Are These Three Leadership Practices Stunting the Growth of Your TEAM?

Let me ask you an important question: Do you have individuals on a team or a TEAM of individuals? The differences between those two options are worlds apart.  We see these differences all the time in sports. Individuals on a team will win games, but TEAMs of individuals win championships.

Michael Jordan said it well,

“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”

All organizations want to be great. So what keeps good organizations from becoming great? – from winning championships?

The answer is found in the leadership of the organization. Most leaders focus on good things, but they could create great organizations by focusing on the right things.

Best selling author Jim Collins said,

“Good is the enemy of great.”

You may say, “I’m fighting hard every day to make it work, and it’s still not working.  What am I missing?”

Often, leaders do and say things that destroy the spirit of TEAMwork, and, consequently, limit the success of the whole organization.

Every leader can build a dynamic TEAM by avoiding three common leadership practices.

Emphasizing event over process

Leaders tend to implement big, grand programs, have “great” ideas, make radical changes, chronically restructure – always looking for the one killer innovation, lucky break or miracle moment.

In doing so, they skip the necessary emphasis on process and the corporate habits that lay the foundation for success.

By neglecting the power of sustained, incremental process, leaders bounce from event to event and fail to map out a consistent roadmap for progress.

Using fear to influence behavior

Leaders often threaten their people, using fear to obtain compliance to policies or initiatives. Whether directly stated or implied, they leverage uncertainty in an effort to control and direct their employees’ actions.

Sometimes leaders play on the fear of being left behind in the marketplace in an attempt to encourage innovation and competitiveness.

Fear limits the potential of all concerned. It serves to demotivate and discourage folks and chokes-off their drive and initiative.

Demonstrating chronic inconsistency

Leaders push organizations in one direction, then stop, change course, and throw them in new directions – and then they stop, change course, and throw them into yet other directions.

After years of lurching back and forth, they fail to build and sustain momentum.

This behavior leaves people unsure of the direction and even purpose of the organization.

Is your team winning championships? If not, could it be that your behavior as a leader is stifling true TEAMwork and limiting the success of your organization?

Ask yourself: Do you have individuals on your team or are you a TEAM of individuals?

 

PS: If you really want a TEAM of individuals, it starts with knowing Who You Are and ‘who you are’ starts with understanding your Core Values.

Would you like to clarify or discover your Core Values? Say Yes! We’ll dig into that topic soon.