“Great Leaders Build the Team They Want From the Team They Have” – Tony Curl
Build Great Teams
Experience and statistics continues to highlight that the development of leaders in business is mostly lacking in Australia. Generally, the development of first time and front-line leaders is under invested. For every ten dollars spent of senior leaders development, companies spend just one dollar on front-line leaders*. With the challenges being faced in Australian business, there is no greater time than now to build your great leadership team. There is a pressing need to build great teams.
There is perception that leadership development is expensive and struggles to provide a return on investment. This should not be the case. However many times training and development is not effective and can often be the result of poor behaviour from the line manager. If the Line Manager does not support the leader being developed, the training is almost guaranteed to fail. GUARANTEED TO FAIL. I’ve seen a day’s worth of great training, energy and enthusiasm crippled by the cyncial remarks from the line manager.
The challenge for every leader is to create an environment where development is an everyday activity, where coaching is on-the-job and growth is evident in the people and the results of the business. If your business or team is not getting the results you require, the first thing to do is look in the mirror and reflect on your approach to growth. Determine your attitude to growth and commit to creating an environment where growth is encouraged. And look at implementing these strategies to help you build great teams.
Internal Activities
- Paint the picture for your team. Showcase the importance of your team in company and business outcomes and align your team to the vision.
- Develop team goals. You know the company strategies, you know the key performance indicators. Use these to develop the goals with your team and then develop individual goals that help team goals.
- Acknowledge individual strengths. Help individuals see their strengths and encourage them to help develop others. It goes without saying that everyone should have a leadership development plan and encourage them to share.
- Have meaningful “team huddles” and meetings. Change it up, change the chairman of meetings, but be clear on agenda, timing and outcomes needed. Become performance focused in your meetings, and that soon is mirrored in work performance.
- Share books. It sounds really simple, and it is amazing what happens to business performance when the leaders in your team start sharing the leadership books they are learning and benefiting from.
Summary
There you have it. No outlandish, expensive delivery from consultants, simple strategies to help you develop a great team. Develop the team you want from the team you have.
Another strategy not mentioned, is the Lunch N Learn. Contact Think and Grow Business and ask about a free Lunch N Learn on “Influential Leadership”, a sure fire way to help you build a growth environment.
*Study of Australian Leadership, Centre for Workplace Leadership, University of Melbourne, 2016. http://www.workplaceleadership.com.au/sal/
