Week 10 Post 1: Team Leaders and Performance

Since the third section of our class is focused on “Many” or teams and teamwork in the workplace, I was interested in what is considered as being a good team leader. I found an article by EY in which they discuss what they believe are four key attributes to being a team leader in their organization. EY is one of the largest and most well-known finance companies in the world.

It is obvious that strong leadership is a prerequisite for any high-performance team. It is also particularly important in dynamic situations, such as when the roles and responsibilities of the team may be shifting and there may be a need to adapt the organization’s responses accordingly. There are certainly a numerous amount of professionals in today’s society who encompass the ideal characteristics of modern day team leadership, however finding the individuals that fit your organization is not easy.

EY discusses four main attribute of successful team leaders, which are: (tken directly from EY's website - http://www.ey.com/gl/en/issues/talent-management/four-attributes-of-effective-team-leaders)

1. Provide clear direction and leadership: This requires constant dialog, particularly if the team is distributed across geographies and functions. With teams now spread far and wide, regular contact should be actively planned and prioritized. But while structure is important, companies also need to ensure that processes are not too rigid.
2. Create an open and inclusive team culture: Effective leaders of high-performance teams encourage members to voice views and ideas. Leadership in a team setting is much less about command and control, and more about getting the most out of a diverse and experienced group of individuals.
3. Empower: Old-style command-and-control leadership models are not fit for purpose in a high-performance team setting. Although they lay the groundwork for team activities, effective leaders also know when to get out of the way, and empower team members to be autonomous and make their own day-to-day decisions.
4. Develop and coach: Workplace surveys consistently demonstrate the potential impact of the manager on an employee’s attitude towards their work. Without the leader’s constant encouragement, individual demoralization can quickly infect the team.

I agree that these are certainly 4 key attributes to have today in order to be a successful team leader, however they are not the only characteristics of a good team leader.

EY also discusses three broad characteristics of a high performing team: (taken directly from EY's website - http://www.ey.com/gl/en/issues/talent-management/characteristics-of-high-performance-teams)

• A shared vision: With a clear goal in mind for the team as a whole, individual members are able to establish a clear line of sight between their specific day-to-day responsibilities and the broader, long-term objectives of the business.
• The right mix: Dealing with today’s complex business problems requires companies to think more broadly about team composition. Today, technology and globalization have encouraged companies to look further afield by recruiting members from different organizational functions and geographical regions of the world.
• Commitment to quality and results: High-performance teams have a shared commitment to quality and results. They focus on achieving the highest standards and the best outcome, and are aligned behind achieving this goal.