Having had the privilege to gone through one of the toughest and elite military training within the Singapore Armed Forces as a Naval Diver and setting up my own business venture few years back; these 2 most important journeys of my life has taught me a lot about building and leading teams.
Pretty sure we have all experienced great teams and not-so-great (i'm being nice.. really) teams, so let's not dwell in on how / why bad teams are.
Instead, let's focus on the A Teams;
So...what makes up a A- Team?
If you've been on a team that was all fired up and performing at an elite level, it would have been sort of a near miracle or magical event!
Instead, let's focus on the A Teams;
So...what makes up a A- Team?
If you've been on a team that was all fired up and performing at an elite level, it would have been sort of a near miracle or magical event!
The amount of synergy, the amount of output energy, the level of happiness, motivation and putting in twice the amount of hard work; Everyone seems like Seal Team 6 conquering mountains and seas with ease, Life is good... real good! (Quit dreaming already)
Then why isn't everyone else the same?
Whether born or bread, an AWESOME leader is a forceful personality who has the most effects on building such a great team; according to traditional wisdom.
This leader is in charge of the Strategic Plan, which includes the Vision, Mission & Values of the organisation to be hanged somewhere in the main hall or meeting rooms; the Strategic Plan itself is kept in a dossier and ultimately left to be locked up in a lonely cabinet somewhere ( or lost in some thumbdrive )
The optimistic team after all the hype now starts charging and blunders here, there, everywhere, never making it to the top.
That leader is now deemed a failure, and a new leader is chosen.
Rinse, repeat and the whole scenarios plays like a soap opera gone bad.
So... What is missing? - The Integration of the 3 Dimensions
1) The Leader - Self Leadership - The "I"
1) The Leader - Self Leadership - The "I"
Our internal experience whenever we are alone and deep in thoughts ( Om...Just kidding )
2) The Team - the "We"
Our internal experience including and during the who, what, when, why, how of us being located and cooperation with our teammates
3) The Organisation - the "It"
The "it" of our social systems - our organizations, schools, societies, etc. - has a broad and vauge impact on the "I" and "we" dimensions. This dimension is the result of rigid rules, regulations, norms, systems, and the likes.
Imagine the experience you would have in the Armed Forces (The Organisation - the "It"). You know what to wear, where to go, what to do, norms for communicating (hand salute!), how much money you will make, and on and on.
Imagine the experience you would have in the Armed Forces (The Organisation - the "It"). You know what to wear, where to go, what to do, norms for communicating (hand salute!), how much money you will make, and on and on.
Fast forward to your first day of retirement. You are out of the regimental life. Your experience is radically different. The Armed Forces, which somehow helped define who you were for 20 years, now has no impact on your internal experience besides lingering beliefs and habits. Chances are you will still wake up, but you may not know what to do with yourself!
The "I" is the world of the interior-individual. This is where you reside inside your head and heart. This dimension is the hearts & minds of the leader's and the teammates, or followers, if you will.
In this Dimension, the individual consciousness and world view are the driving force. From inside each of us, informed by our level of awareness and consciousness, comes:
Trustworthiness - powered by our virtuous behavior
Self-Leadership - we must lead ourselves before leading others
Personal Mastery - the journey of personal mastery is a necessary journey on the warrior's / leader's path
The "WE" dimension is the interior-collective. Here "I" connects with "you" to become "we." In "we" there must be:
Trust - the trustworthiness of the individuals
Shared Experience - there must be enough common experience to relate
Shared Risk - doesn't work if I take all the credit while you take all the risk (BIG NO NO!)
Service - toward your teammates
Finally the "IT" dimension is the world of the exterior collective where we find various forms of:
Rank & positional authority
Command, control & org charts
Rules and regulations
Support structures & resource allocation
Elite teams focus on understanding, developing (active growth of "I" and "We" in a healthy "IT") and balancing all three dimensions without stifling or poisoning one another
Ultimately, for a team to operate at an elite level, then the three dimensions must also be operating at an elite level individually.
Trustworthiness - powered by our virtuous behavior
Self-Leadership - we must lead ourselves before leading others
Personal Mastery - the journey of personal mastery is a necessary journey on the warrior's / leader's path
The "WE" dimension is the interior-collective. Here "I" connects with "you" to become "we." In "we" there must be:
Trust - the trustworthiness of the individuals
Shared Experience - there must be enough common experience to relate
Shared Risk - doesn't work if I take all the credit while you take all the risk (BIG NO NO!)
Service - toward your teammates
Finally the "IT" dimension is the world of the exterior collective where we find various forms of:
Rank & positional authority
Command, control & org charts
Rules and regulations
Support structures & resource allocation
Elite teams focus on understanding, developing (active growth of "I" and "We" in a healthy "IT") and balancing all three dimensions without stifling or poisoning one another
Ultimately, for a team to operate at an elite level, then the three dimensions must also be operating at an elite level individually.
Each teammate (including the leader) seeks a strong body, mind and spirit individually while simultaneously seeking a strong collective "body, mind and spirit" of the team.
When all three dimensions are aligned by their actions, then there would be a successful creation of the "A" team
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