A Team Leader – Step by Step. What should you look for in your team leaders? You look for successful leaders who recognize and make productive use of every person and build their team’s creative potential. A skilled leader is constantly aware of what makes others tick and try to be helpful. At the same time, they ask others to help them. No matter how little or how much a job pays, a good leader helps the team member derive from that work the satisfaction of doing something meaningful, and this will bring strength to the team as a whole. The common denominator for a team’s success is work.
Like my aunt used to say, “Good leaders are skilled in getting ordinary people to do superior work.”
[Note: She never said she was the first to say it.]
Step One, a good leader, begins with a command of himself and follows with the management of others. Now His work begins. It is hard work to schedule jobs efficiently even when everybody shows up. And when people are unexpectedly late or absent, adjustments now are made last minute, causing costly changes and a slowdown of things. Here the team leader must help all team members see that their actions affect the entire group and that they are part of a team. When anyone is late or absent, they’re letting the others down. You know what you want as a team leader and work for it. You know what and how much time it takes, and you always remember you are not limited to doing things the same way. You have learned that good leadership is a continuing search for the best way, not the most familiar. A strong leader knows that you only experience progress when your goals are specific and measurable. Let your team know that their ideas make a difference and that all our project ideas are something we all look forward to, making our project a great success.
Like my aunt used to say, “Base your weekly plan on facts, not guesswork.”
Step Two, a good leader earns the team’s enthusiasm. Look for this person to give and take and gain the team’s loyalty and devotion to keep spending long hours, which may sometimes hinder family activities. He does this by including plans for scheduled time off and vacations. After all, we are all on the same team; our work is something to look forward to, and we look past the sacrifice it took to make the project successful.
Step Three, a good leader measures things for the team by guiding the results that may surface with purpose. If something goes wrong, he takes responsibility. When something goes halfway wrong, he stands up and announces that we did it. And finally, when all is well, he declares that the team did it. So, a good strong leader walks in the other person’s shoes and works to understand how one must feel in the same circumstances—measured by always being appreciative and understanding of the feelings of the people on the team.
Like my aunt used to say, “As a leader, you learn from the mistakes of others, knowing that you may never live long enough to make them all yourself.”
