Later this month when the Summer Olympics begin in London we will likely be hearing a lot about Team USA. With a lot of individual athletes achieving personal goals and competing for themselves the concept of team can get lost beyond the mere medal counts and a few team sports. Unfortunately the same thing can happen in businesses. We are often working with clients to help develop teamwork and communication because individual performance goals can overshadow the team in unproductive ways.
Whether a leader is considered successful or not can vary significantly depending on the eye of the beholder. From a business perspective however the most common measure is the results the leader’s team achieves. We speak often of personal leadership skills such as communication, adaptability, and providing direction. However those skills are inadequate if the wrong people are on the team. The selection of team members is therefore the most critical skill for leaders. Once the team members are selected a successful team is built by developing mutual trust; positive conflict; commitment; and accountability. When a leader can build that type of team collaboration leverages the productivity and capability of every individual.
