What makes a winning team?

What are the key ingredients needed to develop winning teams and a winning environment?

The desire of CEO’s, HR’s, Managers and team leaders is to have not just a collection of people working in an organisation but to have ‘winning teams’.

Winning teams by their very nature are progressive, enthusiastic, eager to press and not settle for the status quo. They realise the importance of team work and understand the huge importance of training in order to be recognised as a winning team.

As John Maxwell says – ‘Teamwork makes the dream work’.

What are some of the characteristics of a winning team?

They are committed
Very intentional
Understand the importance of team work
Desire for training to grow themselves

The role of HR, CEO’s, managers and team leaders is vital if a team is to develop from a group of people employed to perform certain roles to become a strong winning team.

Employers and team leaders should look at their teams with a strong intention of – how can I make this team become the best they could ever be?

When employees understand that their superiors are not just wanting them to fulfil a role, but are committed in developing them to be the very best they can be – this is where teamwork grows and a winning team is birthed.

This in turn causes the heartbeat within the employer to beat even strong as they realise that they are not by themselves but they have a team who have a ‘winning attitude’ which enables the whole organisation to grow from good to great.

Good leadership is the ability to lead people to places they could not have gone without you. Click HERE to read a blog abut this.

You can either hire the hands and feet of people to perform a role – or you can hire their brains, vision and commitment – which will aid a group of individuals to become not just a team but a winning team. Every individual has value and insight they can bring to the table – but it takes a leader to draw that goodness out of them.

However this does not always come naturally to everyone, this is why training is so important. As I train and coach many people in various organisations I often see that there is a huge need and desire to formulate a programme for team leaders and managers in how to construct winning teams.

The choices a leader makes will determine their effectiveness – this is so true when it comes to building a winning team. To read more about a ‘The Leaders Choice’ click HERE.

If you don’t have a winning team then you have an average team. Average teams will die out because other organisations become better and stronger.

This is a crucial area that must be continually challenged and worked on to ensure survival of organisations.

Never think you are good enough or that you don’t need training on how to develop winning teams – why is this? – because winning is not a guaranteed position – it is a position that has to be worked for, trained for and kept.

With increased competition – the best return on investment is training – but not just any training. Training that will develop the whole team in order for each team member to see how important their role is, for them to bring their contribution to the table, to serve the rest of the team.

With a winning team comes a ‘winning environment’. One aspect I notice about a winning environment is that it does not start from the ground floor of an organisation – it starts from the very top.

The CEO, COO and MD set the environment which cascades down and permeates every fibre of the organisation. They realise that as John Wooden said – “The main ingredient for stardom is the rest of the team”.

Developing winning teams and a winning environment is a learnable skill. It is one that takes time, but it produces huge dividends for teams and organisations.

ACTION.

1. What are the actions you can put in to place today to strengthen your team and environment? Remember if nothing changes – nothing will change!

2. Who can you become accountable to in order to grow in your leadership to ensure your team and environment is positively impacted?

3. Do you have a Leadership Excellence Action Programme?

For a leader to grow to be the best leader they can be they must have in place a:

Leadership Excellence Action Programme.

Without it leaders often go from dealing with one situation to another, always giving and never receiving and often feeling they are just ‘coping’ in the leadership rather than ‘thriving’.

Those who commit to a personal Leadership Excellence Programme are taking responsibility for developing their leadership in order to become increasingly effective which has huge rewards and benefits.