I’m fairly confident that most have, at least once in their lives, heard the John C. Maxwell quote: “teamwork makes the dream work.” If not this specific quote, something along the same lines suggesting the notion of the importance and power of collaborative efforts. This is certainly true, as a fiercely social species, humans work exceptionally well as a collective playing off of the strengths of others. However, the process of teamwork is not always smooth, as Maxwell notes in the latter half of his quotation: “but a vision becomes a nightmare when the leader has a big dream and a bad team.” How can a leader steer a team toward a dream come true?
There are key factors to ensuring a strong sense of teamwork among your coworkers or employees. There must be several facets of teamwork accounted for to ensure all members of a collaboration can and will effectively contribute to the fullest of their ability. Ideally, your team members need to work under structured guidelines, feel their participation is valued and meaningful, and be able to trust their associates.
The most important quality of a team is the trust your colleagues have among themselves. They must feel confident their actions and efforts will not be mocked or attacked, and this confidence is the underlying cause for other aspects of a productive team. This feeling of security allows greater creative thinking as more people share their ideas, more loyalty to their employer and a positive working environment, including trust in their team to get their respective workload done. Giving clear structure allows team members to formulate meaningful goals, feel confident about their work, and find significance and pride in what they do, in order to ultimately feel their work is impactful and important. These feelings intensify under a strong and understanding leader who actively encourages healthy teamwork.
Any leaders looking to improve their teams have come to the right place. With executive life coaching from Brain Basics, you can improve the efficiency and happiness of your
employees and coworkers. If you intend to better your leadership skills and build a high performing team, contact us to speak to a certified coach to discover how to make your dream team your reality.