FaithRalston.com

Great strategies get you into the game - but execution pays the bills!
Leaders, is your leadership team aligned and working together? If not, you're losing valuable time and money! Eighty percent of team initiatives fail because of poor implementation!

The following symptoms indicate you need a tighter-working team.

• There's lots of debate - but decisions don't stick.
• Turf issues are impacting effectiveness.
• Team members are reluctance to share their real concerns.
• Meetings are unproductive and boring.
• You sense a lack of a shared purpose and vision.

To get your team working together, tackle these performance eroders:

1. Make Nice Behavior
In turbulent times, it's tempting for leaders to play it safe. When 'Make Nice' is the norm, tough issues are avoided, mediocre performance is accepted, and healthy disagreement is rare. If the leaders on your team are tiptoeing around controversial issues, your meetings are dull and unproductive.

2. Silo Performers
Or perhaps team members are running ragged, trying to do everything - with little or no time to connect with each other. If so, I guarantee you're missing out on the big-ticket items that impact your business. To succeed, leaders need time together to agree on priorities and address them.

3. Power Mongers
Do you have a power monger in your midst? Power mongers want power and 1
control. Their agendas are ego driven. When power mongers dominate, team work and effectiveness suffers. It takes cooperation among equals to succeed.

Secrets for Success

Time Together: The first and most basic solution to fragmented leadership is simply spending time together. Staff meetings must be regular and high quality. Solid decisions and follow through produce positive results. There needs to be progress on what really matters! Leaders need to believe their involvement in meetings is crucial to success.

Real Conversations: Leaders need to talk candidly about their real concerns. Trust and teamwork are essential for results. Without open dialogue, the real problems are never addressed - no matter how often leaders meet.

Unified Purpose: Leaders need a shared purpose to come together. Meetings should not be spent listening to reports from leaders who have nothing in common. Significant time needs to be spent on the health of the business as a whole and how departments can leverage and interface with each other to achieve outcomes. After all, helping the organization and individuals that work for it thrive is the real purpose of unifying a fragmented leadership team.

Topics

• Promoting Teamwork