I am an executive coach, and for over 40 years I have worked with companies and organizations to build highly-productive, winning teams. Top-notch teams are disciplined, unselfish, and hard-working. They rarely find themselves in a petty conflict. If a team wants to be the best, they have no time for such things.
As I help teams get to the highly-productive status, I coach both one-on-one and in groups. Progress needs to be measured, and one metric I use is in my one-on-one coaching calls. I always note the amount of time we spend in advancement and goal achievement, and I also identify the reason a coaching call gets bogged down. 80% of the coaching conversation should be accountability and creativity on the action plan.
When I start working with someone, the majority of the call time deals with problems with communication and personal conflict. We know how important those two factors can be. The most common reason for this is a couple of team members who are not team players. This problem must be resolved. In many cases this is a training issue. Some folks need to learn interpersonal skills. They must be willing to admit the gap, and commit to improving. Sadly, there are situations where inflexible team members are not humble enough to admit their shortcomings. These individuals are much less likely to change, and the sooner they are off the team, the better.
A winning team consists of people committed to always getting better. Remember the maxim, “Get better or get beat”!
