The three essentials of great teams

"The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual." Vince Lombardi

As a leader there is nothing more rewarding than watching your team grow and develop to its full potential. 

All Great teams share several common fundamentals that separate them from the rest. All of us at some point or another, been part of a great team and felt a part of a big picture. In today’s business environment, we need the commitment of people working together in a synergetic way. 

My success means nothing unless we did it together as a team. Ask any athlete in almost every sport and they will tell you, individual achievements are not as meaningful as team achievements. In fact, most athletes raised their personal value after winning championships with their teams. These athletes became legends in their own field by winning several championships year after year.

What are some of the essentials of great teams that we can develop as leaders?

Purpose

Every team needs a vision of where they are going together. What are we trying to accomplish as a group? What’s our common goal? Every leader should help their team understand that vision clearly. Effective leaders thrive on communicating the team vision day in and day out. They never assume that everyone understands. It’s important to keep the vision in front of everyone on the team to help them focus on the outcome, the results of all the efforts and talent. Effective leaders create an empowering environment through their on-going communication to effectively work on a link between the vision of the organization.

Trust

Trust is the glue that holds relationships together. It’s the foundation of successful teams.  When you create an environment of where people can be honest with each other and have open communication, you create a safe place that would serve everyone for the long run. As leaders, we must begin with ourselves in order to create on-going transparency and honesty with our team. 

We can increase our trust through sharing our honest feedback of where we are at any given moment. We are able and willing to be open with each other to mentor for better results together. That feedback loop has to be consistent as we try to establish daily honest communication by learning how to share bad news as well as good news. When you have trust, the bad news is part of the constructive development process which helps people get better with their daily efforts.

"The best job goes to the person who can get it done without passing the buck or coming back with excuses." Napoleon Hill 

Accountability

Accountability is a two-way street. We can’t have accountability with only one person. Great teams hold each other accountable for the results they achieved or not achieved as a team. At the end of the day, everyone on the team has to have the courage to take responsibility for the actions taken on any given day. When you have team spirit, everyone succeeds together and everyone fails together. But without the ability to be vulnerable and admit your mistakes, the team will never achieve better results.  It takes courage and humility to understand we are not always at our best, but we grow and develop when we hold ourselves and others accountable for the results.