Hi Leader,

The point of leadership is to produce results through other people. You lead to create new outcomes that enable a desired future through the participative work of others. In this key you will discover three critical success factors to building dynamic high-functioning teams.


Three Steps to Developing Dynamic Teams

The most pragmatic insights show up in real life, often during conversations with clients as we work to solve concrete needs. Below is one such conversation.

"Aviv, you know I have ambitious goals to meet by the end of the fiscal year. My team must be fully aligned with, and committed to, those goals if we are to be successful. How can I help focus their energy on buying into and achieving these outcomes?"

This question, posed last week by a client, is one that I hear frequently. Here is how I responded: "If you want to generate excitement and energy in a team, you must build a culture that contains the following three elements:

  1. A motivating environment
  2. Empowered employees
  3. Commitment to the mission."

A motivating environment is one that inspires people to exert their best efforts. In my work with successful executives and teams, I have found that cultivating the high-energy workplace needed to achieve even the most ambitious goals requires three characteristics. Team members (a) respect and appreciate their co-workers, (b) find them fun to work with, and (c) are able to learn from each other and grow as professionals.

Empowered employees love to come to work because they are convinced that their efforts have a positive impact on the value their organization provides. Leaders who design jobs, tasks, and roles that take advantage of their employees’ talents unleash the creativity necessary to achieve whatever they are asked to accomplish. Importantly, they ensure that this empowering culture extends to employees at all levels of the organization.

Employees become committed to the mission of the organization when they believe in it personally and feel that they are part of something bigger than themselves. Leaders who create a compelling "big picture" and then help their team members "connect the dots" to create a line of sight from the work they do to the organization’s purpose, demonstrate clearly the value the team provides. By helping employees articulate that value in terms of their own contributions, their leaders win their hearts and minds.

To energize your team about achieving ambitious goals, consider applying these steps used by leaders to excite their organizations: build a motivating environment, empower your employees, and cultivate a commitment to the organizational mission. Unleashing the talent and creativity of your people will result in a dynamic team ready to take on whatever you ask.

Now it’s your turn. Turn the key. What will you do to create a culture of dynamic teams today?


© Aviv Shahar