Ingredients That Make the Best Teams Successful
Great teams have great leaders and great individuals. They all work together to raise the overall performance of the team.
What makes the best teams successful?
In every aspect of life — whether it’s in business, school, or sports — a team can accomplish and achieve more than any individual. But what is it about the great teams that take them to the top?
Is it the leader? Could having the best leader, manager, or coach be the key, regardless of who is on the team?
Is it having the most talented people? Is a star athlete or executive the main ingredient to team success?
Or are there other factors, or a collection of factors, that help some teams reach unbelievable heights while other groups never get off the ground?
Sports offer a terrific perspective on winning teams. We can see one team defeat another on the field or court. We can watch a team win a championship at the end of the season, and watch players on that team win individual awards.
Let’s look to some of sports’ most inspiring and successful coaches to see how we can create and develop business teams that will succeed at the highest levels.
Winning teams work together for common goals.
“All winning teams are goal-oriented…Teams like these win consistently because everyone connected with them concentrates on specific objectives. They go about their business with blinders on; nothing will distract them from achieving their aims.”
– Lou Holtz, national championship-winning head coach at Notre Dame, college football TV analyst, and the only coach to lead six schools to bowl games
Winning teams are goal-oriented. Losing teams lack focus.
Lou Holtz, one of college football’s greatest coaches and a beloved TV commentator and public speaker, believes that all winning teams are goal-oriented.
Holtz points to some of the best NFL teams of the last 50 years — the Green Bay Packers, the Dallas Cowboys, and the San Francisco 49ers. He argues that these teams — and all successful teams — win because everyone on the team concentrates on their goals and nothing else. They practice and play as if wearing blinders, oblivious to anything or anyone who could distract them from the mission.
On the other hand, losing teams in sports, Holtz contends, lack focus. Often, they are more a group of individuals rather than a team. Each individual concentrates more on their own agendas than acting in the best interest of the team.
It’s true in business and in any aspect of life. If you want to lead your team to the top, you have to keep the goal in mind at all times. You have to make sure everyone on your team knows what the one thing is that will take your business and your team to the top and keep it there.
The leader must guide each individual’s work to help the organization as a whole and not act in their own self-interests. Or, as the leader, you can align the goals for each team member in a way that benefits the individual and the team overall.
Successful teams have leaders who are open about what is expected of each person.
“A guy may have the potential to be the best player of all time. He’s able, agile, and intelligent. Yet unless he is totally committed to the team and victory as a unit, he won’t win ball games. And winning is the name of the game.”
– Vince Lombardi, head coach of the Green Bay Packers and winner of five NFL Championships, including the first two Super Bowls
Great teams have leaders who are honest with each employee and explain what is expected of them.
Mike Krzyzewski, probably better known as Coach K, is one of the most successful basketball coaches today. In addition to five national championships at Duke, he led USA Basketball to three Olympic gold medals. People often forget, though, that Krzyzewski inherited a U.S. team that had failed to win its last Olympic and World Championship basketball tournaments.
Coach K had to select a team of players who could collectively restore the United States’ place on top of the basketball world. He assembled some of the best NBA players, including Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, DwyaneWade and others.
Then, before the team practices began,Krzyzewski met individually with each one and outlined the role each of them would play with the team.
Krzyzewski believes that when you build a team, the individuals on that team must be told specifically what is expected of them. The leader should outline what role that person will play on the team. He or she should be open about what individual goals that team member must meet to help the team achieve its goals. The leader should listen to that individual and allow him or her input into what he or she can provide the team.
By having this conversation from the beginning, each team member knows what to expect. That honest and open dialogue will set the tone for future team communication and collaboration.
Every team member has a role on great teams.
“I wanted every member of our basketball team to understand that the goal was to make ourselves into the best team we could possibly be, not to create a star.”
– John Wooden,head coach of the UCLA basketball team, winner of 10 national championships in a 12-year period, and seven-time national coach of the year
Great teams usually have star performers, but not every person on that team is a star.
John Wooden, the famed UCLA basketball coach, compared sports to movies in order to illustrate how teams fit and work together to achieve the best results.
In a movie, there are usually one or two star actors or actresses. But they can’t make a great movie by themselves. They need supporting actors — those individuals with lesser roles, but roles that are critical to the telling of a great story. They also need a producer, director, screenwriter, lighting specialists, camera operators and so many more people to create the film.
A star athlete alone rarely helps his or her team win a championship, much like a top actor can’t make a classic movie if the rest of the performances or the writing or the directing are bad.
Every team member has to come together to make the collective team the best it can be.
The leader must recognizehe or she cannot do everything alone and expect great success. We have teams for a reason. We must put each team member in position to help the organization succeed.
Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest NBA players of the last 20 years. He won five NBA titles and was an 18-time All-Star with the Los Angeles Lakers. One of the keys to Kobe’s success, he believes, was that he constantly tried to learn from others who had succeeded themselves. And one of his greatest lessons came from one of the greatest players of the previous generation — Bill Russell.
Russell acknowledged that his critics often pointed out that he couldn’t dribble or shoot very well. But as the Boston Celtics’ center, why should he need to excel at those skills? Why would he shoot outside jump shots with sharpshooter Sam Jones on the team? Why would he lead the Celtics on fast breaks when they had star guard Bob Cousy on the team?
If you want to win championships — Bill Russell won 11 NBA championships with the Celtics — you have to let other team members do what they do best so you can focus on what you do best.
Sure, you could make every sales call, respond to every customer complaint, and require every decision to come through your office. But your business will quickly become stagnant.
Hire the best people for the skills you need in your company. Then let those people do what they do best. Don’t micromanage them either. Encourage them to give their best at those tasks and get out of the way.
Use that time to instead focus on the few skills and tasks you do best.
If everyone on the team — including you as the leader — focuses on what each one is supposed to be doing and then does it to the best of their abilities, the performance of the team as a whole will far surpass anything you can imagine.
Teams should have standards, not rules.
“If your organization or team is performing poorly, perhaps it’s because you don’t ask enough of your people. Never be afraid to demand excellence. But remember, the standards you establish for others must reflect the standards you set for yourself. No one will follow a hypocrite.”
– Lou Holtz
Teams should adhere to standards, not follow rules.
Coach K begins every season by sitting down with his players and discussing the standards they believe the team should live and work by. He allows the Duke seniors to establish the standards for that year’s Blue Devils team. As coach of USA Basketball, he allowed each player to offer one or more standards to which the team would adhere.
With his USA Basketball team, the players set standards such as “We have each other’s backs”, “We do the dirty work”, and “We play hard every possession.”
Krzyzewski believes that standards are far more powerful than rules. When a leader makes rules for the team, each individual can choose to follow or break them. The team members don’t own or live the rules.
On the other hand, the team lives by its standards. It’s what they do — day in and day out. The team works together to develop the standards that will define their actions. Those standards keep each team member accountable.
Organizations and teams within the business should work together to establish standards based on the nature of the team and its goals. Once everyone agrees to the standards for behavior, action, and attitude, the team will become united with a common purpose.
Take time to work with your team to establish the standards you will work and live by. You will never have to think about what you should or should not do. Your standards then become what you do and who you are.
Lou Holtz had many standards for his Notre Dame teams. One standard was that every player arrived on time — for every practice, meeting, meal, and any other team activity.
One year during his tenure as the Fighting Irish head coach, Holtz took his team to Los Angeles as the number one ranked team in the country. Notre Dame would soon take on #2 USC. It was his team’s biggest game all season, and it could set up the team for a championship.
In the weeks leading up to the battle, Holtz had issues with two of his players. They were late for everything, including practices, meals and meetings. He tried everything he knew to do to get them to show up on time — discipline, yelling, and more. Finally, he had enough. He told his players that if they were late for anything and for any reason, even if it wasn’t the players’ fault, they would sit out the next game.
That threat of missing a game worked for a little while. The players arrived on time like the rest of the players on the team. The night before the game, in Los Angeles, these players showed up for the pre-game meeting 40 minutes late. Holtz stuck to his guns and suspended the players for the USC game.
The problem was that the two players were arguably the best athletes on the team. One was the team’s top running back, and the other was the best wide receiver. Holtz knew he needed the players and that he could lose the game without them. But he decided to stick to his principles and send them home. In fact, as the plane left before the game with his star players on it, his only regret was that he didn’t make them walk home.
Holtz could have given in, rationalizing that he needed the skills those players brought to the team, even if they had ignored team standards. But then he knew he would lose the support of his players, who all knew and followed those standards every day.
It turns out that not having those two players didn’t hurt Notre Dame that day. Without them, the Fighting Irish won the game anyway. Holtz later thought the win was a reward for doing the right thing.
Once your team has established standards, insist that every team member follows them and acts by them. Don’t allow individuals to ignore them. Take action to get offending individuals in line. The rest of the team will respect those who up hold the team’s standards.
Great teams have multiple leaders.
“A leader has to realize that he is not always the best, most talented, or smartest one in the room.”
– Mike Krzyzewski, Duke University basketball coach and winner of five NCAA national championships and three Olympic gold medals
Great teams have multiple leaders.
One of the skills Coach K believes has contributed to his success is his ability to develop leaders within the team. Both at Duke and with USA Basketball, Krzyzewski has had great players on his teams. He encourages the talented ones, as well as some of the hard workers who aren’t stars, to take leadership roles within the team.
Study the different skills and leadership qualities of each of your team members. Allow each of them to have a voice and express their ideas. Show that their voices and opinions matter.
Find individuals with different talents and allow them to work together in a way that turns the overall combination of strengths into a powerful leadership force.
The best teams have leaders who help each person grow.
“Don’t stifle the growth of your team members or their opportunities for advancement. Show your loyalty by encouraging them to follow their hearts and minds, and allow them to be rewarded for their efforts by supporting them when better career opportunities arise.”
– Nick Saban, Alabama head football coach, winner of six NCAA national championships, tied for the most all-time in the modern era
Nick Sabanis one of the most successful college football coaches of all time. He has won six national championships at LSU and Alabama, tied for the most in the modern football era. Largely because of that success, other schools have hired away his top assistants, year after year.
While Saban could try to prevent his assistants from leaving, he doesn’t. In fact, he encourages it and often helps them move on.
Saban believes one of his responsibilities as head coach is to help his assistants reach their potential. He wants to help them grow and get head coaching positions at other colleges or positions on NFL coaching staffs. He sees it as his duty to help them achieve their dreams, even if it could hurt his team.
Plus, when an assistant or an employee leaves for a better opportunity, he has a chance to fill the position with someone who brings new ideas and perspectives, potentially making the team better.
A leader should focus on helping each team member grow, even at the risk of losing them in the future. Don’t get in the way of their chance to advance in their careers. Show your support and loyalty by encouraging them to pursue their dreams and supporting them if a better career opportunity develops.
Great teams work together to raise the overall performance of the team.
Clearly great teams have great leaders and great individuals. They all work together to raise the overall performance of the team.
When you create a team, or when you join one, have an open and honest discussion about the goals for the team and each team member. Establish standards by which the team will work and act. Allow everyone’s voice to be heard, and allow some individuals to serve in leadership roles. Make sure that every person recognizes that they have important roles to play to help the team succeed. And support and encourage every member of the team, even if it means losing them one day.
Adhere to those principles, and your team and your company will become champions.
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Dr. David Geier is a popular leadership and burnout keynote speaker for corporate and medical audiences. Click here to learn more about how he can educate and inspire your audience.
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