This post originally published on www.blueprintforleadership.com
Coming together is a beginning, staying together is a process and working together is a success
- Henry Ford
The Powerful Ingredient
As a leader, one of the truths in a team based setting you often experience is "You are as good as your team". A team that performs makes the leader look good, and the teams that don't...well.. no one looks good. To get the best out of the team is always an outcome associated with leadership. For a team to work together, and perform successfully, what is the vital ingredient that gels the team together? Here's an insight that generally holds good for teams that perform. For a team to perform successfully, they must connect together. For a team to connect together, they must be engaged. Engaged with the job or the mission at hand. Engaged with each other, engaged with their leader. In a nutshell, team engagement is a powerful ingredient that brings about improved performance of a team.
The Science of Team Dynamics
How relevant is team engagement in lifting the team dynamics? When a team is engaged, they relate to the mission of the team, the overall mission of the organisation. They believe in the vision of the leader, believe in what's possible through their efforts. When you work hard for the things you believe in, it creates passion. When you work hard for things you don't believe in, it creates stress. How many teams and individuals do you observe who are stressed at work? Chances are, they aren't engaged with their jobs, and whatever effort they put in, they feel it's a lost cause. Over time, what does this result in? Staff absenteeism; people just 'getting by' their days, happy to do just the bare minimum; people leaving the organisation. Certainly not a Win-Win situation- with the people being stressed and the business losing its productivity.
Compare this to those who love what they do. Just the mention of their work lights them up, and they speak passionately about why they do what they do. Work for them is not 'just another day', but an opportunity to do what they love, go the extra mile, to learn something new, and to grow- their career and themselves.
Questions to Ponder
So, here's something to think about- in your ventures, which of the above scenarios do you or your team relate to more often? Do you perform at desirable levels? Consistently? If you do not have a team for your business, this question is still relevant. Your team can also include people you collaborate with- your partners, suppliers, even customers. After all, any such collaboration is team work, right? If they do not relate or engage with you, what are the chances that they would like to work with you again?
It is true that a leader is as good as his/her team. What is also true that a leader can create an environment where the team is inspired to perform at their best. Effective leaders realise the importance of team engagement and what it means to the team performing and bonding well. Whether you are a designated leader of your team or not, what does your environment create- inspiration or desperation? Passion or stress?
If team engagement and performance is something you are curious about, stay tuned for my next article, which takes a closer look at team engagement. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at arpan@armanconsultancy.com.au or visit us at www.blueprintforleadership.com.