Building a Team Member's Success

Leaders are judged from all aspects (peers, superiors and direct reports) on their ability to have their team members build successes.  The kind coincidence is that the more successful your team members are, the happier you should be as a leader.

The issue of coaching team success is deep and should be approached with critical thought and care.   That being said, there are a few rules of thumb that enable you to build the success of your team members.

From the get-go, assure team members are aware of the company's, the team's and your goals.  These should be stated consistently and often.       There is a mindset of, "Well, we did our annual review of goals - we can cross that off the list for another year. . .or two."  Instead, you should treat these goals as foundational to every work discussion and they should be woven throughout your conversations.

Ensure that your team has the tools needed to align themselves with, and execute to, these common goals.   Some of the key questions I asked my team were:  "Do you know what your role is in accomplishing the goals of the company?" and "Do you have the tools you need to accomplish your job?"  These questions require the team member and leader to think about resources that are key to success.

Encourage your team to think of options:   different ways to approach a project, new ways to tackle a deadline and several great ideas with which to meet a challenge.   The critical exploration of options forces teams to become more familiar with the enterprise, the industry in which it is operating and the customers it serves.  It builds tensile strength and creates a competitive advantage.

When a team member comes to you with an idea - don't pounce on what is wrong or why the idea won't work.   Back up and think carefully, then positively accentuate the parts of the presentation that are aligned with the overall goals of the team and company.   Spend at least as much time reinforcing the positive as you do in constructive criticism.

Celebrate success.    In some institutions, success is treated as a mere by-product of work.  In turn, the work becomes mundane and team members are uncertain of what it is they have contributed or accomplished.     Calling out success builds success:  it confirms to team members what it is that they have done correctly and allows them to use that as a foundation for the future.

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Brent Frerichs is the author of "Courageous Questions, Confident Leaders," available for e-readers, tablets and PCs on Amazon Kindle: https://kindle.amazon.com/work/courageous-questions-confident-leaders-ebook/B0095KPA6A/B0095KPA6A