Six Secrets of Powerful Teams: A Practical Guide to the Magic of Motivating and Influencing Teams (9 page)

High performance team leaders don’t live in an ivory tower separated from their loyal subjects. They are part of the team and know when to open up and lower their guard with their team members. They aren’t trying to project an image that they’re perfect; they are willing to show their own vulnerabilities, especially if it can help another team member. This actually helps them gain the respect of their team, much more so than trying to appear flawless.

Exhibiting vulnerabilities requires self-confidence and being able to laugh at one’s own mistakes. People who have to appear perfect often feel that way because they lack self-confidence. Yet, being willing to open up and be vulnerable can do more to make a team come together than standing aloof will.

Every team has difficulties; the question isn’t whether they’ll crop up, but how to deal with them when they do. Team leaders of high-performance teams recognize those difficulties and the problems behind them. They are willing to talk about the tough stuff, even though it’s uncomfortable to do so. Their goal is always to work through the problem, gaining victory for the team.

Some leaders try to avoid conflict. All this does is make the problem fester, like an infection. That infection will eventually cause the team to become “sick” and dysfunctional. While nobody enjoys the conflict, going through it is essential.

One of the difficult things that leaders have to do is to confront non-performing team members. There are many reasons why a team member might not be performing up to expectations, and it’s the leader’s responsibility to find out the cause and do whatever is necessary to fix it. Sometimes, that means finding another team where the team member might fit in better.

That non-performing team member can sabotage the efforts of the entire team if not addressed. They may be the type of person who causes division, or who craves the limelight, or even one who rejects any leadership. Regardless of their problem, if it’s not dealt with, it’s like a plague eating away at the team.

Communication is a two-way street. Many leaders speak first and then, if there’s time, they’ll listen. Not so for team leaders of high performance teams. They know how to listen and generally listen to their team members before speaking. Remember, leadership in a high performance team is a collaborative effort. These leaders don’t see themselves as “the boss” whom everyone is there to serve. They see themselves as facilitators, allowing their team to take its own direction.

An important part of this is listening. Everyone wants the opportunity to be heard, even the most junior member of the team. When these team leaders listen, they make the team members feel more important, as if their contributions are critical to the team.

Sometimes, it’s not enough just to listen; the team leader has to get others to listen as well. A positive environment can’t happen if team members are negative toward one another. It’s the team leader’s place to put an end to this as soon as it starts. Maybe the idea that a junior team member is putting forth won’t work and won’t be acted on, but they should be encouraged to express it nevertheless.

Questions are a valuable tool. The right sort of questions can direct somebody to look in directions they never intended, to find the answers they so desperately need. Besides using questions to direct people, team leaders use questions to keep themselves abreast of what is happening in their team.

It has been said that because we have been given two ears and only one mouth, we should listen twice as much as we talk. Listening is an art form, and
asking questions is a tool to active listening
. Yet, asking a question without listening to the answer is one of the fastest ways of showing a team that you don’t care about them. Good questions have to be followed by attentive listening.

Good leaders have to be dependable. If the team is going to learn to depend on one another, it has to start with learning that it can depend on the leader. That means that the leader must carry through on whatever he or she says. If it proves impossible to complete what has been said, the leader must explain why or he or she will lose credibility in the eyes of the team.

People will do much more for a leader that they trust. In the military, one of the highest compliments an officer can receive, especially from an experienced sergeant, is “I’d be willing to follow you into battle.” Whether we see it or not, our team’s activities are a form of battle. We need our team members willing to follow us into that battle and win. That means that they have to trust us, which can only happen when we prove ourselves dependable.

Being dependable also means speaking clearly to team members. Most people can see right through a lot of the lies and misinformation that management passes out. While they may not be able to see what the truth is, they’ll know the false when they see it. Being honest with the team is another form of dependability. It causes them to learn that they can trust what you say and that you’ll stand behind it.

Everyone likes to have a good time. That’s a necessary part of team building. Leading a high performance team means leading them in having a good time together as well. However, they never do so at the expense of another person, especially another team member. Sarcasm and other cutting comments have no place in team fun because they have the potential to hurt somebody.

Having fun doesn’t have to come at the expense of the team’s goals. Many work activities can be made fun, and much of that has to do with how we approach those activities. If we approach them as something that we’re going to do together as a team, we set the tone for making them fun.

Goals are the compass that directs the team. Regardless of what team activities are being undertaken, a high performance team leader keeps them goal oriented. It may be the team’s ultimate goal or intermediate goals that will help the team reach that ultimate goal; it’s still a goal and the team leader will keep it in focus. They’ll also ensure that their team keeps it in focus.

This doesn’t mean that the leader has tunnel vision. Team-building activities may seem to some like a waste of time, but those team-building activities are necessary to forge the team into a high performance team. Therefore, including them in the team’s work schedule is helping the team reach its goals

This book emphasizes the soft elements of the team; additional concepts are discussed in the many other books I have published.

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