Building an Exceptional Team

Anthony Butler, Assistant Director of Leadership

Rosenberg Center for Student Involvement

What does
a great
team
look like?

Where do you start to

build a great team?
How do you find great people?
How do you recognize great people
when you see them?

What inhibits execution?

National survey of 4,000 senior
executives
4. Inability to work together as a TEAM
(21%)
5. Company culture (23%)
6. Economic climate (29%)
1. Holding on to the past / unwillingness
to change (35%)

Creating a Culture of
Teamwork
The five values of a strong corporate
culture:
Integrity: be a living example of your
leadership values
Accountability: do what you say you will
do- build trust through personal
responsibility
Diligence: work hard, set a good pace,
complete projects on or before
deadlines
How to Build, Lead and Sustain a
High Performance Team, John

Creating a Culture of
Teamwork
The five values of a strong corporate
culture:
Perseverance: overcome obstacles
while maintaining a positive and
enthusiastic attitude
Discipline: do all of these things, every
single day

How to Build, Lead and Sustain a

High Performance Team, John

The Seven Lessons

The following is from a joint study of
1,500 outstanding organization
conducted by the Tom Peters Group,
TPG/Learning Systems and the
Executive Development Center at
the Leavey School of Business and
Administration.

The Seven Lessons

1. Leaders Dont Wait
They are proactive, they want to
produce
victories. Waiting for permission is
not a
characteristic of leaders. A sense of
urgency
combined with disciplined execution
is.
How to Build, Lead and Sustain a
High Performance Team, John

The Seven Lessons

2. Character Counts
We call it the first law: if you dont
believe
the messenger you will not believe
the
message! People expect leaders to
stand for
something and to have the courage of
their
convictions.
How to Build, Lead and Sustain a
High Performance Team, John

The Seven Lessons

3. Leaders have their heads in
the clouds and their feet on the
ground
Not only do we demand that leaders
be
credible; we also demand that they
have a
clear and compelling vision of the
future.
How to Build, Lead and Sustain a
High Performance Team, John

The Seven Lessons

4. Shared values make a
difference
Followers have needs and interests,
dreams
and beliefs of their own. Leaders
must be
able to gain consensus on a common
cause
and common set of principles.
How to Build, Lead and Sustain a
High Performance Team, John

The Seven Lessons

5. You cant do it alone
Leadership is not a solo act. Winning
strategies are always based on a
we, not
I philosophy.

How to Build, Lead and Sustain a

High Performance Team, John

The Seven Lessons

6. The legacy you leave behind is the
life you lead
Leaders take every opportunity to show
others by their own example that they are
deeply committed to the aspirations that
they espouse. Leading by example is how
leaders make vision and values tangible. It
is how they provide evidence that they are
personally committed.

How to Build, Lead and Sustain a

High Performance Team, John

The Seven Lessons

7. Leadership is everyones
business.
There is a myth that assumes that
when you
are on top you are automatically a
leader.
This is simply not true. Leadership is
earned, not bestowed. It is not a title.
It is
a responsibility. How to Build, Lead and Sustain a
High Performance Team, John

Its Your Ship:

Building a team on USS
Benfold

Create a Climate
of Trust:
Never pit dog
against dog
Even the worst
screwup may be
redeemable
Welcome the bad
news messenger
Protect your people
from lunatic bosses

Its Your Ship:

Building a team on USS
Benfold

Create a Climate of
Trust:
Trust is like a bank
account. Youve got to
keep making deposits if
you want it to grow. On
occasion, things will go
wrong and you will have
to make a withdrawal.
Meanwhile, it is sitting in
the bank earning
interest.

Its Your Ship:

Building a team on USS
Benfold

Look for results,

not salutes
Help knock down the
barriers
Let your crew feel
free to speak up
Free your crew of
top-downitis
Nurture the freedom
to fail
Innovation knows no
rank
Challenge your crew
beyond its reach

Its Your Ship:

Building a team on USS
Benfold
As captain, I was charged
with enforcing 225 years
of accumulated Navy
regulations, policies and
procedures. But every last
one of those rules was up
for negotiation whenever
my people came up with a
better way of doing
things.

What breaks a team

Bullies one member speaks for all
Lack of trust inauthentic
leadership
Competing agendas no buy-in,
no consensus
Lack of communication
everyone is talking at onceso no
ones listening

What builds up a team

Encouragement fostering new
ideassoliciting input
Shared values, shared vision
working for toward a common goal
Clear communication using
consistent methods for keeping
everyone informed
Ownership everyone on the team
feels connected and engaged

Questions?