Lead a Great Group

As our Ho‘ohana this month we are considering how managers impact teams in our study of Lōkahi, the Hawaiian value of cooperation and collaboration.

In my catching up with our Ho‘ohana Community this weekend, I discovered something written by George Ambler of The Practice of Leadership (which I highly recommend adding to your subscriptions) called What makes Great Groups Tick? George summarizes ten principles Warren Bennis suggested as common to all great groups, and then these four more about the leaders of those great groups. Those are leaders who:

• Provide direction and meaning. They remind people of what’s important and why their work makes a difference.

• Generate and sustain trust. The group’s trust in itself — and its leadership — allows members to accept dissent and ride through the turbulence of the group process.

• Display a bias toward action, risk taking, and curiosity. A sense of urgency — and a willingness to risk failure to achieve results — is at the heart of every Great Group.

• Are purveyors of hope. Effective team leaders find both tangible and symbolic ways to demonstrate that the group can overcome the odds.

I’ve reversed the order of George’s article for I’d like you to first focus on these four leadership traits, honestly assessing how you’ve led the charge thus far with that project you decided to tackle in our Jumpstart this month.

In that self-assessment, see if you can zero in on your next area of opportunity with your team’s dynamics. How can you intercept and redirect, or otherwise serve as the catalyst needed TO keep them on track, OR help them achieve breakthrough?

Second, write down your self-assessment to capture your thoughts and your intent. It is in the writing we can achieve much more clarity.

Third, as Bennis suggests, train your own bias for action by calendaring your next actions.

Then and only then, now that you have some personal context, click over to read the first ten principles George offers from Bennis, using them as a final visioning filter: Will those next actions you’ve planned achieve those results for you? Or, are there other points made you need to incorporate?

Here is the link when you are ready:
From George Ambler at The Practice of Leadership: What makes Great Groups Tick?

It’s only in the practice of leadership that we influence our world…
—George Ambler

--------------------Tracking MWA Jumpstart:

NEXT JUMPS: Reinvented Work: So many possibilities.
Great Project to consider: A Compensation Overhaul.

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Comments

[Steve Sherlock]

Rosa, this is a nice summary from George. It maps well to what we have seen in our discussion on leadership on the Blog Synergy.