Qualities of Championship Teams - John C



Qualities of Championship Teams - John C. Maxwell

John C. Maxwell

Few leaders are successful unless a lot of people want them to be, and no leaders are successful without a few people helping them along the way. I once read the statement, "Even when you've played the game of your life, it's the feeling of teamwork that you'll remember. You'll forget the plays, the shots, and the scores, but you'll never forget your teammates."

So how do you develop the people surrounding you, people who are helping you be successful and becoming successful themselves, into the kind of team that you'll remember for the rest of your life? You have two choices: train them or trade for them. Grow the people you already have into champion teammates, or recruit championship-caliber people and bring them onto your team. In doing so, guide your search toward individuals who display the qualities outlined here, and work to develop these qualities in yourself and in your existing teammates.

Committed

True commitment is not a feeling or an emotion; human emotions go up and down all the time, but commitment has to be rock solid. If you want a solid team-whether it's a business, ball club, marriage, or volunteer organization-you must have team players who are solidly committed.

Commitment is not easy to come by, but the good news is that commitment does not require talent. Everyone is equally able to develop it because it is not dependent on gifts or abilities. Haven't you known highly talented people who have squandered their potential because they wouldn't do anything? And don't you know people less talented than you who are more successful? That is often due, in part, to commitment. To raise your level of commitment and that of your teammates, be sure your commitments are closely related to your values. If you find that some are unrelated, reevaluate them as commitments.

Dependable

When you have a team full of people you can depend on, you know it. Likewise, it is painfully clear when there are people on your team on whom you cannot depend. The essence of dependability comes down to four concepts: Pure motives-if someone on the team continually puts themselves and their agenda ahead of what's best for the team, they have proven themselves undependable. Responsibility-dependable team members possess the desire to do the things that they are capable of doing. Sound thinking-a desire for responsibility must also be coupled with the ability to, simply put, thinks well. Consistent contribution-if you can't depend on your teammates all the time, then you can't really depend on them any time.

Winston Churchill said, "It is not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what's required." In seeking out dependable team members, it's essential to discern and elevate those who will stand up under the pressure of responsibility and dependability. Seek out those who take care of the small stuff and can be entrusted with paying attention to details. Do the members of your team have the ability to follow through, taking tasks to completion in all areas? Do you have the same? Look for, and become yourself, a go-to player on whom your teammates can rely when crunch time comes.

Enthusiastic

The leader's heart is the source of energy for his or her team, and as such, there is no substitute for enthusiasm. In thinking about people who bring enthusiastic attitudes to the team, you realize that those people consistently take responsibility for their own passion. Just as attitude is a choice, successful people understand that this applies also to enthusiasm. Positive people are positive because they choose to be, and often they also choose to surround themselves with other enthusiastic people.

When looking at yourself, are people more likely to discover enthusiasm or apathy from you? To improve your team's energy level, fire up your own passion. Prioritize your life according to your passion-do the tasks for which you possess both passion and talent and you'll see empowerment rise up in your life and in your team. Protect your enthusiasm from what I call "firefighters," people who consistently seem to throw cold water on others' passion. Enthusiasm is elemental, having the potential to lift your team and yourself increasingly higher beyond talent or raw ability.

Mission-Conscious

If you know the story of Mary Hays, commonly known as "Molly Pitcher" in history books, you know that during a hot June afternoon in 1778 during the Battle of Monmouth, Mary was responsible for keeping the American troops equipped with sufficient water. Making trips back and forth from a nearby stream, Mary kept a close eye on her husband as he armed the cannon, and before long saw him struck down by enemy fire. Knowing what had to be done, she put aside her immediate despair in order to take up her husband's place in the gunnery line, aiding the American army as the British were slowly forced to retreat.

If we are to be mission-conscious team players, we must embrace the attitude that Mary brought to her team and recognize the four qualities of mission-conscious players: They know where the team is going, they let the leader lead, they place team accomplishment ahead of their own, and they do whatever is necessary to achieve the mission. In looking at yourself, do you keep the big picture in mind consistently? Does your desire to achieve personal success or even departmental success interfere with your desire to see the team as a whole realize its mission?

Relational

If your team members get along, they will go along. Teams thrive on people who are relational because everyone likes to be liked, and the result is a team committed to the leader's vision. To know whether you have built solid relationships among your team members, look for mutual respect. Paradoxically, you should show respect to others even before they have done anything to warrant it, but you should always expect to have to earn it from others. Encourage shared experiences, as well. You can't be relational with someone you don't know.

When you respect people and you spend enough time with them to develop shared experiences, you are in a position to develop trust, which is the foundation of leadership. Similarly, reciprocity and mutual enjoyment arise from these same experiences. Ponder the relationships that exist within your team: do you spend a lot of time and energy building solid relationships with and among your team members, or are you so focused on results that you tend to overlook one another? I've learned that if it's lonely at the top, you're not doing something right. I choose to take the journey with people.

Self-Improving

We live in a society with destination disease. Too many people want to do enough to "arrive," and then they want to retire. I learned early in my leadership life that to grow, we have to be intentional, and I believe there are three parts to a cycle of ongoing self-improvement: preparation, contemplation, and application. Help create a growth environment for yourself and for the people you lead by encouraging them in this cycle.

In developing an organization focused on self-improvement, be sure that your team members are being continually challenged and also continually affirmed. Keep the focus on the future, and remind them that failure is not the enemy. Model self-improvement for your team by growing and leading yourself well, and expect the same from them.

These are just a few of the traits of great teams that I have elaborated on in my book, The 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player. Read more about the qualities there, including stories of team players who are adaptable, collaborative, communicative, competent, disciplined, enlarging, intentional, prepared, selfless, solution-oriented, and tenacious.

One is too small a number to achieve greatness. Lead well, develop a championship team, and accomplish great things together.

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