Teams are integral to every organization. In fact, they are the building blocks of an organization so the health of each team is directly connected to the overall health of the enterprise. If you think of teams as the Lego blocks of your organization, think of half of those teams being unhealthy and the other half healthy. Each unhealthy team will impact those other teams that touch it, interact with it or collaborate with.
Thus the role of team leaders is integral to the health of the organization, more important than many organizations recognize. If they understood the significance of a leader's role they would invest far more in the training and development of their leaders than they often do.
What then is the job of a competent team leader? I would suggest that it involves the following:
One: Building a strong, aligned, results oriented, healthy and synergystic team under good leadership with accountability for results.
Two: Provide great clarity to the team on how they are to contribute to the overall mission and purpose of the organization.
Three: Create a healthy team culture where everyone's input is valued, where people can speak the truth to one another and to their leaders and where new ideas are encouraged.
Four: Ensure that team member have the necessary skill, tools and authority to do their jobs.
Five: Help team members understand their wiring, gifting and lane and help them grow professionally and personally.
Six: Develop new leaders who could take the leader's role or a leadership role elsewhere.
Seven: Be a champion and encourager of team members so that they are encouraged to be all that they can be.
Eight: Provide timely feedback in order to help team members grow.
Nine: Rather than micromanage, give freedom within boundaries for team members to accomplish their work in ways that may be different than yours.
Ten: Ensure that there are results that are consistent with the clarity of the team's responsibilities.
The investment in team leaders is one of the most important investments any organization can make. It will change the return on mission or return on investment dramatically.
