Developing Team Building as a Key Leadership Skill
By Maureen Metcalf
For leaders considering where to invest
your leadership development time
and resources, building the skills necessary
to lead and work on teams is critical in
the current business climate. As leaders,
we accomplish much of our work in conjunction
with teams, many consisting of
people who do not report to us, so our
ability to influence becomes critical to our
success. By increasing our team effectiveness,
we leverage what we can produce by
enlisting the work of the team to deliver
results against our collective goals.
With all the leadership courses available,
I am reminded of The Adventures
of Tom Sawyer, which begins with Tom’s
famous whitewashing scheme in which he
convinces his friends that the chore of
painting a fence is fun. While it seems
so basic, it provides us an example of
how leaders and teams work together
effectively to accomplish a task and
create benefit for all involved.
Teamwork Can Define Careers
A key differentiator for professional
growth is how well you work with others
on teams. We can all think of times when
we could have accomplished a task easier
alone, but still needed to work with
others to gain buy-in. This is particularly
true of senior leaders when developing
organizational strategy that must be
implemented by the broader organization
to be successful.
There are also significant benefits to
the team when they have a strong leader
present. They not only accomplish the
task more effectively, they also learn by
example how the leader thinks about the
business, as well as the opportunity at
hand. They also see how the leader works
with others. This team activity establishes
and/or reinforces the culture. People see if
the leader’s behavior is consistent with the
organization’s stated values and beliefs.
I worked with a client who saw
himself as the expert at everything he did.
He was frustrated by working with teams
because it got in the way of doing the real
work, and no one knew as much as he
did. This team aspect slowed the work
down and frustrated him. He also thought
he should be promoted because he could
certainly accomplish the work more effectively
than anyone around him, and he
was forced to work for leaders who were
not as competent as he was. He believed
management had all kinds of requests and
changed their minds regularly; they could
not pick a path and stick to it.
He was great at setting direction for
others, but his primary tool for gaining
acceptance of his direction was intimidation.
He happened to be the president of a
business unit, so this worked for him short-term.
But the turnover he caused had a
serious and negative impact on the company
overall. He was not moving the business
forward, and others disliked working
with him. He remembered when he liked
going to work, but that time had long
passed. He was frustrated and unhappy and
did not know where to turn to fix things
other than find a “better” company with
“smarter colleagues” to work with. What
he missed was that he was the problem.
He would not likely find a company where
he could show poor personal skills and be
surrounded by great leaders who saw every
situation the same way he did.
Keys to Team Participation
There are six key components that impact
our ability to work with others effectively.
These skills can be learned and practiced.
Self awareness — I know my strengths,
weaknesses, drives, values and impact
on others. I know when to ask for
help.
Self management — I manage how I
behave, considering how it will impact
others. I act professionally even when
frustrated.
Motivation — I do what is required
even if it will not be an immediate
benefit to me.
Empathy — I understand others have
emotions, and I try to respond to
what they need to be successful.
Social skills — I am building rapport
with others to move the project forward
to accomplish its goals.
Communication — I share information
in a transparent and respectful
manner and address conflict quickly
and skillfully.
After developing solid technical
skills, we are measured on our ability to
accomplish tasks with and through others.
Technical skills become “table stakes;”
everyone has them, and they are no longer
the differentiator for business success.
Our education often stops with learning
the technical aspects of the job and
omits how to work well with others. Some
call these soft skills and discount them
because they are “touchy feely.” Research
indicates that one must be technically
competent and also interpersonally competent
to advance in a leadership role.
Take a moment to ask yourself how
you relate to others. Are you working
on a team that is not as effective as you
would like? What are you doing to
contribute to the dysfunction? What can
you do to improve?
Archive of Recent Tips:
More Tips Are Available to Members
If you would like to become an ExecuNet Member, Click Here.
"ExecuNet is far superior to what others are doing. I like the approach by ExecuNet in sending newsletters, notifying you of network meetings and asking for feedback."
