What is a team?
By Robert C. Kennedy
Do you work as part of a team? Chances are, in some manner you do. Maybe you work for multiple teams. There are few situations where a person has a task or responsibility that does not rely on others for success.
We all know what a team is, right? It’s a group of individuals who come together to accomplish shared goals, each of them bringing their particular skills and experiences, and accepting specific assignments from the group to reach those goals. A team moves forward like a machine, with each of its members acting as critical parts of the assembly doing their jobs in sync with the others.
Wrong! That’s only half of it. For me, the best definition of “team” came from Chuck Noll, the mastermind of the Pittsburgh Steelers dynasty teams of the ‘70s. (Yes, I’m from Pittsburgh. I’m a Steelers fan, and I grew up watching those teams.)
Chuck Noll did not accept the definition above. Chuck Noll said that a real team understands that at any given point, one of the members will fail or will have an off day. A real team understands that and is willing to commit greater sacrifices; to go above and beyond; to pick up more than their share of the load and carry them. They do this because they know it’s what it takes to be successful. They do it because they understand that someday it could be any one of them who needs help. They do it out of a genuine care and camaraderie for one another that can only come from fighting the good fight together.
Sticking with the football theme, I can think of other examples: when a quarterback goes down and the defense picks it up and plays above their heads. Because they have to win. Or a running back accepts that he will be needed more without the quarterback and ends up rushing for 200 yards. The rest of the team adapts to the situation. Everybody plays defense.
As a member of your team, will you accept the responsibility to go above and beyond? Or will you be the person saying, “that’s not my job.” It requires sacrifice, more work, more stress, longer hours. But you have to ask yourself: what are you there for? Are you there to put in the hours or to get the job done?
If you are assigned the task of leading a team, what kind of leader will you be? Most people want to be part of a cause that is bigger than they are. It’s not hard to identify a leader that thinks that same way. I am drawn to the reluctant leaders, the ones who did NOT seek power, fame, or fortune. Those types of leaders do it because they are called to it out of a sense of responsibility.
We have all seen the John Trumbull painting that hangs in the Capitol. The painting depicts George Washington, the most powerful man in the new United States, resigning his military commission. He could have been King. When King George heard this news, he was quoted as saying, “If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.” Washington just wanted to return home to be a farmer. His new country wouldn’t let him.
I believe that there are no special traits that are required to lead. I do not believe that leadership is inherent; that leaders are born. You do not have to be charismatic or well-spoken. Moses was neither. We all have it in us to lead. Whether or not we do so is dependent upon the circumstances that compel us to accept the burden to lead.
What does a leader do? First, they make decisions. However inclusive they try to be, a leader understands that ultimately the decision is theirs. Second, they think strategically by looking down the road at where the group should go and positioning them to get there. Third, they motivate. They get people to do things they either don’t want to do or don’t think they can do. Again, it doesn’t take an MLK quality speaker to do that. In my opinion, the best leaders lead by example. They are the ones who won’t ask their team to do things they wouldn’t do. They are the ones who make sacrifices for the team. People see that. It’s far better to see it than to hear empty words eloquently spoken.
Lastly, and maybe most importantly, leaders develop their people. That doesn’t necessitate a formal education or certification process. It means they lay a path to help their team members become more competent in the next stage of their career. A big part of that is giving them the chance to fail.
I used this analogy throughout the years: there are three types of people who come into my office. The first asks, “What should I do?” The second suggests, “I think I should do this.” The third says, “I did this, what’s next?” Which one of those people do you think will go the furthest? (The answer is that most of the time it’s the third.) A leader needs to make employees feel comfortable about being the third person who is free to take risks and make mistakes. That builds loyalty.
When you look to build your team, will you pick just the best and brightest? All-star teams made up of the best talent rarely play well together. Or will you look for those people who get it — the ones who will be the last to leave, the first to volunteer, the most driven toward success. The ones who accept that they are part of a mission. This kind of team attitude is contagious. It will spread. Foster it and soon enough, you and every member of that team will understand what Chuck Noll was talking about.
