High Performing Teams - Uncommon Leadership
The Characteristics of High Performing Teams - Part 3
High performing teams have uncommon leadership. Most good teams have great leadership, but that is different. The best teams I have been around have uncommon leadership - meaning, they use a different model. Everyone on the team leads, and they do it in a way that fits their personality.
The traditional top-down leadership model is not the best way to get the most out of a team. When you have one or two voices at the top who are charged with leading the team, you won’t get the best out of everyone. I’ve coached plenty of teams that had juniors and seniors who weren’t great leaders, and younger players who were natural leaders. Having two or three captains who are expected to lead the team only increases the odds that you’ll have some of the wrong guys speaking up while you are also stifling the leadership from other players.
The best teams learn to accept a different approach to leadership. It’s okay for an older player who is a starter and a producer to not be comfortable with traditional leadership. It’s also okay for a younger player to speak up when the time is right. As a coach, you have to steer them in the right direction. Create a model where everyone can lead, and everyone does it in a way to fit their personality.
Ask a lot of questions of your players, and explore the curiosity each one of them have for their teammates. Get to know how they can contribute leadership. to your team, and create an environment where they are comfortable. doing so. Every one of them is a gatekeeper to your culture, and they all have to uphold the standards every day. Find a definition of leadership that works for your team and fits your approach.
Our definition was that leadership was making the people around you better and more productive, and it was the responsibility of everyone. The senior leading scorer doesn’t have more responsibility then the freshmen back-up post player. Now, he has different experience than that freshmen does, so he may be able to contribute in a different way. Treat leadership as a skill, not a rank.
I’d seriously consider the traditional model of naming a couple of guys captains at the beginning of the year. How does that impact your team? It’s hard to know you are getting the most out of your leaders when you dictate who is allowed to lead and who is supposed to listen. The few leading the many isn’t as powerful as a team that leads from the middle, where everyone has a voice.
Leadership is constantly evolving and highly situational. The model you use has to fit your approach and your team. But don’t just stick to a traditional model because that’s what you’ve always seen. Embrace an uncommon approach and discover the best way to get the most out of your team. High performing teams, teams that sustain elite success, embrace an uncommon approach to leadership.