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6 Keys to a Winning Team

As a business owner or executive you have to wear many hats in the day to day of running a successful business: Sales, Marketing, Finance, HR, …and so on.

But particularly in small to medium size businesses the most important one gets forgotten – you have to be a leader.

It’s not just about what you do, it’s not just about logical steps, it’s about the person you choose to BE from moment to moment and day to day.

Are you the kind of leader that YOU that would be inspired to follow?

To help you to develop good leadership habits, I want to share with you the six keys to a creating a winning team and becoming a better leader.

1. Strong Leadership
Definitions of strong leadership are many and varied, but I’d start by asking a question: Would people follow you... if you weren’t paying them?

In fact, would people pay to follow you as their leader? Maybe not, but it’s an interesting test. Isn't it?

As a strong leader you need to know where you’re going, you need to be able to articulate it clearly and with a passion so that others are enrolled into your vision and are inspired by it.

You need to be seen to have confidence and determination and to hold firm to strong principles even when the going gets tough.

2. Common Goal
You can’t lead people anywhere unless they know where you’re going.

There needs to be a clear goal or vision that everyone knows.

Everyone has to relate to it, be inspired by it, and understand how it will benefit them? Most importantly it's not about the money.

Imagine everyone is hearing you tell them the goal and silently asking “What’s In It For Me?”. And everyone needs to know what their role is – their contribution – in achieving the common goal.

If I came into your office and asked everyone to tell me the common goal, and to each tell me what they are responsible for doing toward it – would they all be able to tell me without hesitation?

3. Rules of The Game
In any organization there needs to be a widely understood set of rules and they need to be in writing so that there’s no room for misunderstandings.

I recommend these exist in every business, not necessarily as a poster on the walls (though it can be), but neither should it be buried in a 50-page employee handbook that no one’s opened since it was handed to them.

What I talking about is 5-15 defined success behaviors of how we act and how we get things done.

This is about defining the culture of your business and how you act towards each other, your clients, vendors, and even your competitors.

These rules of the game will guide you to find the right team members that will be inspired by your company vision or common goal

4. Action Plan
As the saying goes “Positive thought without positive ACTION leads to positively nothing!”.

There needs to be a series of cohesive plans that cover the long-term (3-5 years), the current year, the current quarter, and the current week.

At the individual level it needs to be very detailed. It’s very important for people to know what the plan is for today!

Needless to say – today’s plan might be very brief and expressed verbally while the long-term plan must be in writing.

This is about how we will work together to achieve our common goal.

5. Support Risk-Taking
It can be tough to let people take risks, but the alternative where you micro-manage every decision and every action is a far worse alternative.

It’s important to encourage and support your team in taking considered risks. And when something goes wrong – and it will – you need to turning it into a training opporutunity! Yes, I know that can be hard.

You need to ensure that the lesson is learned and that next time the right actions will be taken. But understand if you want to move quickly and grow, there are going to be a few mistakes along the way.

Yes, this could be costly. Just think of this cost as part of your training budget.

6. 100% Involvement and Inclusion
Involving people on a ‘need to know’ basis doesn’t work. You can’t keep people continuously inspired and motivated by telling them the minimum.

Let everyone know WHY things need to be done, and what the benefits are, not just WHAT.

Get everyone feeling involved and ensure that there’s a culture where they feel valued, feel listened to, and feel they can make a difference.

As the saying goes one bad apple will destroy the entire barrel. Don't let those who are dis-engaged in your company destroy what you are trying to create.

Take Action
Hopefully you have picked up some ideas tat you can apply to your business right away. My company is ActionCOACH, not Think about it Coach. So it's time to take Action.

If you have any questions or need some guidance in implementing these 6 Keys to a winning a team please to schedule a free strategy session with me and discover the possibilities.