal, the military and the people at home would be in trouble.

So Churchill faced thousands of coal miners one day and passionately told them of their importance to the war effort, how their role could make or break the goal of maintaining England's freedom. It's said that tears appeared in the eyes of those hardened men. And they returned to their unglamorous work with steely resolve. That's the kind of mindset it takes to build a team.

Team members always love and admire a person who is able to help them go to another level

11/5/2012

Team members always love and admire a person who is able to help them go to another level, someone who enlarges them and empowers them to be successful.

Players who enlarge their teammates have several things in common.
1. Enlargers value their teammates: People's performances usually reflect the expectations of those they respect.
2. Enlargers know and relate to what their teammates value: Players who enlarge others understand what their teammates value. That kind of knowledge, along with a desire to relate to their fellow players, creates a strong connection between teammates.
3. Enlargers add value to their teammates: An enlarger looks for the gifts, talents, and uniqueness in other people, and then helps them to increase those abilities for their benefit and for that of the entire team.
4. Enlargers make themselves more valuable: You cannot give what you do not have. If you want to increase the ability of a teammate, make yourself better.

"My idea of a team is a whole lot of people doing what I tell them to do."

29/4/2012

In a culture that sings the praises of individual gold medals and where a person fights for rights instead of focusing on responsibility, people tend to lose sight of the big picture. In fact, some people seem to believe that they are the entire picture: Everything revolves around their own needs, goals, and desires. I once saw this message on a T-shirt that expresses the attitude well: "My idea of a team is a whole lot of people doing what I tell them to do."

A team isn't supposed to be a bunch of people being used as a tool by one individual for their own selfish gain. Members of a team must have mutually beneficial shared goals. They must be motivated to work together, not manipulated by someone for individual glory. Anyone who is accustomed to pulling together people and using them to benefit only himself/herself isn't a team builder; they are a dictator, they boss people about.

Team

28/4/2012

I have never known a perfect team that consisted of perfect people. Perfect teams are diverse teams and each comes with people who are weak in some areas and strong in others.

trust in one another

14/4/2012

If your team members believe in the goals of the team and begin to develop genuine trust in one another, they will be in a position to demonstrate true teamwork. Notice that I mention the team members will be in a position to demonstrate true teamwork. That does not necessarily mean that they will do it.

For there to be teamwork, several things must happen. First, team members must genuinely believe that the value of the team's success is greater than the value of their own individual interests. Second, personal sacrifice must be encouraged and then rewarded-by the team leader and the other members of the team. As this happens, the people will identify themselves more and more with the team, and they will recognize that individualism wins trophies, but teamwork wins pennants.

Give your people room to actively participate in the organization's success

10/1/2012

Leaders who insist on making all the decisions often find themselves with disengaged employees. If people aren't taking charge in your organization, your leadership style might be the problem.

If you have an overly directive approach, take a step back. Acknowledge your failings with your team. Share your personal and organizational goals. Then, admit that you don't have all the answers and you need your team's help in reaching those goals. This will give your people room to actively participate in the organization's success. This act of humility is often seen as courageous and inspires others to follow suit.

Steps to effective team

24/11/2010

Recruit team members.

In effective teams, members possess the talent, knowledge, and experience needed to get the job done. If a particular competency is missing among the members, or if one or more individuals have weaknesses that could threaten the team's performance, recruit for the missing competencies or identify ways to strengthen those weaknesses.

Define a clear, common goal.

Members of a successful team can articulate a clear, shared purpose—in a concise way. Test for a clear, common goal with the elevator speech test. Take each team member aside and ask: "If you were traveling by elevator with our chief executive officer and she asked you what your team was working on, what would you say?

Define metrics for the goal.

Help your team specify its goal in terms of performance metrics. A good performance metric expresses how team members will know if they have achieved the team's goal and the time frame in which each objective will be achieved.

Also consider setting up performance metrics for interim milestones that team members can strive to achieve on their way to the larger objective.

Foster commitment to success.

In successful teams, members are committed to the goal. They feel motivated to do the necessary work and forge ahead even when the going gets tough. How can you tell if the members of your team are committed to the goal? They use language emphasising the communal effort, such as, "We are making good progress, but each of us needs to pick up the pace" or "Where do we stand with respect to our schedule?"

Commitment to a shared goal occurs more easily in small teams. Some team experts, therefore, recommend that teams have no more than ten members—and even fewer if the members demonstrate all the required competencies.

You can also enhance commitment through rewards. If team members understand that promotions, bonuses, or other rewards will come with their success in achieving the team goal, their commitment will intensify.

Ensure all members contribute and benefitFor a team to succeed, all its members—including the leader—must contribute to and support the goal. Team members who simply show up at meetings to render their opinions but do no substantive work impair team performance and demoralise active team members.

And just as each member must contribute to the team effort, each must also receive clear benefits. These may include:

The emotional or psychological satisfaction of doing interesting, stimulating, and meaningful work
A learning experience that will pay future career dividends
A bonus or pay raise
A title change through a promotion
Public recognition and credit that will position the team member for more interesting and rewarding work in the future

Cultivate a supportive environment.

All teams depend on larger groups, departments, divisions, and their entire organisation for resources, information, and assistance. If these surrounding entities are supportive, the team stands a better chance of success. If they're indifferent or hostile to the team and its goals, team effectiveness may suffer.

Here's how to create a supportive environment for your team:

Provide team protection: Protect your team from powerful managers and departments that, for whatever reason, don't back the team's effort.
Maintain a nonhierarchical structure: Resist any urge to force your team members to conform to a rigid hierarchical structure. They'll be more willing to share information and collaborate across the company and will also feel a greater sense of empowerment if they are not constrained by stiff reporting structures.
Encourage experience with team-based work: Facilitate team-based work whenever possible in your organisation Experience with such work generates insights into what works, how best to organise around a goal, and how to collaborate. Suggest that your company also provide training on team skills, such as listening, communicating with different kinds of people, and staying focused on common objectives.

Align behaviour through rewardsIn an aligned organisation everyone understands the enterprise's objectives and how his or her own operating unit or team supports that high-level objective. Everyone works in the same direction, toward the same end.

In an aligned team, the team goals support the organisation's goals, and each member's goals align—through the team—with those high-level objectives. Equally important, rewards support this alignment.

Compensation of the team leader and individual members should likewise be influenced by team outcomes.

The benefits of a Team

24/10/2010

When teams work well, they generate valuable benefits for their companies. These include:

Creative solutions to problems
Improved communication and collaboration throughout the enterprise
A motivating, collegial work environment
Enhanced organizational performance
Effective sharing of information across the company

But teams have costs as well. For example:

Setting up a team with the right components of leadership, resources, and personnel takes time and requires care and skill.
Team effort and collaboration demand continual tending.
There's a risk that team members won't join together around a common goal, or that personal differences or self-interest will undermine the collaboration needed for success.

Clearly, a team venture is always—to some extent—an experiment; success is not preordained.

Trust within a team

20/6/2010

Team members must start to trust one another and become comfortable engaging in open and passionate debate around important issues. Team members must open themselves up to each other and admit their weaknesses and mistakes. They must be willing to hold each other accountable. Never allow team members to put their individual needs for career development and recognition before the collective goals of the organization.