Teams: Frankenstein’s Monster or The Justice League
Dr. David Rafeedie
Frankenstein’s monster was put together from many different parts without much regard for where those parts were acquired. Any old part would do as long as it looked right. Any hand is good enough as long as it was a hand. All the parts went to the right place, and they functioned. But it was, after all, a monster. It was ugly and scared people. It was destructive. It didn’t know how to communicate well. It never did accomplish what its creator wanted. Dr. Frankenstein was a genius, but he could not control his monster, and it cost him everything. His reputation in the community destroyed. He lost his fiancé, and his castle was burned down. Yikes!
The Justice League is a team of superheroes whose job is to meet threats to the world and overcome them. Big job. Not just anyone can make this team. Each hero has a specific skill set or power that qualifies them for the team. They use those skills and powers with excellence, each one doing their part very well. Sometimes they make a mess, but they always achieve their stated task. Working together, they identify the threat, devise a plan, communicate it well, and use their skills and powers to defeat the enemy and save the world. They make a good team, and the results speak for themselves.
The story of Frankenstein’s monster is a good picture of some unhealthy teams. They share some of the same characteristics. The team members are recruited on the team without much thought put into where they came from or what they can do. As long as the person is breathing and been around, they are snapped up for the team. Filling holes is another way of saying this. The team functions but not well—the results do not match expectations, and the results can sometimes scare the leader or the rest of the organization. The team members do not communicate well with each other or to their direct report.
On the other hand, the story of the Justice League is a good picture of a healthy team in many ways. The healthy team has healthy team members selected specifically for what they can bring to the team. On a healthy team, the team members work well together. Everyone on the team understands the goal or mission. They align and use their skills sets and efforts in the most effective way to get the results they want. They communicate well with each other and with their direct report. They make the organization, and the leader look good.
Every leader and organization want a Justice League rather than a monster. Every leader wants to see her team succeed. You want your team or teams to be successful. Whether it is the executive team or a middle management team, the leader has the same goal in mind; accomplish the mission. The goal is the same for a non-profit working mainly with volunteers and the for-profit organizations. Every leader wants consistency and excellence. But wanting a healthy team as opposed to a monster is not enough to ensure you will get a healthy team.
If you lead a healthy team, you are a blessed leader. A healthy team is a performing team. A performing team accomplishes their tasks well and ultimately; they accomplish the mission. A healthy team makes the leader, and the organization look good. See my blog on the characteristics of a healthy team at www.davidthecoach.com. But even healthy teams need to be refreshed, or they will begin to deteriorate as a team. The team loses momentum, and they can get distracted.
If your team is healthy, here are some suggestions to keep it that way.
Know your team. Who are these people? What makes them tick? What do they appreciate?
Be intentional in team building.
Keep communicating expectations—what is the win. The first three rules of success for any team is clarity, clarity, and clarity. You cannot over communicate!
Make it a collaborative team. If team members feel they have a voice in achieving the results they have ownership of the results. They become champions of what you are trying to achieve.
Show verbal and tangible appreciation for what they do and how they do it. Recognize success and celebrate it.
Make sure they have fun.
If the team you lead happens to be a Frankenstein’s monster, do not despair. There are ways of transforming a monster into a justice league. But it is not done by magic. Here are a few suggestions that can help.
You have to know what you want—do you have clarity on the end goal? Having clarity on the end goal will tell you who you want on your team.
You have to know how to recruit and hire well—good processes in this area are invaluable to ensuring success down the road.
Once the team is in place, you must be intentional in equipping and intentional in team building. A healthy team does not happen by accident.
You have to know how to get to where you want to go—this includes strategic direction and plans. Strategic direction and plans allow the team to align their skills and efforts to achieve the desired results.
You cannot over communicate! The first three rules of success for any team are clarity, clarity, and of course, clarity. Clarity in expectations and results is critical to the success of the team. (Did you notice I said this above? Clarity cannot be over-communicated!)
Make it fun! If the team is a monster, they know they are monster and are probably not happy about it. Good morale is important for any team to succeed.
Most teams (and leaders) are somewhere on the continuum between monster and justice league. Ideally, you want to be intentionally moving along the continuum toward justice league. You may want to put an X where you think your team might fit on the continuum arrow below.
Monster→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→Justice League
You want to be a healthy leader, and you want your team to be a healthy team. All of the suggestions above can help you get your team to where you want your it to be and to where you want it to go.
Allowing me the privilege of working with you, I can help you flesh out the suggestions above so you can get your team where you want them faster. More importantly, working together you will discover and implement your ideas. I want to see you and your team be as healthy and successful as possible. Check out my website by right-clicking this link, www.davidthecoach.com and contact me. I would love to start a conversation with you.