Team Leadership

Team leadership is that special quality or trait necessary for any group of people that get together to work towards a single goal.

Be it a sports team coming together to win a championship, or a restaurant group outperforming self-imposed standards to be the best that they can be, leadership is the key that keeps them on the path towards obtaining those goals.

In each Team the Team Leader must "take the reins.” The Team Leader must give the team examples of how things need to be done, and by showing rather than telling. The Team Leader needs to set the tone for the whole group, giving the Team precise goals and a clear path for reaching those goals. A clear vision of the goals must be conveyed to each individual on the Team, and each person on the Team needs to understand how individual effort helps the Team obtain its goals. By completing their individual part, the satisfaction of completing these goals benefits them, but also supports the whole, motivating them to do well and giving them each the feeling of being part of something bigger than the specific task at hand.

The Team Leader needs to be approachable and inclusive of the entire Team. The Team Leader needs to communicate from the top to the bottom, while also allowing communication from the bottom to the top. The Team Leader needs to support the belief that everyone on the Team matter towards obtaining the overall goal. The Team Leader must daily build a comfort zone with each Team Member, at the same time building one of the most important and intangible qualities: trust. The Team must trust that YOU are looking out for the group’s interest FIRST.

The Team Leader needs to be resilient enough to make the tough decisions and accept the consequences, whether they are good or bad.

The Team Leader must bounce back when things go wrong, for they always do, and bounce back when things go well. Never let the highs get too high, or the lows too low. Leadership comes easier to some, and harder to others, but leadership can be learned and improved on, regardless of who you are.

Leadership by any individual should always be a work in progress, a quality to be improved upon.

By bettering oneself, one in turn betters his or her team.