Elevate Your Team

Elevating your team is about lifting them up through your leadership. A snapshot of what lifting others through leadership should look like, is below and can be found in the book, 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork.

With good leadership, everything improves.  Leaders are lifters.  They lift their teams thinking beyond old boundaries of creativity. They elevate performance, making them better than they’ve ever been before. They improve the team's confidence in themselves and each other. And they raise expectations of everyone on the team. While managers are often able to maintain a team at its current level, leaders are able to lift the team to a higher level than it has ever reached before. The key to that is working with people and bringing out the best in them.

I (Cindy) think that’s a good take on lifting our people by truly leading them. This is followed by a few keys to elevating your people.

Leaders transfer ownership for work to those who execute the work.

Responsibility has to go from the top of the organization to deep down in the roots of the organization for the team to succeed. This requires delegating responsibility and some authority to the team.

Stephen Covey puts it this way, “People and organizations don’t grow much without delegation and completed staff work, because they are confined to the capacities of the boss and reflect both personal strengths and weaknesses.  Good leaders seldom restrict their teams; they release them.”

Leaders create environments where team members are responsible.

Each person on the team is an individual.  We are all different and different people require different kinds of motivation to be their best. It’s important for leaders to understand their team members’  primary personality styles and motivate them accordingly.

Leaders coach the development of personal capabilities.

They help each member of the team reach their potential. It’s not until members of the team reach their potential that the team can reach its potential.

Leaders learn quickly and encourage others to learn rapidly

Leaders are constantly learning and encourage others to do the same. They lead by example and don’t expect team members to do anything they would not do themselves.

One thing you can do today to move your team forward is to identify and understand the primary personality styles of each team member and motivate them accordingly.  If you’d like resources, you can find them on our website.