What Successful Leaders Do Differently
[5-10 min read]
When working with teams, my co-coach and I regularly ponder and reflect on the journey a team goes through on the way to becoming more effective. Things like:
Teams continually surprise you – especially when we’re coaching the team in the moment [as you would with an individual]. It’s relatively unprescribed, so you never know what you’re going to get!
How we must hold the space [and our nerve], for the team’s growth to emerge and to trust the team and the process, rather than jumping in and directing, when things get a bit tricky or awkward.
And that team learning is most definitely not linear or consecutive: lumps and bumps, going backwards and forwards is all par for the course. This means it can feel somewhat messy – and that’s the point - it’s the team’s learning, not the coach’s.
Why some teams thrive and some don’t
After several years of working with teams to help them increase their effectiveness, we’ve noticed how some continue to thrive post the engagement with us, and others stall completely. Some continue the learning and some retreat back to working in silos, in the months following a team development program.
What makes the difference?
When we looked at this more closely, we’ve realised that the difference comes down to the degree to which the leader has continued to prioritise the team’s behaviour, its collective learning and accountability, [including commitments made to each other]- or not.
Without strong leadership you can’t expect anything to happen or be sustained in an organisation or a business unit. This is particularly the case, post any development program – no matter how good it was at the time, what models were used and how engaging the facilitator!
Throughout and post programs, the team leader needs to be willing and able to stay the course when team members get wobbly and when they look to blame external factors for their poor peer relationships, performance and/or the lack of team cohesion. Strong team leadership is quite simply, a critical success factor in team effectiveness.
If a team lacks focus or follow-through, if there are unresolved conflicts, tension, or superficial politeness evident, the first place to look is the to the team’s leadership.
Members of any team, contribute to its function or dysfunction in myriad ways. Team development programs will shine a light on this, inviting members to identify and shape what’s working or not, in how they work together and supporting them to co-create a new future for themselves to the benefit of their stakeholders.
But for a team to be high performing and high value creating as a collective ongoing, the success will come down to how well that team is led and how much of a focus the leader places on holding firm on those agreed ways of working.
The leader is responsible for the success of their people
Our clients will have heard us say that the leader is responsible for the success of their people – or lack thereof. This includes the successful performance of each team member as well as the team as an entity. If not the leader, who else?
At the same time, the team leader can’t and shouldn’t be responsible for everything and must be able to delegate responsibility for a variety of outcomes to their people.
Ruth Wageman, a highly respected Harvard academic and author of Senior Leadership Teams: What It Takes to Make Them Great (Wageman et al, 2008), has a model for describing where leadership (authority) sits in any given team.
PHQ has used this model to help clients understand the distinct role of the leader / manager, how we then coach the team and in turn, how successful the team is likely to be.
The labels across the bottom show the four levels of authority, from Manager-led teams to Self-governing teams. The labels at the left-hand side, show the distribution of responsibility at each level.
Whilst we may see other possible levels and types of teams, what this model shows is the need to be very clear on:
Where responsibility for the team’s performance sits, and
The leadership role (whether this is a single leader, or many) in holding the focus on its performance.
5 things leaders can do during and post team development engagement
So, what can you do as a leader to up the ante on yourself?
Step forward boldly and regularly into the conversation
Leaders need to communicate requirements, provide regular and ongoing feedback, and bring a level of compassion to relationships whilst staying the course. Doing this means they will be more likely to be able to mobilise results from their people and ensure they maintain focus on key areas.
These leaders demonstrate how to regroup quickly after setbacks, they don’t blame/make excuses and they honour their role as the leader of people and the responsibility that comes with that.
Know where accountability and responsibility for the team performance lies
As a result of point 1, team members will know the part each plays in ensuring the team’s success. They also know they’ll be held to the agreed standards of individual and collective success and expect to be.
Have a coach or be part of an ongoing Peer Learning Group
Leaders who maintain a commitment to their own development, will demonstrate a willingness to work on themselves before they expect their team to do the same.
Leaders who engage in their own development, seek feedback and work hard not to give in to the natural compulsion of getting into the detail that comes from their prior role. In turn, they create time and space to coach their direct reports and take that on as a key part of their role.
Create a culture of team learning and collective performance in their team
Creating a culture of team learning comes with the commitment to create a safe space for discussion, feedback and ideas, and for ‘holding the space’ for this discussion – as a coach might. It means the leader will demonstrate how to give and receive feedback and will encourage team members to do the same with each other.
Hold accountability where it needs to be
Once team members are clear on their individual and collective development areas, strong leadership means holding firm on agreed outcomes and puts accountability where it needs to be.
A strong leader will also hold firm on performance expectations, both measurable and behavioural, to obtain the culture they know needs to be in place so they can deliver on their commitments to the organisation.
Consider this …
Think about any team development initiative you’ve been part of: what role did you play as a leader or contributor?
Have you ever solicited a team development program in the past, that didn’t create the change you wanted in your team? What role did you play in that outcome? What behaviours did you showcase later, that were incongruent to what you learned during the program?
What behaviours are you displaying now? Are they consistent with the leader you aspire to be and/or what you know your key stakeholders require of you?
If you’re a team leader – what commitment did you demonstrate towards the importance of the learning
- during the program and
- after it?
What is your commitment to your team’s collective performance now? Do you find yourself managing each team member separately as they ‘upward delegate’ things to you that ideally, they’d be sorting out between themselves?
Do you actively help resolve tensions, deal with underperformance, or do you avoid those conversations best you can!
Are you truly willing to hear feedback from your team or might you take it personally, hold a grudge, or just nod and go in the other direction anyway?
Strong, self-directed teams are critical to organisational success
Teams are the bedrock of organisations. A team that can galvanise the unique skills and capabilities of all its members and importantly, work together in a joined-up way, will solve problems faster, more creatively and lift overall effectiveness to benefit stakeholders.
That’s why we engage our clients more and more with Team Coaching as distinct from Team building and facilitation. A team with a commitment to ongoing learning and with strong team leadership, will continue to develop well past our involvement. And that’s how it should be.
“A coach is someone who tells you want you don’t want to hear and has you see what you don’t want to see, so you can be who you have always known you can be.”
If you’d like to learn more about how to create an ongoing coaching culture read on.
Creating a culture of learning and coaching in Teams
Team Coaching is not “tree hugging” nor is it sitting in a circle singing “kumbaya” [as was a recent concern of a team member!]. It’s not an attempt to mollycoddle underperformers either. It is about elevating people by building out the strengths already within them and helping them see what’s holding them back from being the best they can be as an individual and importantly, as a member of a team.
We see how much our clients genuinely want to help their teams succeed. They want to set the benchmark for performance and a learning culture within their organisation – they just need a little help to do it.
It’s for this reason that we run our team coaching programs. They are designed to help leaders create an environment that elevates individual and team performance by integrating coaching approaches and principles, whilst doing the work of the day.
If you're interested in finding out more about what team coaching is or how it may be useful to your team book in a 15 min call with me.
Till then, our best wishes go out to you, your teams and your families.
Jacqui + the team at PHQ
About the author
Jacqui Ferris is a respected Executive & Team Coach, with over 20 years’ organisational experience, working in organisations across Australia and New Zealand.
Her key focus areas include coaching senior leaders and teams to create a shared focus and undertaking, which in turn creates value for their organisations, and stakeholders.
Jacqui is the Managing Director of PHQ. She and her colleagues design, deliver and embed tailored individual & leader development programs for organisations.
References
Wageman, R, Nunes, D.A, Burruss, J.A, and Hackman, J.R. 2008, Senior Leadership Teams: What It Takes to Make Them Great, Harvard Business School Press, Boston
Woudstra, Georgina.2021. Mastering the Art of Team Coaching. A comprehensive guide to unleash the power, purpose and potential in any team – the importance of leadership in team coaching.