This article is part of my Global Leadership series; Insights from more than a decade of leadership training around the world…
As a leader, you will always have voices willing and eager to offer you advice. But if you want to build a winning team, you need team-builders, not just advice-givers..
Team-builders will…
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Stretch you,
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Develop you,
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Champion you,
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Work alongside you.
Advice-givers will simply hand out their recommendations. They are not invested. They are not in the trenches. And to be an impact leader, you need to spot the difference. You need to pay attention to the voices of team-builders.
I was working with a team in Australia who, I was told. were leaders who supported the senior leader. But after several trips out to Brisbane, I saw very clearly that the senior leader was not supported by team-builders; he was surrounded by a group of advisors. They were well-meaning people to be sure, but they didn’t have skin in the game. They were simply doling out recommendations.
As a leader, you must learn to listen to team-building voices.
True team-builders…
1. …have a stake in the outcome
Team-builders shoulder the responsibility together. They back up their recommendations with a shared sense of resolve and commitment. Their voices say, “Here’s what we should all do.”
Advice-givers deflect the responsibility. They say, “Here’s what you should do.”
2. …have a team mentality
Pay close attention to the voices of those who value a team approach. The mantra of team-building voices is, “All for one, and one for all.” These voices value the voices of others.
Advice-giving voices speak in isolation.
3. …are willing to roll up their sleeves
Team-building voices stick with it until the mission has been accomplished. They roll up their sleeves and stay in the game. Advice-givers might not give the mission another thought until the next time their advice is requested.
Based on what we saw in Australia, we built an entirely new team. Gone were the advice-givers, in came a team of leaders with a clear mandate; we needed far more than their recommendations; this new team was required to get their hands dirty, dive into the issues, and support the senior leader with action, not just words.
Within a year, the organization was beginning to soar.
Take stock of your team. Are they “roll up their sleeves”, get-in-the-trenches leaders? Or are they advice-givers.
It may be time to build a new team. Because maximizing your leadership needs a hefty team of leaders, not a light group of advisors.
