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Strategy, no matter how insightful and comprehensive, does not insure execution. Action plans, no matter how detailed or innovative, are no guarantee goals will be realized. And every leader that has managed through crisis knows benchmarks are not the be-all-end-all measure of resources.<\/p>\n
The market is shaped by teams that move boundaries and redefine arithmetic.<\/p>\n
Put another way \u2014 whether in sport or enterprise, successful teams are those whose measure is greater than the proverbial sum of its parts.<\/em><\/p>\n What are the key characteristics of such teams?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n I asked five colleagues, each with a track record of building teams, to share what they believe to be a single critical characteristic to team success. Their responses below provide a roadmap, not just for heads of marketing, but for anyone aspiring to lead, facilitate or contribute to a team that wants to effect change in 2013.<\/p>\n Steve Bell,<\/strong> Chief Client Development Officer, Womble Carlyle<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0On\u00a0Linked In<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 On\u00a0Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n Perspective Born of Self-Awareness<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a Gallup strengths junkie, which may explain why when I observe successful teams, I invariably see individuals who understand both their own strengths and weaknesses, and the strengths and weaknesses of others on the team.\u00a0 Subjugating individual ego, each member of these high-functioning teams instinctively knows how to step forward when his\/her strengths are needed, and when it is time to step back and let the strengths of other team members shine.\u201d<\/p>\n Allen Fuqua<\/strong>, Chief Marketing Officer, Winstead PC<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 On\u00a0Linked In<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 On\u00a0Twitter\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n The Identification of the Common Goal\/Objective<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u201cMy key to any team is the common goal\/objective<\/em> \u2014 what is the target? What are we trying to achieve? Talent is not critical. Personality can vary widely. One process isn\u2019t right for every situation. But once the goal is established, you can focus on how to attain it. The team\u2019s \u2018life experience\u2019 \u2014 including successes and failures \u2014 contribute to the growth and maturity necessary to refining and realizing ultimate goals.\u201d<\/p>\n Deborah Grabein<\/strong><\/a>, Director of Business Development, Andrews Kurth<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 On\u00a0Linked In<\/a><\/p>\n A Culture of Accountability<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe tend to rely on leadership to influence the actions of the team to bring about the desired result. But what happens if someone or several team members choose not to do what is asked, and (intentionally or unintentionally) opt out? I\u2019ve found that other team members, possessing a clear vision of the goal, will pick up the pieces and not let the tasks go undone. They may quietly encourage those not in the game to become responsible; or, new game-changers may actually rise up. This organic self-selection process often results in dynamic new teams. And finally, a culture of accountability shares in progress and success.\u201d<\/p>\n Paul Grabowski<\/strong>, Chief Marketing Officer, Bracewell Guiliani<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 On\u00a0Linked In<\/a><\/p>\n Quality Communication<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u201cOne characteristic I\u2019ve found in any successful team is quality communication<\/em>. No matter what the project or the size of the team, there must be a significant amount of quality communication. Recognizing that information comes in from varying directions and multiple constituencies, the term \u201cquality communication\u201d includes a mechanism for gathering, filtering and distributing to appropriate team members. When \u201cthe left hand doesn\u2019t know what the right hand is doing,\u201d the result is almost always unnecessary work, delays, and in some cases, failure.\u201d<\/p>\n Lisa Simon<\/strong><\/a>, Chief Marketing Officer, Brownstein Hyatt<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 On\u00a0Linked In<\/a><\/p>\n A High Emotional Quotient<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u201cA good friend and former boss told me once that the key to hiring good<\/em> people is to hire happy<\/em> people. She\u2019s right. People who are emotionally healthy and relatively happy can work together to achieve a common goal. I\u2019ve always believed that ideal team dynamics call for diverse personality traits. I still believe this is important; but this doesn\u2019t mean the team can\u2019t share the common trait of emotional health. One saboteur can wreck a team in an instant. And while strong leaders can get you through the sabotage, this is not a prescription for long term success. Get the \u2018right people on the bus.\u2019 It\u2019s imperative.\u201d<\/p>\n Thanks to Steve, Allen, Deborah, Paul and Lisa for contributing to this exploration of the characteristics of a successful team!<\/p>\n Eric Fletcher<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Strategy, no matter how insightful and comprehensive, does not insure execution. Action plans, no matter how detailed or innovative, are no guarantee goals will be realized. And every leader that has managed through crisis knows benchmarks are not the be-all-end-all measure of resources. The market is shaped by teams that move boundaries and redefine arithmetic. … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[137,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-posts","category-ericfletcher"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4733"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4736,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4733\/revisions\/4736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}