“You can buy a person’s hands but you can’t buy his heart. His heart is where his enthusiasm, his loyalty is.” — Stephen R. Covey

Loyalty in Teams

Continuing on from the last post, I figured I would go into a little bit more detail on one of the most important aspects of an effective team — loyalty. Loyalty is hard to define, yet everyone knows what it is when they see it. For the purpose of this entry, we’ll define loyalty as having complete faith in somebody’s ability, but also having the respect to disagree with them and still see them as an equal.

Loyalty is important within a team because it allows for uninhibited discussion and unlocks the full potential of the group by freeing up the flow of ideas. For example, think about your closest friend at this very moment. You probably go to them whenever you have things going on in your life that need to be discussed with another person. But why do you do this? Because you know that...

“To succeed as a team is to hold all of the members accountable for their expertise.” — Mitchell Caplan

Effective Teams

More valuable than any sole participant, an effective team is one of the most important aspects to almost all facets of business. Whether you are working together to make the right decision for your company, or a think tank is actively brainstorming new innovations, teamwork is essential for success.

But as the old saying goes, a chain is no stronger than its weakest link. The ability of your team to accomplish its goal rests upon the shoulders of the least active member. Not only do they contribute the least to the team, but they also drag down the entire team by breaking the spark of connectivity between active team players. This spark is only visible when every member of the team sees each other and their ideas as equals.

In order to ensure that every member’s contributions are maximized and that the team is as effective as possible,...

“It can’t be about you… if you want to lead.” Bobbie Goheen

Leadership is the ability to define a common purpose and continually align people, resources, actions and behaviors to achieve the vision/goal. This is an easy statement to write and hard one to live out everyday. If you are in a leadership role you know why.

Leadership in today’s world will require the following from you:

1. The ability to listen without judgement
2. The curiosity and willingness to explore other avenues or ideas that are not yours
3. The astuteness to ask for help
4. The interest to establish relationships with those you might not normally have in your inner circle
5. The openness to adapt your style because the situation and people require it of you
6. The tolerance to manage the egos of others even when they think don’t have one
7. The courage to let go of old ways and standards that create rifts between you, others, and the purpose

In my coaching practice it is not...

“A problem well stated is a problem half solved.” – Charles Kettering

I am fortunate to have the opportunity to work with effective leaders around the world. I notice many successful leaders have an innate ability to not solve a problem until it is well stated and understood. This is a difficult tension to hold in the dynamics of every day life.

Effective leaders realize that time and clear focus are the most important assets to achieving the vision or goal. When you focus on the right initiatives you get extraordinary outcomes.

To hone your own skill in this area ask yourself the following questions:

State the problem as you presently see it
Define what you are noticing in this situation
State the issue in a sentence
Why it is important to solve
Define the best outcome for all

In my coaching, rich and expansive conversations take place when there is clarity on the problem and the leader begins to explore beyond their current framework of thinking. Bold new...

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” – John Quincy Adams

The greatness of any organization is built on the motivation and inspiration of it’s people to achieve the vision and goals. If there are no people there is no organization, company or community. There is no need for leadership. Leadership is required when you have a group of people working together to achieve a goal. Leaders who focus on inspiring their people to stretch their personal and professional growth create the kind of synergy that is necessary a forward focused company or organization.

“A leader is best when people barely know (s)he exists. When her/his work is done, her/his aim fulfilled, they will say ‘we did it ourselves.'” – Lao Tzu 

Below are the practices necessary to create a team to say “we did it ourselves”:

No ego about your making it happen, yet lots of focus on achieving the...

“Trust only movement. Life happens at the level of events, not of words. Trust movement.” ~Alfred Adler

To be a leader is to trust change. This perhaps is one of the most critical attributes to learn that it is not about trusting others or yourself it is about trusting the nature of life and that it will evolve and change.

“True, trust necessarily carries with it uncertainties, but we must force ourselves to think about these uncertainties as possibilities and opportunities, not liabilities.” Robert C. Solomon

The leaders who get this are able to make quantum leaps for themselves and their organizations. Consider any great leader you esteem and you will find them on the edge of change. They are out leading and living on the horizon reminding others of the goal, the vision, the future. These leaders have learned to be tolerant of mistakes of others knowing it will grow better leaders and create a stronger future. This is perhaps the true risk leaders take and...

“Follow your instincts. That’s where true wisdom manifests itself.” Oprah

To be a good leader you have to be a good follower. The ability to “follow” your instincts is an innate skill that takes practice to know, hear, understand and “follow”.

Can it be taught…no. It must be discovered through life experience …if you did not retain it from your childhood. We are all born with fabulous instincts and part of our socialization process muffles the voice of intuition and instinct.

“He did not arrive at this conclusion by the decent process of quiet, logical deduction, nor yet by the blinding flash of glorious intuition, but by the shoddy, untidy process halfway between the two by which one usually gets to know things.” Margery Allingham

Once you begin to look for your intuition and instincts….you will find it.

“Instinct is the nose of the mind.” Madame De Girardin

Here are some ways to find your...

“The key elements in the art of working together are how to deal with change, how to deal with conflict, and how to reach our potential…the needs of the team are best met when we meet the needs of individuals persons.” Max Dupree

To lead teams in multi locations takes open-mindedness and clear goals. Leaders who are able to maintain a fresh view on life and the world are the best people for this type of assignment. The ability to lead teams across the multi locations and/or the world requires the following:

“Conflict is inevitable in a team … in fact, to achieve synergistic solutions, a variety of ideas and approaches are needed. These are the ingredients for conflict.”
Susan Gerke

Solution Thinking – because of different time zones and cultures it takes patience, resiliency, and ingenuity to find places, times and ways to connect. Having the mindset to focus on “how to make this work…”, “I wonder if there is...

“We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible.” Vince Lombardi

Vince was right and wrong at the same time.

As leaders we are presented everyday with situations that are described by others as “impossible” and yet we find a way through. What allows the impossible to be possible is simply based on the leader’s ability to listen to all those who are telling you why it can’t happen and what the obstacles are to achieving the impossible. Once you understand all the parameters of an impossible situation you can find a way through. The ability to listen to all the concerns and face reality is fundamental and critical to making the impossible possible.

“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible’!” — Audrey Hepburn

Making the impossible possible requires a mindset that says, “there is a way through”. If you do not have this world view than anything impossible...

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.” ~Elbert Hubbard, The Note Book, 1927

Leadership and life are a continual learning process. To learn is to engage in new situations and experiences. This ability to step into fresh experiences and learning keeps leaders strong, capable and centered.

“Why?”, you ask…

Because Leaders may not have all the knowledge of where they are going, but they do have knowledge of how to learn and grow in any situation. Leaders are not afraid of making mistakes, in fact they are afraid they won’t make one ….which means they have grown complacent.

“It was when I found out I could make mistakes that I knew I was on to something.” ~Ornette Coleman

Related: The 5 Foundational Questions to Ask

Making mistakes are a true and bold sign of learning and growth. Once you get the hang of it you see the value in being wrong or your concepts not quite...