Dr. David Rafeedie

Phil was the superstar of his baseball team—some would say the preeminent player in all of baseball. He had the name recognition—all the headlines were always about Phil’s accomplishments on the field. Triple Crown winner, golden gloves award, lead the league in this and that. In the locker room, it is his locker surrounded by the sports writers. When one of his teammates is interviewed, it is to ask what he thought of Phil’s performance. He had his own theme song that some enterprising sportswriter wrote—it was an immediate hit. He had a successful restaurant in the city. Even the umpires admired him. The sun rose and set on Phil. He was bigger than life. Even the manager was deferential. He knew if it came down to a choice between him and Phil, he would be the one fired. “Everyone” knew he made the team. The team won because they had Phil on the team.

Then the unthinkable happened. Phil was injured. He broke his leg in three places sliding into third. Did I mention he led the league in steals? Anyway, he was out for the season. The headlines in the cities papers, and around the country, were predictable. “Hero Hurt!” “Phil has Phallen!” “Phil’s Leg Phractured—So Are the Team’s Hopes.”

But the team kept winning. In fact (I am tempted to write, “in phact,” but I won’t), the team set a league record of 25 wins in a row. People outside of the fan base struggled to know who the players were. They had never heard of them. There were no stars. Not even everyone in their city knew all the players. The fans were so focused on Phil; they never paid much attention to the other players.

How did they keep winning without Phil? The team came together as a team. They rallied around one another. They encouraged and supported one another, and together they were better than they were when they depended on Phil to do the heavy lifting. They achieved a synergy they never had after Phil was injured.[1]

That is a picture of the second characteristic of a healthy team. Characteristic two of a healthy team is taken from an article first published on my blog. This article is the third in a series dealing with the Characteristics of a Healthy Team. https://davidthecoach.com/blog-1/2017/11/14/characteristics-of-a-healthy-team.

The team members always build up the team, not themselves. They give away the glory. On healthy teams, the members encourage and support one another. They do what it takes to help their teammates succeed.

On a healthy team, team members build up each other and in doing so build up the team. When teams perform in this way, the team succeeds. The kind of team behavior I am talking about does not happen without intentional work on the part of the leader and the team. Let’s face it, if you have high-performance people on your team they will have egos. They will be competitive, and they will push to succeed. All good stuff! Channeling that kind of energy toward team development requires intentionality and a team development plan.

Here are a couple of action steps you can take to get you started.

Determine Your Team’s Core Values together

Work together to determine the values that motivate and inspire your team in their work is a team-building exercise that accomplishes a couple of things.

It helps shape the culture of the team.
It draws the team together.
It opens the door to peer accountability.

A couple of good questions to start are:

Based on how we work, what words best describe our core values?
Looking ahead, what values do we want our team to be known by to our customers or clients?

These two questions will help you determine the current reality and develop your aspirational values. Then your team can plan to become what your team says it wants to become. If there is not much of a gap between your stated core values and aspirational core values, you are doing well.

In his excellent book, The Commitment Engine: Making Work Worth It, John Jantsch says, “As I have stated previously, people want to work for more than a paycheck. Sure, they want to be paid fairly and in some case the element of salary will be an important aspect of their decision to come to work for an organization, but perhaps more important, people want to work on something they believe in and they want to do that work with people who share their passion and beliefs.” (Jantsch, 2012)[2]

Determine the best way team members can support one another

A team is a group of individuals who work together toward a common vision. The team can direct individual accomplishments toward team success and organizational objectives. On a healthy team, the members support and encourage one another toward achievement. They listen to each other and practice peer accountability.

Here is a question to ask to get you going: What are the best practices we can establish to support and encourage one another?

Brainstorm some ideas on how the individual members of a team can support each other, thereby making the team stronger. From the brainstorming set out two or three “support rules,” your team will practice.

Define healthy competition

The team sets the boundaries. The team defines the right kind of competition. Let’s face it, we all have an ego. That is ok! What are some ways you can use those egos to help make the team better? Internal, healthy competition is good behavior for a team. What I mean by healthy is the kind of competition that makes each team member better.

Recognition within the team is important. Internal rewards and awards can be good incentives that make the team stronger and raises the level of quality. Healthy competition can be defined and embedded in the team’s culture. It can help the team reach the Performance level of team development.

The context for the healthy competition is team members value each other, and the contributions each bring to the team. They are secure enough on the team to give each other credit for success.
The foundation for the healthy competition is always the win. What is the team in place to do? How does the team help the organization be successful?

More on context and foundation in future discussions of other characteristics of a healthy team.

Clarity is critical

Clarity is the key to success. Clarity on values. Clarity on the support rules. Clarity on the definition of healthy competition. Clarity on each team members role and responsibilities. Clarity on how the team fits into the bigger picture of the organization. Clarity on the win—success; for the organization and the team.

The leader

Every team has a coach or manager, and that is the team leaders function. The leader leads the team through the core values exercise. She or he helps the team determine the support rules and the definition of healthy competition. It is the leader’s responsibility to ensure clarity. It is the leader who initiates the team culture and models it. They give away the credit, practice active listening and hold the team accountable to the agreed-upon standards.

If you are reading this on social media, check out my website by right-clicking this link, www.davidthecoach.com for more articles and information on this topic and more.

[1] Phil and the team are fictional.

[2] Jantsch, J. (2012). The Commitment Engine: Making Work Worth It. New York: Portfolio/Peguin.

All for One and One for All: The Team Builds Itself Up