5 Tips To Leading a Team

“If you don’t listen to your teammates, you’re just a 1-person team not using the talents of those around you.”

Want to lead a team?  In your first leadership role and not sure how to start?  Here’s 5 simple steps to point you in the right direction.  

• Have a vision – Before you bring the group together for the first meeting, have a vision for what the team should accomplish.  Who will you need involved?  Who should have input?  Who’s approval should you get?  What potential obstacles do you foresee throughout the project’s life?  Walking into the first meeting with a rough sketch of the what your team will accomplish will lead to more productive meetings and a more effective group.  
• Flexibility – In some cases, you’ll need to work to get buy-in from the group on your vision.  In other cases, you’ll have to realize that your vision represents one perspective among many.  As a leader, you’re responsible for helping the group develop a collective vision and getting the teammates to buy into that idea.  The most effective teams rally around common points to produce great things.  As a leader, sometimes you must accept that the group can produce something better than your original plan.  Once the group determines the best collective path forward, your job is to make sure the plan stays on course for that collective vision.
• Know your role – Your job as a leader rests on your ability to get your team’s best collective product on the table.  Every single team member brings his/her own collective strengths and weaknesses to the project.  Focus on leveraging the strengths and mitigating the weaknesses of each individual.    Make sure each team member has the resources they need to do their job and have a positive impact on the team’s results.
• Listen, listen, listen – If you don’t listen to your teammates, you’re just a 1-person team surrounded by a bunch of people who don’t know what to do with themselves.  As a leader, listening to your teammates strengthens your relationship with them, and increases their ownership.  You want them to feel that ownership so that they bring their best work to the table to support the greater good.  Also, when you listen to your teammates, they’ll often let you know about obstacles coming that you didn’t see.  Everyone sees the road ahead a little differently, and some may see challenges that others don’t.
• Learn – We never stop growing as leaders.  The best leaders constantly ask themselves how they can improve and what lessons they can learn from recent experiences.  As you progress through your time leading the group, always ask yourself how you can get better.  The minute you stop learning and growing, you might as well just quit, because growth is a necessary part of leadership.

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Photo by Natalie Pedigo on Unsplash