Principles of leading a great team!

Everyone wants a fantastic team and everyone wants to be a part of a fantastic team. Such a team has both great leadership and motivated members.

Team members are the representatives of the organization. Most of us do not go to a restaurant and look forward to seeing the manager/owner as much as we enjoy working with a fantastic server who enhances our experience. This is bearing in mind that it is the manager/owner that helps produce such an environment. As such, team members represent the best of what the team leader can produce!

Here are some principles that have helped me throughout the years.

Education; Motivation; Compensation; Congratulation and Collaboration!

Education: When it comes to staff management, team development, or management of any sort, education is paramount. No matter how bad or good the members of a team are, they will always require continuing education.

 This, of course, includes the leadership's education. A good leader should always have 90% of his or her energy focused on help the team work together, but a solid 10% MUST be spent looking outside the organization, with the effort to bring in new ideas and strategies.

This attitude of constant education helps the team understand the mentality of the team leader. If good team members are left alone, they will be great, but not always heading in the same direction. Weekly meetings supported by short daily talks go a long way for the team leader to help the team members help the organization.

Motivation: This is the sales pitch that a team leader gives to his or her team. Great movies usually have a motivational speech of some sort and many of us can remember our favorites!

Every day should start off with something motivational. And just to be clear, motivational messages are positive messages that get the team fired up and ready to tackle the challenges of the day.

Positive thinking mixed with hard work and a strong expectation is the best way to make a motivation presentation. This is something that is best done daily, and in small dosages.

Compensation: There are two forms of compensation, although they are often mixed with each other. Financial compensation, we're going to skip over for the purposes of this article. This is for several reasons, but two of them are (1) many articles can be - and have been - written on that subject, and (2) many of us are not in control of that function of the organization.

Ironically, financial compensation, beyond the functional needs of the team members, has been proven - over and over again - not to be the primary motivation of a spirited team.

And not just in the customer service world either. A little known fact was that, during the cold war, some of our best and brightest operatives in the espionage world were not well (financially) compensated at all. Tom Brady, quarterback of the New England Patriots during its biggest and longest success run, was known for being one of the lowest paid quarterbacks in the league.

In these and many other, countless examples; proper compensation is often very small gestures or small words of wisdom and encouragement, usually done on a private basis. Likewise, making sure that the team members have new and/or updated equipment to make their tasks easier, or running a team meeting and paying for the food. These gestures assures members of the team that they are a vital part of the organization.

Anyone who feels that they are vital will always be motivated to make sure that the organization is successful.

This is especially true when the team members’ philosophy is in alignment with the organization.

Congratulation: In the world of finances this is done with bonuses, but in our world it is best done with public recognition.

For a young team member who steps outside of their normal balance of a comfort zone and is successful, a good team leader should make sure that the person gets proper praise in front of the entire group. If this situation warrants it, a good team leader will use the member as an example for future endeavors or continuing projects.

Collaboration: Everyone has strength and weakness. Of course, every good team leader should make sure that the weaknesses are worked on, but it is very important that the team member's strengths are enhanced.

A good team leader should figure out whether to put one person in charge of a project or to give that person detailed instructions. Not everyone feels excited the same way and it is massively beneficial for the organization if the team leader can maximize that.

I don't need to tell anyone that collaboration in any organization is paramount in its success. Having a person who is socially awkward being in charge of answering the phone may be educational, but ultimately not helping the organization and will frustrate that team member because they will feel that they are letting the organization down.

This is not to say that cross training isn't vital! As we said above, education must be continual. A good team can shift duties on the fly, especially when they are a member short. However, there is a difference between good cross-training and poor assignment of duties. So while education, motivation, compensation, and congratulating are exceedingly important, be mindful that we all come with certain gifts and must recognize and enhance those gifts for the completion of what the organization is trying to achieve.