a team can’t become a standout team by dictate.
by anthony zecca
leading from the edge
leadership has responsibility and impact on creating a powerful and united team throughout the firm and an environment that motivates every single team member to their highest level of performance for the benefit of the firm, and not their own career advancement. teamwork and not individualism is a cornerstone of a strong culture that results in achieving the level of a standout, high-performing firm.
more: the two sides of the culture coin | four accountability steps for firm success | assessing your firm | incremental vs. exceptional success | is your leadership team at the edge? | leadership must drive culture
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in fact, a strong culture cannot thrive in an environment where silos exist, and individuals are more focused on what is best for their career versus what is best for the firm. teamwork is not only a key aspect of the firm’s culture, but a key factor in driving the firm’s performance to become a standout, high-performing firm.
henry ford stated that, “coming together is a beginning. keeping together is progress. working together is success.” mike smith, a former nfl coach, stated that, “when you are a team that fails to connect, you will be a team that fails to win.” ford understood that developing a strong culture of teamwork is a process that takes time and commitment. smith understood that a pivotal aspect of great teams is their connection to one another and to their collective focus on achieving a shared vision. great edge leaders understand that to create a strong culture of teamwork, the leader’s greatest challenge is to successfully inspire firm-based teamwork based on building confidence, courage, belief and passion in each member of the firm grounded in a shared future vision of what can be.
“a leader takes people where they want to go. a great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.” – rosalynn carter
there is a huge difference between a “team” and “teamwork.” a team is formed for a specific purpose with a specific goal. it is transactional and reflects a project to get done. it answers the “what.” teamwork, on the other hand, relates to the “how” – how everyone in the firm works through a series of interdependent activities toward a common vision. teamwork is firm-based.
andrew carnegie perhaps said it best: “teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. the ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. it is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.” it is the fuel that drives firm culture and why it is such a critical responsibility of the firm leader and each member of the leadership team. leadership and teamwork are two inseparable drivers of a firm’s culture.
sports is a great laboratory for examining the impact of teams and teamwork on overall organizational performance. on all sports teams (baseball, football, rugby) there are individual players who each contribute toward the immediate goal of winning a game. players understand that to achieve the overall goal of winning the championship (vision), they must win more games than other teams. pretty straightforward, so what separates the champion from all other teams?
one factor is clearly the level of talent among the team members, although i would argue that in professional sports, talent is important but not the key that separates the champion from all other teams. a much more critical factor is the head coach (organizational leader) who keeps everyone focused on the end objective, the championship and the game plan (strategy and vision) to achieve that collective outcome. each individual game is simply a step on the ladder to the championship – the vision. whether an individual game is won or lost is not what the leader of a championship team focuses on – it’s what needs to be improved to ensure that the shared vision of the championship is achieved.
think about how the above relates to your firm and leadership. it’s not about winning one game; it’s about winning the championship. each game is in a broad interpretation reflected in the day-to-day performance of the members of the firm. is their performance and actions leading toward the shared future vision or is it just simply everyone doing things? borrowing from steven covey – it does not matter one bit if your team is successfully getting things done if what they are getting done are not the right things. climbing walls only matters if it is the right wall.
each sports team is a collection of smaller teams. in football, there is a team of tackles that is part of a larger team, the offensive line, which is part of a larger team the offense, which is part of the largest team – the team. each subteam must learn to excel not only in their role on the team but also their role in the larger team achieving its vision. as a great coach said, “when team members connect and build strong relationships, they work for each other and not with each other.” when you examine your firm as the leader, are all the partners and staff working for or with?
most firms typically have many teams (audit, tax, hr, it, etc.) that all combine to form the firm – the total team. each team has a purpose much like the subteams on a football team. some teams are permanent and are responsible for ongoing activities such as it, hr or finance where the tasks involved are relatively routine and repetitive. teams are also established for a temporary purpose such as completing a specific audit or consulting project. these teams have a defined beginning and end point linked to achieving a specific one-time objective. every member of the firm is attached to at least one, and in most cases multiple teams all focused on specific goals and objectives. teams inside firms get “things” done.
teamwork, as part of culture, defines how everyone in the firm operates. is everyone working together with each other to get things done as one team with a shared and committed objective of achieving the firm’s vision and long-term strategy? teams are transactional whereas teamwork is found within the dna of the firm.
in all firms, effective teamwork depends on choosing the best individuals to be members of the firm’s leadership. any leader must have the confidence of the team they lead to be effective as a leader. one of the common mistakes so many firm leaders make in selecting individuals for leadership positions is that those critical decisions are based on personal relationships, politics or “he is the best that we have.” firm edge leaders understand that choosing individuals as part of firm leadership and as team leaders needs to be based on talent and skill, not politics or settling. so how do firm leaders choose the right individuals for leadership positions whether it is for firm leadership, practice leadership, department leadership, project team leadership or any other initiative?
below is a four-level assessment to apply in evaluating a potential team leader for any initiative you need to successfully implement:
evaluating individuals as potential leaders
- pass. the individual does not really want to be involved. he has no interest and would need far too much direction and support to be helpful.
- possible. the individual will do the work if required, is reactive, avoids responsibility and lacks self-motivation.
- strong team member. the individual will do the work and works well with others, but he needs supervision and is not a take-charge person.
- great team leader. the individual is internally self-motivated, works well with others, is team-oriented, requires minimal supervision, has a track record of consistent performance, is a self-starter who solves problems before they become issues, and has demonstrated strong leadership.
henry ford’s quote from above simply reflects the necessary evolution from the partners and staff you have today, to the partners and staff the firm needs to be a standout, high-performing firm tomorrow. it starts with coming together as one team. edge leaders believe in the power of one team and commit themselves to creating a one-team culture, which is the first critical step to creating a standout, high-performing firmwide team. edge leaders also know that as they travel the path from a middle-of-the-pack firm to a firm that is a standout, high-performing firm, challenges will develop that will test the team, and as the edge leader, the leadership responsibility is to guide the team through the challenges knowing that in the end, it will strengthen the team (the firm).
it is the edge leader’s responsibility to create the culture, process, inspiration and confidence of everyone regarding what the firm and each individual is capable of becoming. it is critical that through the communications and actions of the edge leader, a shared vision develops throughout the firm so that the collective energy of every person is united with belief and commitment to becoming that standout, high-performing firm, team and individual. it is the edge leader’s responsibility to communicate clearly what being a standout, high-performing firm means and what performance expectation is created for each individual by that vision. every person throughout the firm must become personally committed to, and personally care about, achieving that outcome.
the process of creating a standout, high-performing team is a total firm process, not a process that just focuses on partners. you can’t have a select team of standouts and be a standout firm. creating that standout team is not a one-month process or a cheerleading process; it involves retooling many aspects of the firm, and it requires a well-thought-out strategic roadmap.
a team can’t become a standout team by dictate. edge leaders can’t just tell everyone “you are going to operate as a team” and expect that to happen. it’s the same with getting people to work together in a collaborative model as a team – you can’t dictate collaboration. this concept highlights one of the major differences between center leaders and edge leaders. edge leaders believe that teamwork is a choice made by individuals and not something that can be created by command-and-control cultures common in center-led firms.
i think back to when i was a kid, and kids still played sandlot baseball and football. when the two teams were being formed to play, i couldn’t wait to be on a team and work my butt off, so my team won. i wanted my team to win and knew i needed to play my position as good as i could to help the team win. it’s no different in a work environment. assigning a person to a team does not make that person a team player; it just makes them a team member. being a team player and operating within a strong team collaborative culture, where the team comes before the individual, does not happen because someone is assigned to a team. it must be an individual choice – team players must want and choose to be on a team and commit to the team’s win.
one of the most important responsibilities of firm leadership is to create a culture of teamwork where every member of the firm works as one toward a common shared vision of the future. in too many firms, leadership focuses their time and energy on managing today through what happened yesterday versus leading the firm toward its future vision. no firm and no leader can stand out and win the championship if their vision is simply accepting as success a good day or week or month or even year – if the wall that was climbed simply ends up keeping us in the same place.