“The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.” ~ Babe Ruth
As I reflect over the last twenty-six years of my business, I am struck the number of amazing leaders and incredible teams I have had the opportunity to working with.
I consider what I do to be a privilege. Yes, it is a privilege to walk alongside folks and help them push beyond their comfort zones and do the hard work of becoming an extraordinary leader or an extraordinary team.
Becoming extraordinary as leader can be quite challenging. Becoming an extraordinary team is even more difficult because it requires the collaboration and meeting of the minds of a group of individuals instead of a singular person. .
Defining a Team
I believe the word “team” has become one of the most overused, watered-down, and misunderstood words in the world. Whether you’re talking about corporations, non-profit organizations, sports, or institutions. Nowadays, it seems like anytime we put two or more people in a room, on a zoom call, or on a basketball court, we call it a team. IT’S NOT!
How often have you seen some of the most extraordinarily talented athletes on a sports team lose because they couldn’t play nice together in the sandbox.
By the same thought, how many times have you seen a team of good players work together as a team and win. The 1980’s men’s Olympic hockey team was one of those teams. They were the underdogs, they were young, they were less experienced than the Russians, but they won the gold medal and became the inspiration for the 2004 movie entitled, Miracle, starring Kurt Russell.
Ironically, for some leaders, they believe they need some miracle, some heavenly intervention from above, for their folks to come together as one cohesive team that works well together to achieve success.
Being an Authentic Team
Great teams don’t just happen, they evolve. One of the reasons it is so challenging is because you’re weaving together individuals with differing wants, needs, personalities, levels of experience, and beliefs.
That said, if you can focus and get aligned on these 5 requirements, it might help you to build a more effective team.
- The Courage to speak your truth to each other regardless of how uncomfortable it might be.
- The ability and tenacity to hold each other Accountable.
- A deep-seated Commitment to the team and each other.
- Acknowledging the Strengths of each member and allowing each person to show up and contribute without of fear of embarrassment or retribution (psychological safety).
- The willingness to put aside individual egos and agenda’s to Focus on the overall team goals.
These five attributes of a team must be present if you are to create a successful team in the workplace, organization, sports, etc.
What About Your Personal Team?
As I continued reflecting back over the course of my Speaking and Coaching career, I realized that even though I am an entrepreneur, I have an incredible team in place to support me.
They hold me accountable, they challenge me, they test me, they push me to go outside of my comfort zone to do all that I can to be an even better author, speaker, coach, and human being. At times, it is difficult to hear their feedback, but I trust them with my entire being.
Having a great team to hold up a mirror for you is critical to your success in every aspect of your life. So what about you?
Whose Got Your Back?
Below are a list of five questions to help you get clarity on who’s on your team and whose got your back. It is my opinion but an ideal number of folks for your team is a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 5. While those numbers are not set in stone, I truly believe it is right in the middle of having too few and having too many.
- Who are the people you trust to speak the truth to you in your business/personal life? Even when it’s hard?
- Who holds you accountable?
- Who acknowledges your strengths and calls you to play bigger and nudges you out of your comfort zones?
- Are you committed to the process of becoming the best leader, team player, salesperson, parent, partner you can be?
- Do you let your pride, ego, or judgment get in the way of taking in feedback or allowing yourself to be held accountable?
So do you know who your team is?
Final Thoughts
Someone once said it takes a village. Really?
My thoughts…If the people in your village do not have the courage to speak the truth, do not hold folks accountable, are not committed to the team, do not leverage their strengths for the team, and cannot put aside their ego’s, it REALLY doesn’t matter if you have a group of 3 or 3,000!
It’s truly NOT a TEAM!
