I’ve been coaching and facilitating “business” teams for the past 25 years. Yes, I started when I was 12. Anyway, the point is I’ve seen a lot, experienced a lot, and I’ve been involved in a lot of great success stories, where the “group” started from point zero in teamwork, knowledge, and skill….and became an amazing, remark- able synergistic team!
So, why do some teams Win, and Win consistently, and some teams fail, and fail a lot? After watching the Suns Series these past few weeks….first with the Spurs and then just recently with the Lakers, I realized that this had to be said. “A team can have the same circumstances, same resources, same Coach, same timelines, same customer, etc. but the one BIG variable are its players… what they believe, how they think of themselves and their teammates, their attitude toward the project/work, their values, their ability to engage with others in an effective way, to play different roles when needed, to observe what needs to happen and how they can assist, and their degree of confidence in themselves and the team.”
Many times good teams, great teams fail because of the Confidence Factor. They lose confidence. They think they may fail, they think they may not be good enough, and when they start to think these “lack of confidence” thoughts….Thoughts turn into things. Our actions follow our thoughts (brains) and pretty soon we’ve got the self-fulfilling prophecy.
The Suns were a talented group of players….I saw a lot of heart out there…I won’t name names, but you know when you see heart. Heart is passionate expression of the body and soul. Expressing how much you care and how much you want and desire a positive end result through your body language. Heck, just watching the last 8 minutes of the Suns game against the Lakers was like watching a completely different team! You know you’re playing with heart when you start fouling more, assisting more, rebounding more, and yes, making some “unbelievable” shots. There’s no “star” player, every member on the team shines, they each contribute something REMARK – able. The crowd goes wild, the players themselves even look different, you can see the change in their faces, their eyes, their muscle tone. They actually look like a TEAM!
But, being a part of a Winning Team first means you have to BELIEVE you’re part of a Winning Team. Confidence is a wacky sensation. I know we’ve all been there, on top of the world, feeling like we could accomplish anything…we had the golden touch, people loved us, our bosses constantly asked us our opinions, our customers called us, our family and friends Ooh’d and Ahh’d about us….then one day it happens…We’ve lost it! We feel stupid, we feel awkward, we start to doubt ourselves, we start to second guess our decisions, we start to make mistakes…thet we would never have made before we lost our Confidence. Just look at the last few years with the unemployed population. You think they’ve lost their confidence????
This is the same for teams. This is when the Coach has to “catch” the team….but, the Coach has to catch the team long before they start to lose confidence in themselves….Once the snow ball starts rolling down the hill…you can’t stop it…it’s self-fulfilling, it becomes a BIG snowball, full of speed and power.
So, what does a Winning Team, all Winning Teams have in common?
First, each player on the team has to want to be on the team. Each person has to want to be part of something BIGGER than themselves. Each person brings a unique skill, ability they can contribute to the teams overall success. I know in sports…we do think of key players as being the “star”…that’s okay, they may appear to be the star….but, to be an effective team, suppression of the EGO, humility, and knowing that you can’t WIN by yourself, it will and does take TEAM EFFORT is the guiding force.
Next, there has to be a COMMON “attainable” GOAL that each player buys into. Each player must commit to attaining the Goal of the Team AND be willing and able to do what it takes to accomplish the Goal. This means, that each player, regardless of the Role they were hired to play for the Team, must be willing to fill a void, jump in where needed, and play a different role. Roles can be functional, behavioral (task/process), or administrative.
Leadership is critical. Most teams have a formal leader/coach. We used to call these people supervisors, foreman, boss, manager, etc. Today, we like the term Team Leader, Team Coach, Team Facilitator. BUT, leadership on teams is shared. The Coach is the Coach…and we’ll get to this role in a moment, but, Leadership has to be everyone’s job. Leadership is the act of leading other’s based on your knowledge, expertise, skill, and trustworthiness. Your teammates must TRUST in your ability to lead, otherwise they won’t follow. Everyone on your team can lead, and should lead when the time and opportunity presents itself….otherwise, why are you on a team? (You might as well be part of a “group” of people, if you don’t want to show leadership when needed.) When you sense a leadership void…for whatever reason, step in and fill it! Show strength, show determination, and others will follow your lead and do the same.
Effective, Frequent Communication between all team members is a must. You don’t necessarily have to love each other, but you do need to respect each other and it really helps if you like each other. The “BEST” teams I’ve experienced all liked to laugh, and have fun together. They truly believed in the power of diversity, (heterogeneous vs. homogeneous)….but, this was a plus, because each person on the team was seen by the others as a Resource to the Team and differences were encouraged not put down. They could each put their own spin, their own 2 cents in on the matter and quickly they would be able to arrive at a great solution, a creative solution to a problem or issue the team was having. But, they had to be willing to listen, respect, and communicate with the goal of UNDERSTANDING. Then, and only then, did the team truly see themselves as synergistic…where the team could and would outperform any one best member on it!
If there is a Formal Team Leader…and I will let you know now that Self-directed Work Teams….all have team leads, team facilitators, and process consultants…but, the team roles are more accomplished and extensive. But, for now, let me just say that the COACH or TEAM LEAD Role for the Winning TEAM is all about empowerment. It’s all about moving the team through the stages of GROWTH and knowing when to pull back and when to lead based on the teams readiness. The skills, and attitude of a Coach/Team Leader are different than the traditional supervisor/boss. There is more participation, more active involvement, more consensus, more trust in team members. But, it’s the ROLE they play for the team, and it’s a critical role that can greatly influence the teams confidence, readiness for more responsibility, and ultimate interdependency.
Being part of a Winning Team feels great. Does this mean that if you’re an effective, synergistic, team you’ll always win?…of course not. There will be days when you won’t, something will happen, mistakes will be made, but the difference in being a part of a Winning Team is in their ability to pick themselves up, dust themselves off and stay in the GAME….
Winning TEAMs ultimately WIN because they BELIEVE they CAN, and they’ve got the confidence to prove it!
