Let the Team Shine!

By Richard Russey

In my experience, one of the most critical factors of team leadership is best articulated by the wisdom of Lao Tzu, considered to be the “father” of Taoism:

"A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves."

Some leaders in our take charge, lead by shear force kind of world, will find the words of Lao Tzu anachronistic. Yet, I believe his thoughtful perception of a leader’s role vis-à-vis “the team” to be an enduring truism.

To bring his theory into the present, a recent client of mine was wont to say to me following a particularly successful delivery of a job: “Your team was superlative; but I know that a team cannot be successful without a good and effective leader.”

What are the elements of this approach to developing and leading a team of individuals towards group success? In my view the elements include:

Inclusiveness
Every member of a team is critical to the success of the team as a whole. You may recall that in one of my earlier postings on leadership I referred to my dislike for the practice of referring to staff by the monikers of “senior” and “junior.” You may also recall that I recognized that many hierarchical structures in organizations seem to have the need to sort out the positions of members of the team (staff) relative to one another. It is my view that we better serve our organizations and the people who work with us (rather than “for” us) by modeling true inclusiveness. This is done be recognizing and valuing the role that each and every member of the team plays. Some roles may involve more complex thinking, planning, and interacting, while others may be of a supportive and administrative nature. Nonetheless, ALL the activities of team members are critical to the successful outcome the group is striving to achieve. I submit that if a team member’s role is so unimportant as to not include them in all team meetings and communications and opportunities to contribute, then that particular position probably need not exist in an organization.

Leaders should ask themselves these questions: Do I regularly communicate with all of my team? Do I understand the value that each team member has the potentiality to play? Do I use the “team dynamic” to achieve the greatest level of success related to any given initiative or task? Do I treat team members as a group of equals, each with their own specific tasks to perform? Am I making the mistake of being supportive of some team members while being condescending towards others?

Communication
There are a multitude of ways to communicate with a team. As indicated above, it is critical to communicate with the team inclusively. Except in the rarest of circumstances that may involve extenuating circumstances, individual members of the team should not be left out of communications that will serve to support the team effort as a whole. No individual team member, whatever their role relative to the others should have to be in the embarrassing position of having to say, “But, I didn’t get that memo (email).”

Communicating with the team as a whole serves to reinforce the fact that every member of the team is important, and that all team members are expected to respect and honor one another as they work the path towards goal achievement and ultimate success. The methodologies of communication will vary depending on circumstances. The team leader’s role is to know when to communicate and what communication methodology is most appropriate for any given situation. There are times when an in-person team meeting is the most appropriate format to utilize. Typically, in-person team meetings are critical at the outset of a project, at certain milestone points during the project and at the point of a project wrap.

A number of factors will dictate how realistic the in-person meeting option is in reality. For example, are all team members co-located? Thanks to the wonders of technology, even teams that include members that are miles away may have productive group meetings via video-conferencing or phone-conferencing. E-mail communication should be used judiciously, as one of the commonalities all of us face in this new era of communication is overstuffed e-mail in-boxes. E-mailing is a time saver, but it must also be engaged in with great care. The nuance of communication experienced in face-to-face meetings is diminished in an e-mail. It is incumbent upon the e-mail sender to carefully construct a message that is clear, concise, and understandable. And, while it may be old-fashioned in this fast-paced “texting” oriented world, I am a proponent of utilizing whole sentences, capitalization, and correct punctuation in e-mail communications. To each their own style, of course, but my approach is that every time I communicate (either in person, via e-mail, or snail mail, or other) I am representing myself, my particular “brand,” to the outside world.

The larger point here is that whatever form communication may take; remember that as a team leader one has the responsibility to communicate inclusively, with specificity, and with conciseness. Anything less than that is less than the team deserves.

Macro-management
One common complaint by team members about their supervisor is that they are placed in a role related to specific tasks or activities that they are well qualified to perform but are then micromanaged by their leader to the point that they feel dispirited, undervalued, and inadequate. A leader serves their organization well to hire or position the best people to do certain tasks or groups of tasks then let them go to demonstrate their competence. This seems to be one of the most difficult things for some leaders to do because of their sense of responsibility to their supervisors, the CEO, the board, and importantly, the organization’s constituency. But, if a leader has confidence in the staffing choices made, then that should rollover to a sense of confidence that the team assembled has the right stuff to not only accomplish the tasks at hand, but to succeed with distinction.

So, leaders would be wise to get out of the business of micromanaging, and take on a new role, that of a “macro-manager.” That is, set forth the specifics related to any specific team goal (the scope of the work), provide the tools and resources needed by the team to do the job, facilitate the team dynamic, and honor the good work of the individual team members as well as the team collective.

Acknowledgement and Praise
A good team leader gives credit to the team frequently and publicly whenever and wherever possible. Good team leaders have the confidence to recognize that team success will inevitably accrue back to them. But, the really confident leadership trait to have is to draw attention to the team and not to oneself as leader. Again, following the idea that every team member is important and has value, this acknowledgement should at one point or another be shared with every person on the team. They all contributed, doing their part and accomplishing their tasks that led to the success of the overall team effort.

Acknowledgment and praise should not be shared only at the end of a project. Rather, the very first project team meeting should start with acknowledging the value of each team member, their particular role and unique contributions that are to play a part in the team’s success. A cautionary note: acknowledgment and praise should be sincere and specific; as the other side of that coin is that cynicism may be the reaction of team members if they feel that praise is inauthentic. If a leader has identified the right people to contribute to the team effort on any given task there will be copious opportunities to acknowledge individual and team efforts with authenticity.

Define “Team” Broadly
In today’s world of work, “teams” are fluid, flexible, and destined to change their make up and construction. Certain individuals may flow into then out of a team as different tasks and projects are undertaken. The leader’s job is to facilitate that flow and change, presenting it as exciting and energizing to an individual’s contribution to the organization. The entire staff of an organization should be led to recognize and value the idea of cross-teaming in order to address the needs of particular projects. The opposite of the excitement of fluid teams is an enervation that is destructive to individual and group morale.

Team members may include consultants, vendors, representatives from other organizations, individuals from an organization’s audience or constituency, and many other possibilities. Leaders would be wise to not restrict their concept of “team” too narrowly, as this leads to unnecessary constriction and deliverables that may be less stellar than they may be otherwise with the added influence and expertise of individuals outside an established team.

In Summary: The Tao of Team Revisited
Becoming a team leader that can facilitate the team dynamic such that the team will feel that they accomplished specific projects themselves requires a setting aside of ego that may be significantly challenging. However, in my view it is a requisite of effective team leadership. Remember, team success accrues to its leader naturally. One does not need to trumpet that news to the world, because the world is set up to “get” that leaders are acknowledged for the success of their organizations or teams.

Clearly, there is important work to be accomplished by a team leader: being inclusive in valuing and honoring every member of the team; communicating to all members of the team with modalities that are appropriate to a given situation; macro-managing by providing project goals and parameters, then letting go; and acknowledging and praising with authenticity and specificity.

The team leader’s role is not insignificant; but it is critical to recognize that the leader need not be the star. Let the team shine!