How to build WINNING teams

 Everyone wants to have a WINNING TEAM, but not every leader wants to invest time and effort in creating it.

A highly effective team is an engine of results, efficiency, innovation, and creating value.

Highly successful teams are cohesive and positive:
- build on trust and psychological safety
- leverage of team diverse strengths
- communicate and handle conflicts effectively
- are committed to a shared purpose, vision and values
- Share accountability for results
- they have a positive dynamic and fun working together.

On a contrary, if your team has one or more of the below characteristics - there are dysfunctions:

 🔥 Misalignments 

 🔥 Conflicts

 🔥 Inefficiencies

 🔥 Silos & competition

 🔥 Blaming culture

 🔥 Low engagement

🔥 Retention issues

 🔥 Low performance and innovation

These are the typical symptoms of dysfunctional teams and if they show up for the C-level teams, the effect is cascaded across the organization.

To unleash a team's potential, leaders need to take responsibility for building teams & 
 treat this as a high priority and not as a nice to have.

Leaders need to treat it, NOT on top of business projects when we have time BUT as an ESSENTIAL ENABLER of results delivery.

Developing a highly effective team is a process, not 1 workshop or event - which serves to gain impulse or momentum.

The real work and challenge happen after the workshop, where the team needs to change behaviors and ways of doing things.

This is the hardest part where most of the team do not make it, as people fall back into their old behaviors or even resist change.

 Therefore personally I'm an advocate of team coaching that help the team along the way, in implementing the change and transforming behaviors.


In the journey of UNLEASHING YOUR TEAMS' POTENTIAL, there are 2 success factors:

1️⃣ Leader needs to be committed - the leader must be prepared to lead the effort in terms of setting an example and dedicating time to it.

2️⃣ Team needs to be committed - the advantages of being a high-functioning team can only be achieved if the team is willing to invest time and energy in the process.

 This is why in my team coaching engagements creating the commitment is the first part. 

What are the benefits of engaging a team coach in the process?

- it accelerates the process of developing or transforming a team, as team coaches have facilitation tools

- bring transparency and clarity - through assessments

-  gain a 'neutral' perspective in a team.

Another aspect is bringing the knowledge, skills, and mindset to leaders on how to navigate team development.

It is also beneficial to equip leaders with that awareness and tools as leaders can pilot a lot from their own role at the same time it helps when the team coach is engaged, as a leader is more mature in understanding what he or she wants and where the support is needed.

Therefore in my Extraordinary leadership program, I help leaders to master a 5 steps process to create an extraordinary team.

The leaders that went through my program have been able to:

• strengthen trust & relationships with their teams 
• have honest and real discussions about 'the elephant in the room'
• reduce time to align on decisions
• elevate motivation, engagement, and fun working together.
• create bigger and faster results.

So if you ask yourself, what actions you take now to develop successful teams, here are my suggestions:

1. As a CEO, invest in building a strong leadership team - to ensure the team is a role model 
2. As an HR leader, equip leaders with mindset & skills on how to build highly effective teams 
3. As a leader, invest in a program to develop your skills to build a successful team.

Building a cohesive and unleashing its potential team is a journey and requires a leader and team commitment and effort in order to succeed.

Do not wait.

Start now.

It will be a game changer for your business.

#theextraordinaryleadership #leadershipdevelopment #thrivingteam #teamcoaching