It is the New Year, and we are all ready for a fresh start! Unfortunately, I spent the first 12 days on my back fighting the flu and then pneumonia. Needless to say, I watched more football than I thought possible. I am not an expert by any means but I have a basic understanding of the game and I learned even more. But for me, the biggest surprise wasn’t a surprise at all.
I see it all the time. Leaders strive to create great teams by finding the best individual players and then putting them in the same uniform and expecting excellence. Having seen my sons grow up in athletics I learned a long time ago that the best teams are not all five star players; they are the ones who want to be part of something greater than themselves, that share a common goal and work to help each other achieve it.
Indiana University was a Cinderella story this season, but their quarterback said it best when in his post-game interview after soundly beating Oregon, he quoted his teammate Pat Coogan and said, “We are a bunch of misfits. There are zero five-stars on our team. We’re just a bunch of gritty guys who are glued together and going towards a common goal, which is to win each and every single game.” They accomplished that dream, going on to win the National College Championship and remaining undefeated at 16-0, a rare achievement.
The best teams may not have the best players. They have players that want everyone to succeed, to achieve the common goal. I saw it in my son’s Vanderbilt baseball team years ago, where supporting your teammates and developing a culture of collaboration and small wins that lead to bigger ones thrived. I saw it when the Royals won the World Series in 2015 and it wasn’t about stars but blue-collar baseball where everyone in the line up hit top to bottom. And I see it at Indiana. There are two things that are required.
- A common goal everyone buys into—leaders, individual performers and supporters.
- A collaborative effort where the team win counts more than the individual stats.
Recently, when working with a company on their culture we used the word “rockstar.” While it often connotes individual performance, a real rockstar is someone who buys into the goal, and goes above and beyond to help the team achieve it, not only doing their part, but collaborating with others for a sum that is greater than the individual parts. Does it matter who gets credit, or that there was a team win?
An article in the January/Feburary issue of HBR caught my eye recently as it addressed how to set up the leadership team to achieve strategy. It was less about the title and reporting relationship, and more about roles, synergies and buy in. (Set Up Your C-Suite to Execute Your Strategy) You can have a five-star leadership team but if they spend their time maximizing department level performance, the company falls short of potential every time!
Build your strategic execution team from the ground up, not the people with the most experience, the best pedigree or that report to the CEO—but the people who get it, are innovative in seeing new possibilities, are willing to try new things to change the status quo, and who value their team mates and want them to succeed. These are the rockstars of the future!
Take out a blank sheet of paper. Re-craft your strategic team. Imagine what you need in expertise and attitude and create the roles to make that happen. Bring them together with a common goal, and watch the wins stack up!
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