Qualities of Championship Teams - John C.
Maxwell
John C. Maxwell
Few leaders are successful unless a lot of people want them to be, and no
leaders are successful without a few people helping them along the way. I once
read the statement, "Even when you've played the game of your life, it's the
feeling of teamwork that you'll remember. You'll forget the plays, the shots, and
the scores, but you'll never forget your teammates."
So how do you develop the people surrounding you, people who are helping you
be successful and becoming successful themselves, into the kind of team that
you'll remember for the rest of your life? You have two choices: train them or
trade for them. Grow the people you already have into champion teammates, or
recruit championship-caliber people and bring them onto your team. In doing so,
guide your search toward individuals who display the qualities outlined here, and
work to develop these qualities in yourself and in your existing teammates.
Committed
True commitment is not a feeling or an emotion; human emotions go up and
down all the time, but commitment has to be rock solid. If you want a solid teamwhether it's a business, ball club, marriage, or volunteer organization-you must
have team players who are solidly committed.
Commitment is not easy to come by, but the good news is that commitment does
not require talent. Everyone is equally able to develop it because it is not
dependent on gifts or abilities. Haven't you known highly talented people who
have squandered their potential because they wouldn't do anything? And don't
you know people less talented than you who are more successful? That is often
due, in part, to commitment. To raise your level of commitment and that of your
teammates, be sure your commitments are closely related to your values. If you
find that some are unrelated, reevaluate them as commitments.
Dependable
When you have a team full of people you can depend on, you know it. Likewise,
it is painfully clear when there are people on your team on whom you cannot
depend. The essence of dependability comes down to four concepts: Pure
motives-if someone on the team continually puts themselves and their agenda
ahead of what's best for the team, they have proven themselves undependable.
Responsibility-dependable team members possess the desire to do the things
that they are capable of doing. Sound thinking-a desire for responsibility must
also be coupled with the ability to, simply put, thinks well. Consistent contributionif you can't depend on your teammates all the time, then you can't really depend
on them any time.
Winston Churchill said, "It is not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have
to do what's required." In seeking out dependable team members, it's essential to
discern and elevate those who will stand up under the pressure of responsibility
and dependability. Seek out those who take care of the small stuff and can be
entrusted with paying attention to details. Do the members of your team have the
ability to follow through, taking tasks to completion in all areas? Do you have the
same? Look for, and become yourself, a go-to player on whom your teammates
can rely when crunch time comes.
Enthusiastic
The leader's heart is the source of energy for his or her team, and as such, there
is no substitute for enthusiasm. In thinking about people who bring enthusiastic
attitudes to the team, you realize that those people consistently take
responsibility for their own passion. Just as attitude is a choice, successful
people understand that this applies also to enthusiasm. Positive people are
positive because they choose to be, and often they also choose to surround
themselves with other enthusiastic people.
When looking at yourself, are people more likely to discover enthusiasm or
apathy from you? To improve your team's energy level, fire up your own passion.
Prioritize your life according to your passion-do the tasks for which you possess
both passion and talent and you'll see empowerment rise up in your life and in
your team. Protect your enthusiasm from what I call "firefighters," people who
consistently seem to throw cold water on others' passion. Enthusiasm is
elemental, having the potential to lift your team and yourself increasingly higher
beyond talent or raw ability.
Mission-Conscious
If you know the story of Mary Hays, commonly known as "Molly Pitcher" in history
books, you know that during a hot June afternoon in 1778 during the Battle of
Monmouth, Mary was responsible for keeping the American troops equipped with
sufficient water. Making trips back and forth from a nearby stream, Mary kept a
close eye on her husband as he armed the cannon, and before long saw him
struck down by enemy fire. Knowing what had to be done, she put aside her
immediate despair in order to take up her husband's place in the gunnery line,
aiding the American army as the British were slowly forced to retreat.
If we are to be mission-conscious team players, we must embrace the attitude
that Mary brought to her team and recognize the four qualities of missionconscious players: They know where the team is going, they let the leader lead,
they place team accomplishment ahead of their own, and they do whatever is
necessary to achieve the mission. In looking at yourself, do you keep the big
picture in mind consistently? Does your desire to achieve personal success or
even departmental success interfere with your desire to see the team as a whole
realize its mission?
Relational
If your team members get along, they will go along. Teams thrive on people who
are relational because everyone likes to be liked, and the result is a team
committed to the leader's vision. To know whether you have built solid
relationships among your team members, look for mutual respect. Paradoxically,
you should show respect to others even before they have done anything to
warrant it, but you should always expect to have to earn it from others.
Encourage shared experiences, as well. You can't be relational with someone
you don't know.
When you respect people and you spend enough time with them to develop
shared experiences, you are in a position to develop trust, which is the
foundation of leadership. Similarly, reciprocity and mutual enjoyment arise from
these same experiences. Ponder the relationships that exist within your team: do
you spend a lot of time and energy building solid relationships with and among
your team members, or are you so focused on results that you tend to overlook
one another? I've learned that if it's lonely at the top, you're not doing something
right. I choose to take the journey with people.
Self-Improving
We live in a society with destination disease. Too many people want to do
enough to "arrive," and then they want to retire. I learned early in my leadership
life that to grow, we have to be intentional, and I believe there are three parts to a
cycle of ongoing self-improvement: preparation, contemplation, and application.
Help create a growth environment for yourself and for the people you lead by
encouraging them in this cycle.
In developing an organization focused on self-improvement, be sure that your
team members are being continually challenged and also continually affirmed.
Keep the focus on the future, and remind them that failure is not the enemy.
Model self-improvement for your team by growing and leading yourself well, and
expect the same from them.
These are just a few of the traits of great teams that I have elaborated on in my
book, The 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player. Read more about the
qualities there, including stories of team players who are adaptable,
collaborative, communicative, competent, disciplined, enlarging, intentional,
prepared, selfless, solution-oriented, and tenacious.
One is too small a number to achieve greatness. Lead well, develop a
championship team, and accomplish great things together.