1. Maintaining morale and keeping people positive.
2. Generating new and different ideas to tackle old and long standing problems.
3. Dealing effectively with the underperformers.
4. Getting everyone to pull together, especially when they have different values or aspirations.
5. Dealing with the dominant people who try to railroad everything to suit their circumstances.

What else would you add?

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to achieve success and realize their professional potential through being highly effective leaders and managers. For more information and to sign up for his free audio e-course click here

Leading a team brings both challenges and rewards, so what are 10 key things that you need to be doing to successfully lead a team?

1. Be a great listener. Use your ears and mouth in the correct proportion.
2. Take decisions and don’t procrastinate. Remember, decisions lead to action and action leads to results.
3. Be clear about what you are trying to achieve.
4. Delegate as much as you can.
5. Be a role model for great team behaviour.
6. Be authentic and don’t put on an act.
7. Step into others’ shoes and look at things from their perspective.
8. Take responsibility when things don’t go to plan.
9. Encourage everyone to air their views and make their contribution.
10. Facilitate overcoming the obstacles that get in the way of team success.

The Bottom Line

Team leadership can make a huge difference to the results delivered. What do you need to do more of to get better results?

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to achieve success and realize their professional potential through being highly effective leaders and managers. For more information and to sign up for his free audio e-course click here

As your career starts to gain momentum and you start to demonstrate what you can deliver personally, chances are you will find yourself in a position where you are given your own team to lead.  Leading a team brings with it a number of challenges and can feel like no matter what you do someone will be unhappy.  So if you are to succeed as a team leader, what 5 qualities are essential to your success?

Quality 1: An effective listener

One of the most important and yet most challenging things for team leaders is effectively listening to others.  It can be hugely tempting to try and rely on your position power to make things happen and while this might get some results in the short term it is unlikely to work in the long term.  Make listening more effectively and actively a priority if you want to make an immediate improvement in your team leadership competency.

Quality 2: Treating everyone fairly

Just as in life, there will be some people that you connect with more than others.  This in itself is not a problem as such unless it starts to compromise how you treat others.   Treat everyone fairly and you will gain the respect and support of those that you lead in most cases.

Quality 3: Providing clear direction

As the leader of the team you need to provide direction to others.  This includes giving a clear message of the overall direction of the team or function as well as clearly setting the expectations of the team of people that you lead.  If you fail to do this, chances are that the results that you deliver will be less than they could potentially be.

Quality 4: Making decisions

You might not always have 100% support for every decision that you make but people will value the fact that you take decisions.  Being led by someone who procrastinates over every decision is a huge de-motivator and hugely frustrating for those that you lead.

Quality 5: A genuine interest in others

If you don’t show any interest in helping others to achieve results and success in their careers why should they be interested in helping you get results?  Team leaders who make the time to take a genuine interest in helping others achieve results will get benefits well in excess of the investment of time and energy that that they make.

Bottom Line – Team leadership is challenging and rewarding.  Doing some simple things exceptionally can make a huge difference to the results and success that you achieve.

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps professionals and organisations to achieve better results through improved team working.  Click here to find out more.

Many things contribute to team success and some things get in the way.  Team leadership is an important element in team success, so what are 5 common stumbling blocks when it comes to effective team leadership?

Stumbling block 1: The leader is closed minded

One of the great strengths of teams is their ability to generate a whole host of alternatives and ideas.  Used effectively these can contribute to great results and even take team performance to a higher level.  On the other hand if the team leader is closed minded and not open to new ideas then these ideas will never translate into results.

Stumbling block 2: Not using appropriate leadership style

Leadership styles can essentially be grouped into 5 main categories.  Telling, telling and selling, consultation, participation and empowerment.  The style that you adopt will depend on the situation, the expertise of those in the team and the context to name just a few.  For example, in times of urgency you might need to go for a very directive, telling style.  The key is to be able to adapt and use an appropriate leadership style when leading a team.

Stumbling block 3: Self interest before team results

Team members expect the team leader to be loyal to the team.  If the leader becomes more interested in themselves, they start making choices from a self interest rather than a team results perspective.

Stumbling block 4: Lack of consistency

We have all probably worked for people who seem to lack any sort of consistency when it comes to dealing and interacting with others.  For the team member this is a real challenge and can ultimately lead to disengagement.  As the team leader try and aim to be as consistent as you possible.

Stumbling block 5: Having your favourites

Like anyone else you will have a better connection with some people in the team than others.  At the same time you need to be alert to this connection leading to you having personal favourites which can alienate others.  Be alert to the fact that you might be showing favouritism.

Bottom Line – Team leadership is a vital component in team success.  So what stumbling blocks are getting in the way of your success as a team leader?

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps professional people to improve management skills, leadership skills and team working.  For information on services and programmes click here

We all recognise and know what a big difference a leader can make to a team.  At the same time team leadership can be tough.  So what are 5 realities you need to face up to when it comes to team leadership?

Reality 1: Your success depends on having the right team

While easy to say in practice it is much more difficult to achieve.  You often inherit people or find it difficult to move on those who are not a good fit.  You also need to be adept at identifying the types of people and the qualities you need to create great results.

Reality 2: Conflict is part and parcel of a team

While you hope to achieve camaraderie and get everyone working together the truth is conflict will always be part and parcel of a team.  As the leader the challenge is to use conflict productively rather than allowing it to be destructive.

Reality 3: You need to get all views aired

The value of a team is the diversity of opinions, ideas, perspectives and ways of looking at things.  Some will readily offer their thoughts and views while others need to be encouraged to speak up.  As the leader you need to make sure that an equal opportunity to speak is given to everyone.

Reality 4: Your status does not guarantee success

There may have been a time in the past where leaders achieved success based on position power.  These days such a style of leadership rarely works.  People need to respect you and feel that you respect them if they are going to support you.

Reality 5: You set the tone for the team and the results it achieves

As the leader the tone you set or even your attitude goes a long way towards the results that a team achieves.  If you have a general attitude of finding a way to achieve something you are much more likely to deliver more than someone who focuses on the obstacles.

Bottom Line – Leading a team is tough.  So what do you need to focus on to achieve more success as a leader?

Successful teams are highly motivated and consistently deliver better results than any one individual working alone could ever hope to.  If as the leader of the team you are to get optimal performance, you need to be leveraging the skills, qualities and expertise of each and every team member.

So how do you do this?

Know your team

Okay, I guess that if you asked a team leader whether they really know their team, chances are that they would say they do.  While this might be true for a minority, in my experience, most leaders don’t really understand the range of skills and expertise available to them.

As the leader, make time to find out what range of skills, expertise and attributes that each team member has and then start utilising these.

Be a role model

If you want to bring out the best in your teams, why not consider being a role model for the team.   Often people confuse the idea of being a role model with being a bit of a show off. 

By being a role model, you will demonstrate the skills and the behaviours that others can follow.  This benefits the results and also the individual as they acquire new skills.

Let go of your ego

You might well be one of the greatest leaders around.  However, the job in the team is to get results and bring out the best in everyone.  When you are more interested in how you look and how you are seen by others, your personal ego ends up being a barrier to team results.

Remember it is the results that matter rather than looking good personally.

Deal with the overly dominant people

In teams there will be some people who are natural extroverts and others who are more introverts.  The challenge as the leader is to make sure that those who are most vocal and outgoing don’t dominate the proceedings rather than encouraging the contributions of others.

Make a commitment to training the extroverts to involve others and help the less vocal to get their contributions heard.

See beyond the labels

Right or wrongly, people tend to be pigeon holed based on their job title or function that they work in.  You know the scenario, accountants are only interested in numbers, only marketing are creative, human resources are too soft and not commercial to name a few.

As the leader never confuse roles with people.  Just because someone chooses to work in a particular function does not mean that they only have skills in that area.

Bottom Line – Well run teams can deliver great results.  So what do you need to start focusing on to leverage the brilliance of teams?

Leading a team on the face of it looks really easy. In reality it can be extremely challenging. As well as having the eyes of your boss and peers looking at how you are performing, you have to deal with all the different personalities and characters in the team you lead.

Given these pressures, it would be easy to crack and really struggle as a team leader.  Yet in truth there are things that you can do to become a better team leader.  So what are 7 things that you can do to become a better team leader?

Increase your self awareness

If you are going to lead a team effectively, you need to have a high level of self awareness.  Being self aware is not about identifying all of your faults but about understanding your motivators, your impact, what you do well and where you struggle.  When you are armed with these insights you start to build your team from really strong foundations.

Be clear about what is to be delivered

Every team exists for a reason and ultimately it is to deliver some result or contribution to business results.  As the team leader, you need to understand totally what is expected from the team and be able to effectively communicate it to other team members.

Involve others

Imagine there are two teams.  In the first team all of the ideas, ways of working and plans are developed by the team leader and imposed.  In the second team, the team leader fully involves team members in coming up with ideas, creating plans and deciding how to achieve them.  Which team do you think will deliver most?  As the team leader, focus on involving others more.

Have an effective decision making process

Every team member might not agree 100% with every decision that is taken but on the other hand they will find procrastination even more frustrating.  Make sure that for significant team decisions there is a clear process and criteria for reaching decisions so that things keep moving forward.

Don’t ignore the deficiencies

It is incredibly difficult to deliver results through a team if you have deficiencies in terms of resources, skills and expertise. At the same time, it can be incredibly tempting to make do, especially if you know that the organisation is facing challenging times. 

Don’t fall into the trap of ignoring deficiencies in the hope that they will go away.   Tackle them so that you keep progressing.

Encourage and support others

It is so easy to forget just how difficult it was when you were doing something for the first time or operating in a new set of circumstances.  Some just deal with this without any problems while others will have crisis of confidence.  As the leader, make a point of encouraging and supporting others through the good and not so good times.

Remember to recognise team effort

It never ceases to amaze me just how few leaders take the time to recognise the efforts and contributions of the team to deliver.  If you are someone who falls into this category, do something to create a habit of looking out for good things that the team has tried or done and acknowledge them for their efforts.

Bottom Line – Becoming a better team leader is a career long learning process.  So what steps can you take to become an even better team leader?

As a leader you will have the role of leading what may well be a very large team of people.  With more organisations now operating across the globe, you may well find that you are also having to lead a virtual team located hundreds or potentially thousands of miles from where you are based.  So what are my 8 top tips for leading teams?

Tip 1: Set clear goals or outcomes

If your team or teams are to achieve anything they need to have absolute clarity on what you expect them to deliver in terms of goals or outcomes.  While in theory this might seem simple, too often leaders fall into the trap of setting very vague or ambiguous goals.  To overcome this start by getting clear about what you want to be different 1, 3 or even 5 years from now and then narrow it down to a very clear purpose.

Tip 2: Facilitate more and direct less

As the leader of the team, think of yourself as the conductor of the orchestra rather than the person playing an instrument. Your role is to bring out the best from everyone in the team so that you get optimal performance and results.

Tip 3: Learn to listen

We were all given two ears and one mouth.  Yet often you would think that it was the other way round.  Don’t fall into the trap as the leader of the team of spending all of your time talking and little or none getting the contributions of others.

Tip 4: Reward team rather than individual performance

If someone is going to be rewarded just for what they do individually, what incentive is there to contribute to team performance?  Aim to create reward structures that mean that if the team wins, everyone wins rather than being narrowly focused on individuals.

Tip 5: Be consistent

All leaders have their own style which is to be expected.  At the same time it is important as a team member to have some sort of consistency in leadership style.  There is nothing worse in having to guess what leader has turned up on a particular day so try to be as consistent as possible.

Tip 6: Be a role model

As the team leader you set the tone for the rest of the team.  How you behave, how you interact, how you deal with difficulties and conflict will all impact on the team.  Decide on the tone you want to set then model that for others.

Tip 7: Provide opportunity

One of the big attractions of being on a team is that you often get the chance to work with different people or to take on new challenges.  Use this as an opportunity to grow and develop people.

Tip 8: Take responsibility and praise others

When things don’t go according to plan, take responsibility and don’t seek to apportion blame.  When things go well don’t grab the glory and make appoint of praising others.

Bottom Line – Leading a team looks easy yet in truth it is hugely challenging.  So what do you need to be doing to create more success as a team leader?

As a leader you recognise that more can be achieved collectively than you could individually.  Yet in my experience, leaders often make mistakes that stifle rather than encourage performance.  Are you making one or more of these mistakes?

Mistake 1: Holding on to things out of habit rather than neccessity.

Mistake 2: Playing at pretend empowerment where you keep interfering and checking up.

Mistake 3: Having to be right and so not listening effectively to others contributions.

Mistake 4: Needing to be liked rather than respected and letting popularity cloud your decision making.

What else would you add to the list?  Go ahead and leave your comment.

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps orgnisations to get great results through teams.  To find out more click here

In week 4 of The Apprentice, the teams were tasked with developing, producing and selling two natural beauty products.

The teams were mixed up again, with Noorul leading what turned out to be the winning team and Paula leading the losing team.  The big learning point from this week was that it is often the most basic of mistakes that can be the most costly.

So let’s compare both of the teams.  As a team leader, Noorul was clearly not leading and any time where a decision needed to be made he looked like a rabbit in the headlights.  There was absolutely nothing in the way of creativity and the product, particularly the soap was awful.  When it came to selling he just could not do it, despite the fact that in one of the clips he would rate himself 10 out 10 when it came to selling.  Yet despite all of this he and his team delivered a profit of just under £500.

Paula by contrast was a great team leader.  She took decisions, made things happen, a good example being the sale of the remaining stock as a single batch.  She was creative and pretty dynamic on the whole.  So what was the big mistake that was made?  Choosing a hugely expensive fragrance and not considering the financial consequences.

So what in summary are the leadership lessons can we learn form this week’s show?

1. A great product, with good marketing and selling is not enough
2. Crunching the numbers might be dull but essential to running any successful organisation
3. Delegation need to be clear and unambiguous
4. It is important to be self aware
5. When in a situation of conflict, choose your tactics wisely
6. Not being an expert in something is not a defence.  If you are the leader, the buck stops with you.

You can watch The Apprentice in the UK every Wednesday evening at 9pm or on the BBCiplayer