A true leader achieves results through others and if you have every team member there with you at the end of the journey, this is true success! To align your team for success in 2021, consider the incredible teamwork that leads to outstanding results in Formula 1, for example 5 second pit stops and working with a team of almost 800 people that make a win by Daniel Riccardo possible. High performance teams rely on strong leadership, clarity of goals, selfless teamwork, innovation through constant learning and a winning culture. If you’re either part of a team or, a team leader you have a chance now to ensure effective team leadership happens in 2021!
“There is no ‘I’ in team but there is in win” Michael Jordan
Leadership Gaps impact Teams
The SAL Report “Do Australian Leaders Have what it takes” shows that Australian organisations should be concerned about the state of leadership and management capability as well as impacts on teams. In Section 2.3 of the report Why leadership matters, it is highlighted thatleadership is found to have both positive and negative consequences for team dynamics and outcomes, including communication, learning, effectiveness, conflict and conflict resolution, and support for team creativity and emergent leaders. By learning from this research, you will build better outcomes for you as a leader and for your team.
Leadership Team Alignment is a “Differentiator”
In a Chief Executive publication, Jack McGuinness emphasises that “Alignment Is the Cornerstone of Great Leadership Teams.” Invery simple terms, a leadership team is aligned when all members of the team are in sync to accomplish a common purpose. More specifically, an aligned leadership team debates well, proactively supports each other, is laser focused on what is most important, and is committed to learning and improving. Perhaps most importantly, an aligned leadership team has confidence in its ability to get back in sync after inevitable periods of dysfunction.
The opposite of leadership team alignment is chaos and dysfunction which can result in misuse of resources, fractured relationships among team members, and cross-unit infighting. Of course, no leadership team is perfectly aligned all of the time and a number of dynamics contribute to teams getting out of sync. Individual team members have diverse styles, come from varying backgrounds and experiences, and are motivated differently. Quite naturally team members interpret situations, make assumptions, and come to conclusions based on these factors, which can sometimes be at odds with their colleagues. Additionally, the fast pace of leading an organization often disrupts communications and interactions among team members. Finally, some leadership teams lack the necessary discipline and structure (i.e., meeting management, communications, etc.) to stay in alignment.
There are several approaches for assessing leadership team alignment and for taking action to help teams get back in sync and these include – assess; engage; commit! Leadership Team Alignment is not some conceptual exercise or feel good encounter. Rather, it is a serious and thoughtful outcome of the reflection and hard work that team members put into fulfilling their potential as a team. Great leadership teams can be a key differentiator as organizations work to achieve competitive advantage.
5 Simple Steps for Team Alignment
In Forbes, Maynard Webb outlines “How to Align Large Teams — Or Any Team.” Inmany ways, team alignment is the same whether you have 2, 20 or 2,000 people in your team! There are some things you should do in order to work well together whether you are working with different teams or different departments that have different roles but need to get along. These are the five things that are necessary when aligning a team:
· Get alignment on goals
· Engage in broad communication
· Implement decision-making guidelines
· Find ways to surface issues
· Celebrate the wins and give validation to incentivise people
CONTACT THE TEAM ABOUT TEAM BUILDING FOR 2021
Put the Oxygen Mask on myself “First”
In my blog “Being a Great Leader and Having a Life,” I highlight what is really important in life including being kind to myself, balancing my priorities and having faith in my team. Jessica DeGroot, the owner of the ThirdPath Institute, was determined to find an answer to the question of helping people make time for family, work, and life in general that also included team impacts. She partnered with a group of senior managers from a range of businesses from law firms to Fortune 500 companies because they all had the common goal of proving that work-life balance is achievable for leaders. Believe me, it is, and it will make you a much better leader. “When you get leaders to behave differently, it sends a signal to the rest of the organisation that they can behave differently, too.”
When leaders pioneered this new way of thinking, ThirdPath discovered that there were three relationships that needed skills developed in order to bring about the necessary change. Leaders need to learn how to make plans with their families to put them and their home first, to change how they work with their teams at work, and how to change their mindset of work-life balance being a mere pipe-dream; instead, believing that the change is possible and that they should try and achieve it, and speak out about it whenever possible.
Having faith in your team is important, as you’ll be putting more responsibility onto them as you change the culture in your workplace. Demonstrating yourself that family comes first and that everyone needs a life, will spread throughout your team and help make introducing strategies for work-life balance much easier. Things like allowing staff to work remotely like we do now and/or with flexible hours have been shown to reduce staff turnover, which in turn reduces your recruiting costs while increasing productivity and morale. Small things like allowing staff to start earlier to finish earlier, or to work from home a day or two a week, will see your organisation reaping the benefits of increased results.
Change your Leadership Behaviour NOW!
Who would love to join me in 2021 to be a Leader for the future of work and also become verified in Empathy, Communication, Collaboration, Drive and Initiative from Veriskills. I am delivering a 20 week group and online program to build GREAT LEADERS starting in February.
LeadershipHQ are excited to be working with Veriskills where our Leadership Essentials Program where you are awarded for Collaboration outcomes. The Leadership Essentials Program is either a self-paced (not Veriskills) or a group and one on one leadership program which takes 6-9 months and gives participants the human capabilities, tools, skills and resources to be the best person and leader they can be. The Human Capability outcomes you will be awarded on completion of our Leadership Essentials program are as follows:
· Initiative and Drive (Level 3)
· Communication (Level 3)
· Collaboration (Level 3)
· Empathy (Level 3)
Click here to learn more about Veriskills™, and the Human Capability Framework.
This program and coaching will take your leadership skills to the next level!
Leadership isn’t easy and sometimes we need help. I am always here.
And, remember, Leadership starts from within, so grab my latest book FIRST COMES COURAGE!
Get in touch today to learn more about building leadership skills and set yourself up for success!
Stay Kind. Stay Courageous.
Sonia x
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