Are you on a leadership team or are you part of a team of leaders? At first, it may seem as if it's just a play on words. But, think deeper about it.
A leadership team is a team that is directed by its leader. The leader is often making all the decisions. The members tend to take action from a reaction by whoever is directing them. They are inclined to be led individually and directly by the leader of the team.
In contrast, a team of leaders is a team of people that work collaboratively and unified to find solutions as a team. A team of leaders is much different and here are some reasons why.
A team of leaders is a body of people working together to bring solutions and opportunities to the leader. The leader is more focused on developing the team, and the team driving the results. The team assesses other team members on their performance, contribution to the team, teamwork, etc.
To have a team of leaders you have to look deeper into the makeup and seek out diversity in thoughts because to get to the best answers takes differing opinions. The team has to be able to resolve conflict on its own. It also needs a deferral mechanism where you defer to the person who’s strength zone you are operating within. It values each person equally and utilizes their strength. The key to this type of team is it requires everyone to check their ego at the door and allow the team to be the most important governing body.
One way to begin to create a team of leaders is to start with having the team complete an assessment of their teammates. A peer assessment gives the team and the leader a unified performance review. This is more powerful than the leaders individual performance reviews. The assessment should include having each person review their peer's contributions including performance, individual contribution, peer collaboration, peer communications, and team performance.
Then utilize the collaborative assessment to fine-tune the team. Peer to peer accountability is the strongest way to improve team performance. Transparency across the team as a whole is a foundational principle that has to be in place to form trust to begin to form a team of leaders.
As you look at your team which do you have; a leadership team or a team of leaders? What steps are you using to develop your team to move toward being a “team of leaders.”
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