Team Building
Applies to:
Aspiring leaders, individuals looking for ways to become a better leadership/mentor figure, a leader who wants to connect with their team better than they do currently, etc.
Common Causes / Issues:
When an individual is given the role to lead a group of people, there is a certain responsibility, pressure, stress, and prestige that comes with the role that is sometimes unspoken of or is not common knowledge. Being a great leader goes beyond numbers and results, but rather enabling the growth of the people you guide along with being a noticeably influential factor towards their wellbeing and overall experience.
Solution Overview:
There are many steps and approaches a leader can take to become the best resource and guide for their team. Having a leadership style that works well with your team can alleviate conflict, low morale, and increase production/performance rates.
Tactical Rundown:
How to nurture a productive and close-knit team all starts with leading by example, creating interpersonal relationships with each member, seek feedback from everyone, demonstrating open mindedness and communication, and having a sense of awareness (self, situational, social, etc.). These are not the only elements that make a great leader, but can be used as a blueprint to develop a unique leadership style.
1: Lead by Example
A leader is usually selected for a reason, whether that is due to their outstanding performance, specific leadership personality type, humility, ability to empower others, their presence around others, or a combination of many. With this in mind, many individuals and teams learn best by seeing the example in front of them. By spearheading a team, it is important to be their strongest guide. For example, if a leader does not know how to proceed or how to answer questions, acceptance rather than avoidance is crucial for team members to notice that asking for a helping hand and utilizing the resources around them is nothing to be ashamed of.
2: Creating Interpersonal Relationships
Relationship building sets a strong foundation for team dynamics and sets the tone for how daily interactions will pan out between leader and team member. By creating personal relationships with everyone you work with, courage and comfortability levels rise, high team morale soars, and conflict decreases tremendously. This can be done by asking questions, develop any shared values or morals, nurture a listening environment, learn to recognize and acknowledge emotions in others, and many others.
3: Seek Feedback
Everyone has an aspect of themselves or their work that seeks improvement. For a leader to continue growing, asking for feedback from team members and peers is the easiest approach. However, that ties into having an open mind, communicating, and being prepared for constructive criticism. Working through pain points with the help of the people around you also circle back to creating relationships in the workplace. This is a great time to step away from the mindset that weakness is a disadvantage and turn it into opportunities for improvement.
4: Demonstrate Open Mindedness and Healthy Communication
Healthy communication and an open mind are two attributes that can dictate any interaction in a positive way. By demonstrating these two qualities and leading by example, team members can visually understand and grasp the concept of being flexible with an open mind and using clear communication to resolve conflicts, work through situations, and get through tasks productively and as a team. Creating an open pathway of communication lets team members know that greater outcomes follow.
5: Lead with Awareness (Self, Situational, etc.)
Having a sense of awareness in any social or professional interaction. Self-awareness is understanding different/outside perspectives and being conscious about how an individual effects those around them. Situational awareness helps leaders understand how to interact and make decisions in the moment based on the people, nonverbal cues, and other factors within the interaction. There are many other types of awareness but overall, as leaders continue to guide and spearhead teams, its important to notice how your actions interfere and correspond with others.
Related Articles:
- Nurture Relationships With Your Team And You’ll Get It Back In Spades
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2022/02/22/nurture-relationships-with-your-team-and-youll-get-it-back-in-spades/?sh=61df71217238 - Qualities of good team leaders
https://leadership.deakin.edu.au/resources/top-10-qualities-of-a-good-team-leader - How to Be a Good Team Leader
https://www.wikihow.com/Be-a-Good-Team-Leader - 10 Ways to Become a Better Leader
https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4991-effective-leadership-skills.html - 11 traits you need to be a highly effective leader
https://www.michaelpage.com.au/advice/management-advice/leadership/effective-leader-traits
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This article written by Sabrina Laynes at ... https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabrinalaynes/