Impactful Element: Teamwork
Impactful "Teamwork": harmonizing individual action to foster shared achievements.
Welcome to The Impactful Executive!
Read time: 2.5 min
The Impactful Executive newsletter uses the Impactful Framework as a loosely structured sequence of nine elements, each with evidence-based practices and tactics for executives, managers, advisors, and their teams.
See the reference article below, if needed, before this Element deep dive.
The Impactful Framework
Evidence-based practices for executive teams.
“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy are the noise before defeat.”
Sun Tzu
Impactful Element Defined: Teamwork
"Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results."
Andrew Carnegie
“The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team."
Phil Jackson
The “Teamwork” element is defined as:
The combined, coordinated effort of a group of individuals working towards a common goal.
The synergy of unique skills, perspectives, and ideas, creating a collective intelligence greater than the sum of its parts.
An environment of trust and mutual respect, where every team member feels valued and free to express their opinions (much easier said than done!).
Healthy conflict that drives growth and innovation, turning disagreements into opportunities.
Shared goals and collective decision-making, where teamwork ensures everyone's investment in the project's success.
“The best teamwork comes from men who are working independently toward one goal in unison."
JC Penney
“Great things in business are never done by one person; they're done by a team of people."
Steve Jobs
Impactful Element Practices: Teamwork
The following is a sample selection of Impactful Teamwork Practices:
Foster Employee Autonomy: Empowering employees can boost productivity, innovative thinking, and decision-making quality. Toyota's 'Andon Cord' system allows workers to halt the production line when they spot a problem, thus enhancing efficiency. Semco has used a democratic leadership style involving employees in decision-making, while Salesforce drives inclusive decision-making through its "V2MOM" (Vision, Values, Methods, Obstacles, Measures) process.
Build Team Trust: Cultivating trust within teams can enhance collaboration and performance. Netflix, for example, gives high-performing individuals the autonomy to make decisions, fostering a 'Freedom and Responsibility' culture.
Ensure Teamwork and Collaboration: A collaborative culture, like Pixar's "Braintrust" meetings where honest engagement is openly shared among project teams, exemplifies a collaborative culture leading to groundbreaking films.
Promote Diversity in Teams: Diverse teams with varied perspectives and solutions can outperform their peers. The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) emphasizes gender diversity leading to more comprehensive problem-solving, while L'Oréal credits its international success to diverse teams that understand its global customer base.
Build Resilience in Teams: Enhancing team resilience can improve performance and well-being during challenging times. Airbnb showed resilience during the COVID-19 crisis by cutting costs and pivoting quickly to focus on local travel experiences, contributing to its successful IPO.
Collaborate Across Functions: Encouraging cross-functional collaboration can streamline processes and improve decision-making. Spotify uses its agile "Squads" and "Tribes" structure to foster efficient problem-solving and innovative product development.
Practice Knowledge Sharing: Regular knowledge sharing can boost innovation and organizational performance. McKinsey & Company actively encourages formal and informal knowledge sharing among its employees, helping to maintain its competitive edge.
Show Individual Consideration: Leaders showing consideration for team members can improve morale and team performance. Novo Nordisk, for example, prioritizes employee development and well-being, resulting in high job satisfaction and productivity.
"Trust is knowing that when a team member does push you, they are doing it because they care about the team."
Patrick Lencioni
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."
Helen Keller
The Impactful Executive’s Purpose
Reminder: this newsletter pursues high-impact practices and tactics across each element to share fact-based, usable, and (hopefully) surprising insights.
It takes deliberate and sustained effort to drive organizational greatness. The Impactful Executive aims to make this greatness far more reachable.
In Jim Collins’ words, "Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice and discipline."
Impactfully yours,
The Impactful Executive Team
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