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A staff doesn't make a "team," but it can become one

*team Jan 04, 2022

We teach the three Gears of Growth, one of the big three being TEAM.

You can understand the gears in this way… 

Any cog— or gear— in your car’s engine can keep the entire vehicle at a standstill. Or cause it to move slower.

(When the gears all work in alignment and move in sync, the results are fabulous!)

The result is that you go farther, faster, with less effort…

In the same way, there are three gears in your organization. We call them the Organizational Gears of Growth. 

They each work together, and they’re equally important. 

They are— 

  • Culture = the PLACE you work
  • Team = the PEOPLE you work with 
  • Systems = the PROCESSES you use to get things done

Without question, TEAM is the gear we’re approached about the most. It creates the most tension, and it provides the greatest platform for growth.

 

Over the course of five modules our The Killer Teams Framework you’ll learn about: 

  • Togetherness
  • Talent
  • Accountability 
  • Structure
  • Finish lines

 

Let’s jump into the first with this introduction to the framework— and discuss the important of turning your staff into a team.

 

First, your success will ultimately be determined by the team you build.

Jim Clifton states that only 22% of workers feel that the leadership of the organization has a clear strategy.

Note: this doesn’t just include WHAT they do, but how….

Quite simply, team members WANT to know how to be successful— both organizationally and in the mind of the leader whose vision they’re serving. 

 

Second, we want to create a structure that builds people— and uses the organization to do so. 

We don’t want to USE people to build the organization. 

Furthermore, realize this…

Your greatest legacy will likely be the people you build, not the production or program or project or processes you create.

When we live from this point of view— something magical happens. Patrick Lencioni calls it an unfair advantage. In fact, he says (in his book The Advantage) that a highly cohesive team IS a competitive advantage.

 

Here’s your homework (yes, halfway through the first module!):

Begin meeting with everyone who directly reports to you. 1:1.

And, with the entire team of reports, together…

It may be too many. Not a problem. We’ll adjust. For now, start doing it…

In the next session, we’ll talk about how to have a meeting that matters— and why you should. For now, get the meeting on the calendar.

 

A few things you owe your team— 

Before we close, let’s mention four things you owe your team, as well as four things every leader in the organization needs to begin doing now— if they’re not already doing so…

 

#1 = Grace 

Don’t expect perfection. 

In fact, expect mistakes. 

It’s OK to make a mistake— it’s not OK to continue in a pattern of mistakes. 

Rom wasn’t built in a day. And it didn’t fall in a day.

Neither will your organization. 

 

#2 = Honesty

Don’t make your team guess how they’re doing— or how you feel.

Be honest with them.

In a gracious way.

 

#3 = Proper Placement 

Make sure your team members are in a place in your organization where they CAN thrive. Don’t place them— over the long run— in a space where they won’t do well. 

You might start them as a generalist, or you may— for a moment— need to have them focus on something that’s not their strength. 

But, in time, they need to be placed where they’re strongest and best.

 

#4 = Prayer

Praying for your team actually transforms you— and causes you to see them differently.

 

Here’s what everyone in the organization needs to do…

Again, these will provide the basis for what we do moving forward… 

 

#1 = Share the vision 

Each leader must share the overall vision of the organization— in terms of both what we do and how we do it. 

They need to— 

  • Share the vision (i.e., align and agree with it)
  • Believe in the vision (sincerely think it can— and will— come to pass!)
  • Communicate the vision (articulate it to others, as we must consistently fight against vision “drift” and a lack of clarity)
  • Inspire others in the vision (live it with a sense of passion and urgency, such that the vision is graciously contagious!)

By the way, if a leader does these four things...

If they… 

  • Share the vision
  • Believe in the vision
  • Communicate the vision
  • Inspire others in the vision

… then the culture almost happens as a natural progression…  

 

#2 = Encourage the heart

Leaders must breathe life into people rather than knock the wind out of them. They must be people whom others love to see coming rather than dread.

 

#3 = Enable others 

Leaders throughout the team should empower others to reach their potential. They aren’t just “doers” of tasks, even though they must operate at a high level of skill. 

One of the greatest strengths they can bring is that they not only delegate tasks, but they take it a step higher and actually empower people to step into new roles of leadership…

That is, they release others to fulfill their unique calling. 

 

#4 = Model the way

Leaders throughout the organization must set the pace (the speed) and the example (of what gets done). They must “be” the culture we want.

 

 


Want to learn more? 

Access the Killer Teams Crash Course-- free of charge-- and see if this full course might help you transition your staff into a "killer team."

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