Our customer research shows that we achieve a 200%-6,600% ROI from applying our proprietary methodologies. All of our programs are specially crafted for each individual client's needs, but all are designed to result in turning your team into a Team of Distinction!
Based on our experience of working with teams of all kinds across the world, we have identified eight key characteristics that make up a true team of distinction. We welcome you to evaluate your team with the assessment below and see if you have a true team of distinction.
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When people talk about sports analogies in business, no one ever talks about crew teams. And the term that never gets talked about in great teams is "swing".
The recent best-seller Boys in the Boat, about the underdog US Crew Team that went on to astonish Hitler and the world by winning the 1936 Olympic Gold in Germany, describes "swing" this way:
"There is a thing that sometimes happens in rowing that is hard to achieve and hard to define. Many crews, even winning crews, never really find it...It's called "swing." It only happens when all eight oarsmen are rowing in such perfect unison that no single action by any one is out of synch with those of all the others... Only then will the boat continue to run, unchecked, fluidly and gracefully between the pulls of the oars. Only then will it feel as if the boat is part of each of them, moving as if on its own. Only then does pain give way to exultation. Rowing then becomes a kind of perfect language. Poetry, that's what a good swing feels like."
Yet at workplaces around the world, leaders settle for much less than swing. People talk about engagement and happiness, but is liking your boss and your benefits good enough?
What about making sure employees and leaders are doing everything they can to achieve swing - near perfect synchronicity that will collectively win gold? Does your team have the swing to bring the gold of efficiency, effectiveness or aiding in creating a competitive advantage? Can your team win the gold? Swing is not something that just happens. It does not come without focus, dedication and hard work. Here are several tenets of how to create swing in your team:
1. Mission Critical Thinking: Winning teams do not think of their work, as work. They view what they do as a mission.
2. Aspirational Ambition: Teams that raise the bar to exceptional heights are energized to move forward by aspirational goals established by leaders who develop pride of achievement and a determination to prevail over all expectations.
3. Internal Combustion: A team with swing does not need to be threatened, cajoled or bribed to outperform. The espirit de corps that elevates them to their position of superiority is injected into their DNA by the leaders who inspire them.
4. Greater Than The Sum Of Its Parts: Too often, team members don’t offer feedback, ask for what they need (or don’t need) or understand or leverage other members’ unique talents. To be truly exceptional, a team must be greater than that sum: it must have an exponent over its name.
5. A Mind Of Its Own: A team with swing does not sit around waiting for orders at every turn. They develop a virtual mind of their own, serving as a compass for what to do as they encounter unforeseen opportunities and challenges.