I want to lead a great team – don’t you? I want to work on big ideas that will have a big impact. I want to invest my leadership energy in people and projects that matter. I don’t think I’m the only one who feels this way. So where do we begin? We have to start where we are – but thankfully we don’t have to stay there.
The key ingredients necessary for team success are Talent, Skills and Community. Tim Tassopoulos, Senior V.P. of Operations at Chick-fil-A challenged our organization at our annual meeting to be clear on some important distinctions in this arena.
People and Talent are not the same thing…
Every team is comprised of people. However, many teams lack the Talent they need for great accomplishment. One of our roles as leaders is to always be looking for Talent – always recruiting. What does Talent look like in your context? Don’t settle for just anybody to be on your team.
Assigning Tasks is not the same as developing Skills…
High Performance Teams have skilled members. These are men and women who have individual skills and team skills. If we’re not careful, we could find ourselves delegating tasks rather than developing skills. If this happens, over time, your team will be devoid of any initiative and creativity. Don’t confuse delegation with skill development.
Collaboration is no substitute for real Community…
People in high performance teams do work together – they do collaborate. But they do so much more. Real Community is about doing life together. When this happens, it is the turbo-charger for team performance. The members of the team are no longer just working for the organization; they are working for each other also. Don’t settle for getting along with each other. Invest the time and energy in cultivating authentic community and your team will never be the same again.
We are excited to work with Mark Miller, well known business leader, best-selling author, and communicator. This week we are celebrating the relaunch of his fantastic book, The Secret of Teams: What Great Teams Know and Do. You can find it on Amazon and in bookstores everywhere. You can also connect with Mark on Twitter or Facebook and read his blog at tmarkmiller.com.
I am the founder/CEO of the Weaving Influence team, the author of Reach: Creating the Biggest Possible Audience for Your Message, Book, or Cause, and the host of the Book Marketing Action Podcast. I’m a wife and mom of three kids, and I enjoy running, reading, writing, coffee, and dark chocolate.
I like the idea of, “Real Community is about doing life together.” I believe in community building and getting to know your team and really caring about them is essential to leading them. You can’t fake that.
Becky, I dont always have time every day to read all your postings (shame on me)but I’m glad I took the time today to read this one. You are so right about talented and skilled people working together for each other and not just for the organization. I am proud to say that I have a great team and I tell them that every day!
Thanks, Pat. If you enjoyed that post, you might want to subscribe to Mark Miller’s blog at greatleadersserve.org — he’s the author of that post! 🙂