Successful Teams Build Trust

It seems to be that time of year when all the professional sports seasons collide, the baseball playoffs, football in full swing, basketball and hockey preseason action underway, and all the teams striving to win their sports championship. The only way any of these teams will win their ultimate prize: a world series ring, the Stanley cup or the Vince Lombardi trophy is through teamwork. Which brings us to the subject of this month’s blog – teamwork drives success.

We’ve had the great fortune to help several companies focus on building and sustaining a winning team. And if you haven’t won the business world’s ultimate prize, success, you may want to reflect on how your team is functioning.

There is a reason that most sports teams have a coach, not a manager, people are coached, tasks are managed. To get the best out of your team, the leader needs to be the ultimate coach; setting strategic direction, insuring everyone is trained on the fundamentals, making sure the right people are in the right positions, removing obstacles and celebrating the success along the way, without ever losing sight of the ultimate goal.

As in any relationship, the fundamental trait of every great team is trust; it is what led the Chicago Cubs to finally bring home a World Series after 108 years: Empowerment, trust, teamwork – Joe Maddon managed to communicate all of these cultural values throughout the lengthy baseball season. When the obstacles began piling up, his team put the organization’s desired values into play. During the 9th inning rain delay, the team came together and reminded each other that they trusted each other to get it done – and they did, coming back to win the World Series!

There are many resources focused on improving teamwork, we suggest that you focus on building trust. When teams trust each other to do their own jobs, to honor their commitments, to have each other’s back and to put the team’s goals ahead of their own, great things happen.

When assessing the success of any team you coach or participate on, ask yourself, do I trust my teammates, do my teammates trust me? If your answer is not a resounding YES to both questions, Constructing Opportunity can help, give us a call to get started on the path to a high performing team.