Practice Two: Build a Strong, Effective Team

In the realm of strategic leadership, the first practice involves Defining a Path to Success. Yet, strategic leadership delves much deeper—it involves nurturing teams that can stride confidently along that path, effectively accomplishing your strategic vision and intentions. Building a Strong, Effective Team requires a mindful consideration of the team your strategy demands, coupled with the cultivation of a culture and core competencies essential for its realization.

Revealing the Challenges

One of the formidable culprits behind failing strategic plans lies in leaders bypassing the time and contemplation required to understand the practical implications of their strategy on their teams. All too frequently, minimal attention is paid to the novel core competencies or behaviors demanded, let alone the deliberate nurturing of these new skills, expertise, and actions. This is a common occurance, considering the relentless pace of leaders’ schedules and the lack of strategic training for team development within most organizations.

The Power of Strong, Effective Teams

When a team's culture, talents, and behaviors seamlessly harmonize with its strategy, it emerges as a potent catalyst for positive change within an organization. Trust, engagement, and performance surge dramatically when alignment between a team's aspirations and its prioritizations is achieved. This synergy becomes even more impactful when the team possesses the adeptness and assurance to execute the adopted strategy. Leaders wield significant influence when they thoughtfully assess a strategy's implications for their teams and proactively support their team members' professional growth and evolution.

Managing the Tension

Nurturing a strong, effective team mandates that a leader carefully manages the tension between fostering team autonomy and decision-making ability while also methodically cultivating and guiding team members' behaviors, skills, and expertise. The optimal level of initiative a team should wield hinges on factors such as strategic demands, the work environment, and the organizational level. Striking a balance between empowering a team to make decisions and explore growth avenues they are passionate about, while simultaneously steering their behaviors and professional development, is quintessential to leading a highly engaged and productive team. Strategic leaders adeptly navigate this tension, cultivating teams that are both fervently engaged and remarkably effective.

Syncing Team and Strategy

To synchronize your team with your strategy, a twofold approach is imperative—defining the core competencies necessitated by your strategy and formulating a development plan to channel and nurture your team's talents and behaviors in alignment with your strategic intentions.

Step One: Define Core Competencies

Competencies include the skills, knowledge, and abilities indispensable for your team's success. The first step toward synchronization is thoughtfully examining your team's strategic plan, pinpointing the unique competencies required for executing the plan.

Step Two: Find the Skill Gaps

Subsequent to defining core competencies, assess each team member through the lens of these competencies. While some may possess the necessary skills, others might require coaching, training, or experiences to cultivate these competencies. In some instances, outsourcing or recruitment may be the solution. Identifying skill gaps marks the second phase of synchronization.

Step Three: Create a Development Plan

The final phase involves creating a development plan for each team member. This comprehensive plan should delineate areas necessitating coaching, training, or support. It should also emphasize potential outsourcing or recruitment requirements to instill the indispensable competencies within your team. This step takes the gaps and turns them into an action plan.

Adopting the Wayfinder Approach

At Wayfinder, we are passionate about empowering leaders to foster strong, effective teams that stand poised to accomplish strategic visions and intentions. Our mission revolves around arming you with the skills and strategies needed to travel this journey victoriously. We bring to the table an empathetic yet results-driven methodology that has propelled numerous leaders to harness their team's latent potential, reaping remarkable achievements.

Wayfinder stands firmly by your side, offering not just insights but tangible guidance, training and tools for success. Are you ready to embrace this transformative journey? If the answer is yes, take the next step by connecting with us now. Your journey towards strategic success awaits.