Do you have the leadership skills to build a cohesive team? Would you agree that your organization is only as good as your people? Therefore you select the best people. After you have selected them your challenge as a leader is to keep them engaged and producing results. Engaged team members will lead to loyal customers and loyal customers will lead to a sustainable business. In our business climate it is not enough to be good, you must exceed customers’ expectations. That is not going 
to happen if you have a lot of highly qualified but individual performers. You need cohesive and effective teams to make it happen, not people in individual silos. Everyone has different talents and it is important to leverage those talents. The power of your team is only as effective as your weakest link.
Creating a winning team begins with creating a culture that allows your members to challenge, to question, and to create. Get to know all of your team. Don’t just spend time with people with whom you are comfortable or those with seniority and experience. For example, some may be selected for their big picture systematic thinking and planning. Some may be selected for their attention to detail and getting things done right. Some may be selected for their consensus building and understanding of relationships. By the way, you must look at that person that you perceive to be your weakest link. What is that person’s strength? Encourage him or her to leverage that strength.
Building a high performing team depends on the leader’s ability to construct relationships within the team. As the leader you must establish very clear goals and demonstrate full commitment to their achievement.
Trust is essential to success of the team. People must feel free to ask questions with the confidence that they will receive support and the information that they need. There must be honest, complete and open communication throughout the group.
Competency is important when creating highly effective teams. The personal skills necessary for teamwork are technical and interpersonal skills, possibility attitudes, and the desire and ability to achieve goals. Technical competency is a thorough understanding of how to do the job and the skills required to fulfill the job requirements. Interpersonal skills are those skills required to successfully interact with others. Possibility attitudes include “All Hands On” confidence and a belief in one’s ability to positively influence outcomes. Each individual team member must bring high levels of personal and technical competencies. This means that every individual has a personal responsibility to make a positive contribution to overall team performance. Every team member knows his/her job, but they collectively have the attitude that each person on that team will do whatever it takes to get the job done.
A skillful leader empowers a cohesive team which creates loyal customers and business success.
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