Your team will never perform at the highest possible level
if the members of the team don’t exhibit
genuine care and concern for one another.
Mark Miller
The secret to be found in Mark Miller’s new book, “The Secret of Teams, ” is what great teams, and of course, leaders, actually do. We all know and have read more than enough about what leaders should be doing, but the problem always seems to be in the execution. How do you make the transition from knowing to doing? How do you take your group from doing ho-hum, “good enough for government” work to a unit willing to pursue the best in themselves and in each other? “The Secret of Teams” is here to help you answer some of those concerns with concrete advice about implementation.
Talent, skill and community, Miller tells us is what makes great teams great.
The focus first must be on leadership
What kind of leader are you?
What picture do you project to your team? Or, perhaps a better question might be, what image would you like for your people to hold about you?
Authentically caring about the people in your charge, as a leader is vital. The people working with you will quickly see right through any façade you try to use. As the leader, knowing who you, and what you are not, what you know and can do, and what you cannot are important aspects of leading yourself, even before you worry about leading someone else. These are also important first steps in building a vital, vibrant and integrated team.
Great leaders and great teams don’t just “drift” into existence, to use Mark’s phrase. These teams and leaders focus consistently on developing and seeking out talent, honing new and old skills, and building a sense of community that makes a loosely associated group of people into a well-oiled, high-functioning, high-performing unit.
“Having the right talent starts with the right leader.”
Mark Miller
The team is everyone’s business and job
Every person on a high-functioning team hold first degree accountability for their team’s successes and failures.
Everyone on the team is on the lookout for fresh talent within and without to improve the team’s performance of its critical duties. One of the best interactions in the book is with a pit crew boss. He can already see some rudimentary skills in one of his newer young guys that may translate into being a great driver. He can only see this because he is paying attention and investing time into his crew. He knows his people.
Everyone is working to become the best version of themselves.
Everyone on the team is working to get better, both as individuals players, and as a unit.
Everyone wins and loses together, and each of these events is valued as important learning and growth opportunities.
Everything matters.
Everyone matters.
Great teams don’t just appear. They require hard work and dedication; but the dedication must be to the right things.
This is an important read, especially for teams and leaders who are struggling, for new leaders, and there are even has a few new wrinkles in how seasoned leaders should think about future team building.
Mark Miller, well known business leader, best-selling author, and communicator, is excited about sharing The Secret of Teams: What Great Teams Know and Do with those who are ready to grow. You can find it on Amazon and in bookstores everywhere.
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