What makes great teams?

What makes great teams? I recently gave a leadership teaching to an exciting new and growing organization Fearless Women.  I shared with them what I consider the top 5 qualities that take a good team and makes them great.

Great teams have the following characteristics:

1. Common Goal

• Same heartbeat – they know the vision.
• Know what a win is!
• Team members are motivated by being a part of something bigger than themselves.
• Understand that unified vision positively influences what we do and how we do them.

Vision is the difference between the girl who shows up to work just to get a paycheck doing only what she is asked to do, and the passionate mindset that she has as a business owner.

2. Commitment (SACRIFICE/WORK)

• Team members show up ready to work and serve
• Not everyone has the same talent, but they all bring same effort. (attitude)
• Has less to do with talent more to do with heart.
• Commitment is easier when you know the vision. You know the WHY behind the WHAT.
• Team members Are TEAM first, self last
  

  Coach Bud Wilkison – “If a team is to reach its potential, each player must be willing to subordinate his personal goals to the good of the team.”

3. Value People

• Recognize that everyone has unique God given strengths and talents.
• Value people based on who they are, not what they do for you. Separate the value of the person from the value of their performance.

If people are valued based on performance, then when they fail they are worth less.

Instead value people, then they will perform. Reward/coach the performance.

4. Trust

• We need to have each other’s back when the stakes are high.
• Trust = transparency + credibility.
• Trust is tested in difficult situations.
• Form better relationships and communication at the next level through TRUST.
• Simon Sinek —  “a team is not a group of people who work together, a team is a group of people who trust each other”

When trust grows it reinforces the vision, commitment, value of others

When mistrust grows it degrades the vision, commitment, value of others

5. Grow

• Team is hungry to get better, to reach more people, to sell more widgets, to score more points
• Knows what got them to the top is not enough to keep them there. (complacency)
• Team members welcome coaching and feedback
• Team is willing to hear the things they don’t want to hear, to say the things that are hard to say, for a better self and a better team.
• Development is built upon trust. Your level of trust will set the bar for your growth potential.

Someone who wants to grow is willing to endure temporary pain for permanent gain.