What is the perfect team? Is there such a thing? At an instant, most of us can offer a championship sports team as an example. We can easily point out how each teammate played their role to perfection and sacrificed self-interest for the greater good.
Still, can it be that simple? In real life, don’t we have to look out for number one? Every company is looking to form a group of players who have complimentary skills. What about complimentary relationships? When examining successful teams, we need to look past results and resumes and consider social bonds.
Interestingly, for as often as we portray them as exemplary, one would expect championship sports teams to stay together. Instead, the players are usually off to bigger and better contracts within a year or two. While sports analogies have their value, they don’t go far enough to explain how we can build and keep strong teams in our lives.
To enhance the quality of teams in everyday life, consider the following factors:
Humility
In sales, people both work on teams and are compared individually. These rankings dictate not only income but long term employability. In the face of this tension, are the members of your team able to give each other credit for good results in person and in meetings? A strong teammate will congratulate another on an accomplishment, not stew in silent jealousy.
In addition, when it comes to receiving accolades, how willing are your team members to credit others and acknowledge luck? Rarely do good ideas surface in a vacuum. We’re often inspired by the words of others, sometimes without realizing it. And, like it or not, we know luck, bad and good, is inseparable from sales. Therefore, we’d always do well to acknowledge it, so our teammates can see we’re human and derive inspiration (not shame) from our success.
Personal Connection
It’s a misconception to think the best teams, being so engaged, only talk about work. It’s simply not true. The best teams I’ve been on have real conversations about a variety of topics. Our relationships became friendships, and bonds of trust were formed. This enabled us to have more productive and powerful conversations.
Better communication empowers people to come up with better ideas. Conversely, energy spent on guarding ones own interests comes at the expense of problem solving. Stress and fear inhibit the creative process. We can’t solve problems when we’re afraid of saying the wrong thing at all times.
Change Management
When teams are humble and closely connected, they become more able to handle serious change. When people can express honest opinions within a team about a change, they can safely “bounce” thoughts off each other. Therefore, each member gets to both share their own feelings and hear a non-judgemental outsider’s opinion. Crucially, this allows the team members to change their own beliefs without the burden of pride holding them back.
Through exposure to differing perspectives, members of strong teams are more confident to take action. After all, what do they have to lose? They know their teammates are there to support them. On weaker teams, denial of a change can fester and block progress. Consequently, once again, self-preservation can siphon away the energy needed for success.
Admittedly, it’s hard to argue with success – unless one counters with sustained success. We all can be lucky once, just not repeatedly. Therefore, we’d all do well to recognize and appreciate the humility and personal connection of strong teams when we find them. Otherwise, we risk seeing last year’s world champs crumble at the slightest obstacle.
Sincerely,
Meaning2work.com