Six Secrets of Great Teams

Jim Collins' book, Good to Great, profoundly impacted my life. But I've always wondered, Why use the bus illustration? On a bus the only person working is the driver - that doesn't seem fair! And even though Collins emphasizes figuring out where you want to go after all the right people are on the bus, the driver still has sole discretion as to whether you head there or not. (I think we've all worked for a boss like that.)

Several months ago, I came across a video of the Canadian rowing team. It's only a couple minutes long - watch it real quick. Within the first few seconds of watching the video I realized - This is it! This is a great illustration of team leadership!

Check out these six secrets of great teams:

1. Great teams overcome adversity. Winning back-to-back world championships, the Canadian team had the 2004 Olympic gold medal wrapped up - or did they? Out of nowhere, they fell apart finishing a dismal 5th. But, this setback made them more determined than ever. In 2008, just two months after this video was recorded, they were back on top. Sure it hurts when you fall short of your goals - but great teams work through it together and reemerge on top.
2. Great teams make it look easy. Champion rowing teams maintain a continuous, fluid motion. Their catches are clean and synchronized. They maintain consistent speed. How? There is a ton of practice behind the high-performing team. Teams that are destined for greatness do the work required to become great. They prepare so that on their worst day they can still win the gold! Read that sentence again - its a good one!
3. Great teams are always improving. As teams improve, they step up the load. They practice more. They continually evaluate performance. To have a great team, we must be getting better all the time.
4. Great teams avoid negativity. They don't talk about it - they don't even think about it. They don't use negative words. They don't place blame - they work together to make course corrections. They focus on the vision of winning and what's to get there.
5. Great teams follow the leader. Leaders of high performing teams are always challenging the team to improve. It's not easy, but teams that accept the challenge to win.
6. Great teams know that they can depend on the team. They know that when the race is on the line, their teammates are going to do what it takes to win.

What would you add to the list? Have you seen another illustration of great teamwork?

BONUS! I included the T-mobile video just for fun. It pumps me up every time I watch it!

Two Things Leaders Do With Free Time.

If you're a leader, more than likely you have a ton of freedom. And I've noticed that, when it comes to freedom, effective leaders do two things:

1. Leaders focus on areas where they have freedom. Leaders don't waste time on roadblocks, challenges, and naysayers. They don't focus on restrictions. They know that these areas suck valuable time, energy, passion, and momentum out of their life and work. Instead, they invest time and energy where they will achieve the maximum return on their investment.
2. Leaders give their freedom away. As a leader, you have the freedom to decide the people and projects that get your time and attention and the time and attention of your team. You have the freedom to craft and communicate vision. To set and manage priorities. To determine the strategies that will best position your team and organization. To make sound decisions for your life, career, and team. Yet, if you are making progress, you have chosen to give that freedom away - to family, to your organization, to your team, to friends, to charity or ministry. Leaders are unselfish. They profoundly believe that it's better to give away their freedom than it is to seek more freedom

When my daughter, Madison, was 4, her and I began to engage in relatively substantive conversations. One Saturday morning we were spending time together and stopped by one of our rental homes. Although she's pretty quick, it took her several visits to the home to figure out that we actually own more than one home. And that we own a home that we don't live in.

So she asked, Are we going to your other house? I told her that we were. She was quiet for a few seconds, then she asked, Is this house mine, too? Sure it is, I said. Everything that's mine is yours. She grinned from ear to ear as we stopped in front of the house.

Effective leaders communicate this to those that follow - Everything that's mine is yours! My time is yours. My mental energy is yours. My very freedom is yours. They selflessly invest - over and over, month after month, year after year.

What would you add to the list?

5 Ways a Coach Can Help You

When we talk about coaching, athletics immediately comes to mind. Yet coaching occurs in nearly every organizational venue – education, career, home, ministry, etc. A great coach tells you what you may not be prepared to hear, helps you see what you could not see, and can help you improve beyond what you ever thought you could be. Did you get that? – a coach can lead you beyond your dreams to reach your fullest potential. The ultimate goal of a coach is to lead others to succeed because they believe that every person has the potential to grow.

Daniel Harkavy, CEO of Building Champions, found that those who are involved in coaching others have learned that they can enjoy personal success by focusing on the success of others. Harkavy refers to these coaches as “coaching leaders”. Coaching leaders have made the success of others their own personal mission.

Coaching is seldom about how the coach would do it. Good coaches help teammates to identify for themselves what needs to been done to reach their full potential. Earlier this year I began working with Executive Coach Raymond Gleason at Building Champions. Raymond has identified five ways that a coach can help you...

1. Define your current reality. Ask questions like, What is my present situation? Where am I headed?
2. Clarify your vision and goals. Many people continually react to their current reality rather than living with purpose. A coach first leads you to define what success looks like so you can set goals toward achieving it.
3. Identify roadblocks to your vision. This requires that you acknowledge and address areas of comfort and familiarity that are commonly overlooked as barriers to your success.
4. Test your thinking, opinions, conclusions, and behavior. It’s easy to get stuck in a rut – doing the same things and thinking the same way while expecting different results.
5. Establish accountability. Ask yourself, Am I making progress? Am I growing? Am I accomplishing my vision? Many get off track because they confuse intent or busyness with progress.

Who are you allowing to coach you – to speak truth into your life on a regular basis?

Leadership is about helping people work together to accomplish more together than they could accomplish separately. Is your entire team working together? Are you coaching your team to grow personally? If you do, they’ll know you believe in them, appreciate them, and value them. And your life and work will be filled with purpose and meaning.