Want your teamwork to be as successful as possible? Want to be an effective team leader? Then create relationships and be a powerful motivator by helping others realize what they gain from working on a project with you — help them discover their own motivation to do great work.

The more helpful you are to other people, the more they will give you access to what motivates them — so it is in your best interest to learn as much as possible about other people’s goals and to look for opportunities to help them move closer to achieving them.

Don’t Dictate Tasks, Try to Inspire Your Team Members

Which scenario do you think is more successful:

Scenario No. 1: a leader who tells a team member what to do and what the reward will be for complying

Scenario No. 2: a leader tapping into the other person’s existing motivation instead of dictating it

Scenario No. 2 is much more successful and rewarding — the best way to serve fellow workers is to help them focus on their own motivation.

Creating Powerful Partnerships is Key For Successful Teamwork

People who consistently create powerful relationships at work are people who are good team members and leaders. To build powerful relationships, you first need to uncover your own existing motivation. So dig until you find the motivation that will move you to action.

Once you see how powerful it is to ask yourself what you have to gain instead of being told what to do, ask your team members, “What’s in it for you to work with me on this project?” If that doesn’t seem to work, ask, “What else does it do for you?” until the person’s expectations and wishes line up with his or her potential contribution to the group.

Buckminster Fuller, a philosopher and inventor, taught that the best way for one person to win is not by making others lose but by making others win too. It would be nice if more business leaders would learn that dictating steps to others and expecting them to serve their personal success doesn’t yield the best results or make for the best working atmosphere.

For teamwork to be enjoyable for all and most fruitful, inspiring others to work toward their motivating goal and being a servant leader who helps others become successful is the way to go.

To learn more about leadership training and optimizing teamwork, please go to ChristopherAvery.com

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I’m an avid road-bike rider, but I don’t deal with the heat as well as I did 20 years ago. This time of year, when the sun’s rays are intense by 8:30 AM here in Texas, I ride at first light if I’m going to ride at all.

If I’m open to them, the unexpected rewards on these early rides are endless — and a great reason for getting out of bed so early. Usually these rewards come as wildlife like

• Whitetail or Axis bucks, does, and their fawns
• birds of prey, mostly hawks
• the rare glimpse of a red or silver fox crossing a field
• a flock of wild turkeys
• exotic (not indigenous) species like Blackbuck (an antelope from India, Nepal, and Pakistan) on game-managed ranches

I have even cruised up on sizable rattlesnakes and water moccasins sunning themselves on the road.

7:00 AM, 80ºF, 10 miles out

This morning I spotted a large White Fallow buck standing at the edge of forest with the pending sunrise as a backdrop. The buck and his  family are “pets” on a ranch I pass frequently, though I only see them occasionally. I understand the White Fallow is a large deer from the UK. The antlers are palmate (with a broad central portion) like those of a moose. It is very cool to see.

If you click on the smart phone snapshot I took so it expands to full size, you might be able to spot him right in the center of the photo. If you want to see what a White Fallow buck looks like up close, here are some pictures.

When will smart phones get zoom lenses?

Are you reaping the natural rewards you deserve at work? I can show you how mother nature designed teams to be built and led, and how that produces more wins for you and those around you.

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New businesses should started with a business plan — the same goes for teamwork: articulating the common outcome so every team member is working toward the same goal is crucial before the work starts. To move forward together, you need to establish shared clarity.

Lack of shared clarity about direction is often the cause of the team getting stuck. When a group lacks clarity about the task at hand, it’s not just easy but natural for people to get frustrated and lose interest in what they are doing.

What does shared group clarity look like? Each member should be able to explain simply and clearly what the whole team is accountable for and what the collective purpose is, similar to the elevator pitch one should have prepared when pitching a business idea to someone. When done successfully, every team member should be able to see their own sense of the shared clarity reflected when listening to each other.

How Do You Gain Shared Clarity to Optimize Teamwork?

Shared clarity can be gained by discussing and aligning the teams direction. Instead of using ambiguous goals like: “Make money!”, be more clear and detailed about the direction, as in: “By the end of the year, our goal is to build two additional stores.”

Shared Clarity for Temporary and Ongoing Teams

When a group, such as a project team, is temporary, it’s important to align members around the collective task they are to perform.

When a group, such a department, is ongoing, it’s important to align members around the ongoing purpose of the group.

Either way, the tasks and purposes must be clear and shared by everyone in the team.

Personal Challenge to Gain Clarity:

Answer this question: What’s the purpose of this teamwork relationship? Describe it fully and then ask your partner or partners to answer the same question.

Team Challenge to Gain Clarity:

Ask the team members: If we were already finished and successful, what would our outcome look like? Have every member describe this fully in writing.

For both challenges: Talk about what you each wrote down until you can all articulate a common and clear description of your purpose and the desired outcome.

By taking these important, preliminary steps to achieve clarity about the common goal before the start of the teamwork, you can maximize the efforts of the individual team members and the whole team toward the most powerful and successful outcome.

More about maximizing teamwork, his Leadership Gift Program for Leaders, and Christopher Avery’s coaching and speaking engagements can be found on ChristopherAvery.com

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Are you unhappy or frustrated at work?

Have you thought this about your team:

• “I can’t be responsible for the quality of my team’s efforts.”
• “Getting on a good team is mostly a matter of luck.”
• “If I’m part of a poorly functioning team, and I’m not in charge, there is little I can do but bear it.”

These kinds of thoughts take an enormous toll — they result in lost productivity and low morale of the individual, the team, and the whole organization.

After years of studying team behavior and coaching business leaders, I can tell you that the most successful people demonstrate another set of beliefs and skills about teamwork which in my book Teamwork Is An Individual Skill I call “TeamWisdom.”

People with TeamWisdom:

• understand and act on all of their personal abilities to affect the entire team’s effectiveness
• know that being in a good team isn’t random, it’s a function of one’s relationship behavior and what they and others do
• take personal responsibility for the quality of their relationships. They never wait for those “in charge” to notice and act on a situation that needs attention

Do you want your experience at work to improve? Try this: consider your most recent team experience. Would you give yourself a high rating for your (not anyone else’s) TeamWisdom?

The quality of your participation affects the quality of the team’s results. Instead of expecting a mediocre team experience or just hoping for a better one, raise your own standards for –  and commitment to — great team performance.

Make Teamwork an Individual Skill — Start Being More Responsible For Your Own Team Experience!

1. recognize that you are not a passive recipient in teams — your behavior shapes and affects the team
2. acknowledge that not attending to team performance is a choice and that you are choosing to put yourself at the mercy of change and will most likely be frustrated with the outcome
3. accept that if you are in a situation of shared responsibility and reward, the quality and productivity of the relationships are worthy of your focus — your input matters

If you start with just these three steps, you’ll transform you experience with teamwork!

Want to learn more about how to have a more fulfilling work experience?

Christopher Avery’s book Teamwork Is An Individual Skill will teach you how to work more effectively, how to stand out from the crowd, and how to be more successful in any situation.

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