Teamwork – It’s not kumbaya, it’s WORK!

Since I was a kid, it seems that the holy grail of working with others has always been the elusive “team” work. Thousands upon thousands of books have been written on the topic. Many of those books provide magical theories or models for developing teams and subsequently team work. Having read many of those books I can say that most offer great ideas and very logical models that help us understand the certain aspects of successful teams. Few however address what I believe to be the root of effective teams. While I can’t and won’t say that any other author is incorrect in their premise or approach, I can and will say that the reality of successful teams is much simpler than most would have you believe. I suggest however that you not confuse simple with easy because for most of us, teamwork goes against our basic nature and it simply ain’t easy.

While by no means rocket science, if we dig into each of those four we might find some nuggets to work with.

Let me go on record before we go any farther and say that great teams almost always have great leaders. The leader sets the tone, establishes the expectations and provides the example for others to follow. So if anyone tries to tell you that good teams don’t need a leader, they are misinformed or worse yet, have deluded themselves into believing what is a near impossibility. While some teams may not have a defacto leader, all will have a leader or by definition it would not be a team. Without a leader, these four attributes are, in most cases, not possible.

So let’s break these attributes down.

• A Shared Goal – while most would say this goes without saying, few actually demonstrate that belief beyond words. I don’t want to confuse things, but I use the word “shared” on purpose. Many teams have “common” goals which means everyone has the same individual goal, but establishing a “shared” goal means establishing a finish line that can only be crossed by all or by none. Each member of a senior executive team controls levers that can impact organizational goals in a positive or negative way. A shared goal requires those levers be pulled in concert, not isolation, for individual benefit or achievement.

  Setting a shared goal seems to make sense, so why then do so many fail to set one? The answer goes back to what I said at the outset, it requires work. It takes real effort by the leader and open collaboration of the team members. Unfortunately, collaboration tends to be much like having a shared goal, everyone talks about it but few actually practice it.

• Selflessness / Ego less Behaviors – to successfully collaborate, both parties have to demonstrate a certain level of selflessness which is why setting that shared goal can be so difficult. Even after a team establishes the shared goal, the selflessness requirement continues on. I mentioned above that each member of a team typically has levers that they control which can impact the shared goal. As a team member we have to remember that it’s not about me, it’s not about what it costs me versus another, it is about the team and the team’s goal. In that same vein, the team members have to leave their egos outside the team. That does not mean that they give up their ego, it means they keep it in check and grasp the fact that no one on the team is any more or any less important than anyone else on the team. In a sense, they have to see the team as a jigsaw puzzle that is incomplete without the proper pieces.
• Familiarity – this attribute is the one that tends to get the most attention by organizations when they talk about “building teams.” While important, familiarity is something that occurs naturally in the teaming process. Using simple techniques to better understand each other, how we think, our tendencies, etc. is a great practice, but focusing solely on this attribute only leads us to our kumbaya ideal. Familiarity is about knowing teammates and accepting them as they are and having them accept you in the same manner. Familiarity also allows for team members to not judge other team members. Familiarity leads to understanding and to knowing when things are personal and when they are not.
• Individual Competence – this goes without saying, however, I unfortunately run into numerous cases where competence is overlooked. The rea son being that leaders misunderstand or err in how they define the word. Competence relates to far more than someone’s ability to generate results from within their professional domain. Competence in this sense relates to the person’s ability to generate results working with, around and thru others and being good at it.

To draw in an example that I think most can relate to I offer you what many other coaches would offer, a sports team story. Normally I hate it when consultants or others in the business world start talking about team sports and teamwork. I hate it because people tend to get too wrapped up in the motivational aspect of the stories, the Cinderella teams, etc., or in stories of teams that conquered all odds. While there is value in those stories, I think too many focus on the wrong aspect. So to avoid doing what I disdain I am not going to use an inspirational sports story. Instead I am going to use an instructional situation!

In the April 2011 edition of Fast Co., Chuck Salter penned one of the most descriptive articles on what it takes to be a successful team that I have ever come across. He used the Miami Heat to teach the world about real teamwork. The Heat have been a dominant force since that year, not because they had the most talent – there are plenty of teams in the NBA that are loaded with talent. No, they are dominant for the same reason that the Spurs and several others are perennial power houses and consistently return to the playoffs, because they play as a team.

Salter’s article speaks to three buddies (Wade, James and Bosh) that all entered the league in 2003, each becoming “the” dominant force and leader for his respective team. Each possesses incredible talent and the ability to lead his teammates. When they came together they did so with a shared goal already in mind – a championship. To come together, however, they each had to make sacrifices in terms of money, scoring opportunities and leading. Each player also had to check his ego within the confines of the team and give what was needed for the team to succeed; which meant giving the ball to others and trusting in their skills. Each player knew the other players intimately (familiarity) and each worked to be the best he could be and to helped his teammates to be their best as well (competence). That team has prospered and continues to prosper today because they get better at teamwork each season.

There will always be detractors to my example that prefer to talk about talent and structure (rules, models & gimmicks) as means to the end. Those detractors may be able to get short-term results from such an approach, however, I don’t know many successful organizations that turnover their senior staff every year (like a lot of basketball teams do)! The best teams historically (not flash in the pan winners), in sports and in business, all share those four attributes. So if it is a team that you want, lose the kumbaya thinking – step up and be the leader that establishes what it will take to be part of your team and then practice what you preach.