Why You Need to Develop Your Team to Excel

Business team drawing a new complex project on wall
Business team drawing a new complex project on wall

Mediocrity has become a new standard today (The Standard, 2019). But, it’s costing companies time, money, top talent, customers, innovation, and reputation. And, the list continues!

Many leaders feel there is nothing they can do to change a team’s output from mediocre to great.  Some even believe team collaboration and intended results happen by accident.

These leaders believe they are powerless to change the trajectory of the results.

When teams get stuck, and they will, you as the leader need to roll-up-your-sleeves. It’s your responsibility to get the team unstuck, engaged and moving forward!

Leaders Step Up

Leaders step up to improve the quality of their teams’ results. Remember, these results don’t happen by accident. To excel, results start with how you hire, manage, coach, and train your team members.

Scary Stats

  • -10% of teams today excel. These leaders have a strategy in place to train and develop their people to go beyond the norm and out of their comfort zones.
  • -40% of teams are dysfunctional. When leaders give up so do their teams! They lack the training to align and build win-win-win outcomes required to achieve intended results.
  • -50% produce only small incremental improvements. Unfortunately, this is the norm! Many leaders are simply afraid to push their teams to excel.

(Stats taken from How to Improve Team Effectiveness, Skip Prichard, May 2019)

A team shared with me they wanted to build on the previous year’s event since attendance was down. But, the truth was, the leader wasn’t willing to do the work, release control, and brainstorm. All are requirements to excel! The result….attendance went down, even more, the next year.

How To Improve Your Team’s Results Now

Select the Right Team Members. This is the first and least expensive place to improve your team results. Job fit is the #1 reason (Harvard Business Review) teams succeed or fail! As a leader, it’s up to you to objectively look beyond the technical skills and assess the “soft skill” qualities. Use qualified assessments to select the right team members based on job fit: thinking style, core behaviors, and occupational interests.

Jack Welch, former CEO of GE, once said, “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” (Forbes, February 2015)

Develop and Train Team Members. Don’t assume you know to conduct productive meetings. It’s up to you to ensure all team members and you are energized and receive training. Skills development must include how to conduct effective meetings, resolve conflicts, and execute projects. To get the most out of these training and coaching sessions, use real-life challenges and engage in developing real solutions.

Build Trust And Engage Your Team. Under your leadership, teamwork happens or it doesn’t! Real teamwork requires you to be available and engage your team in brainstorming true solutions. This can be a slippery slope since often, too many times everyone latches onto the first good idea. This will shut down further conversation and the development of better ideas. Continue brainstorming until you have built team alignment on the best solution.

Acknowledge Team Members. Don’t forget to acknowledge each team member before, during and after any process.

Get Real about Solutions. As the leader, you must be unafraid to challenge your teams to excel. But, it’s not easy. There is always a difference of opinions and resistance to doing something new. But, and this is a BIG but, innovation needs encouragement and commitment from you. Remember, resilience and flexibility are required since there will be challenges along the way.

Improve Coaching & Mentoring Opportunities. Successful leaders have coaches and mentors who are company and industry savvy. Mentors often focus on working through company politics and guide you to connect with the right people. Executive coaches are external to the organization and confidentially guide you through complex situations and how to proactively avoid them.

Effective leaders don’t accept mediocrity. The ones that do, damage their careers, businesses, and financial bottom lines. It’s up to you to be the type of leader that has their teams excel and achieve dynamic results!

©Jeannette Seibly, 2020

Jeannette Seibly is an award-winning dynamic results coach and keynote speaker. For the past 27 years, she has guided the creation of leaders to excel in achieving results. Are you ready for an unprecedented 2020? Contact Jeannette today for straight talk with dynamic results. Don’t forget to listen to NEW podcasts on Anchor.FM or YouTube.com.

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