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M$3 December 17, 2008 12:44 AM

What are the most important things to focus on when leading a team?

If I'm responsible to lead a team what are the handful of issues/areas I should pay attention to if I'm going to be successful?
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December 17, 2008 12:56 AM
I would suggest that you put yourself in the place of the team and ask yourself what you want your leader to do. Do you want a dictator? Do you want someone to guide you to your goals and allow a creative process? Leadership skills are tough, as they vary differently from field to field. I'll list what I would like in a leader.

1. Learn to talk with your employees, not at them.
2. Be clear in what you expect and give them the tools to do the job right.
3. Listen to creative ideas from everyone. The newest person on the team may have the best ideas.
4. Positive encouragement is alway appreciated
5. Check in often to avoid a conflict of your expectations and what is actually happening.

Hope this helps getting your leadership thought process on a roll!


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December 17, 2008 12:48 AM
First and foremost, you most learn to listen. The people in your team have great ideas! Not all of them will be great, but some of them will. There is little chance to get them to respect you if you don't respect them.

Hope this helps :)
Source(s):
Ambition. That can be a virtue when it drives us to excel. Resourcefulness, courage, perhaps not on the battlefield, but... there are many forms of courage. Devotion, to my family and to you.


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December 17, 2008 12:49 AM
Pay attention to the task you pursue and how to get there getting the most (and best) out of your teammates. And do see them as mates. Otherwise you're just a boss, not a leader.
Source(s):
Lots of leaderships courses and summer camps.


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December 17, 2008 12:52 AM
They should feel like they are responsible for everything, that they have power over all the things and they make it happen, not you.

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December 17, 2008 12:53 AM
Productivity and efficiency. The best tip I can give you is to make sure that everyone knows exactly what they should be doing, what their goals are, and less important (but still important) how their work fits into the larger objective.

You should also try to make sure that everyone under your watch knows where to go with conflicts, and ideally how to solve the conflicts with maximum efficiency (such as disrupting as few people as possible).

Make sure that you assign people jobs that best involve their strengths.

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December 17, 2008 12:54 AM
The goal(s) of the team / what you all are trying to accomplish is most important. Set the target, manage expectations in reaching that target and everything else follows.

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December 17, 2008 12:58 AM
BE, be professional, be consistent, KNOW, know yourself, your strengths and weaknesses, know your job. know your team and their strengths and weaknesses. Do, Do what you expect them to do.
Source(s):
Several leadership block in the U.S. Army.
http://www.hq.usace.army.mil/cepa/learning/2.htm
http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst;jsessionid=JLPFYFGbvsZGBtpxvJVTc1W...


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December 17, 2008 12:59 AM
1. Clearly define your goal.

2. Clearly define the responsibilities of each person.

3. Hire/select the team members slowly.

4. Fire/remove the bad team members quickly.

5. Over communicate the mission and everyone's role. Seriously. Folks need to hear things over and over again so that they can repeat them in their sleep. (i.e. Mahalo's mission is "To help people find information they can trust." Ask anyone on staff that question and they will repeat it back to you instantly.

6. Be fair, listen to all sides, but make quick decisions. There is a time for debate, but after that time folks need to move quickly to accomplish their goals. There were a lot of debates over features to include in Mahalo Answers, when to launch and how the system would work (i.e. points, Mahalo Dollars, etc). we had many discussions, debates and fights over six weeks, but at the end of the day we made the best decision we could and MOVED ON. Too many folks get caught up in committee--that kills a company/project.

Hope this helps!

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December 17, 2008 01:00 AM
I actually like some things that Scott Klososky says about meetings:

(1) Good Communication - informal ranks off meetings where people can communicate easily so that helps with issues.

(2) Increase Team Communication - I like the Yammer, things like that. The more information you have, the easier it is for you to focus in on good ideas. More companies should facilitate that. Especially in virtual settings. People, especially me, tend to feel alienated by digital boundaries. More communications breaks down those barriers and cross-pollenates the workforce.

(3) The most important thing to me to get your team to focus on is "execution" of ideas, although not blindly, and also not without a lot of team planning. Getting your team to focus in on the execution may help the team stay determined and realize what they are not doing.

Generally, I think this is why ideas and teams fail. They end up talking without the focus of execution.
Source(s):
http://www.klososky.com


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xds xds
 
December 17, 2008 01:05 AM
I think the most important thing in a leader is to remember he is ALWAYS doing JUST that LEADING, that being said you can never show your team like you *don't know* something .

They need to always feel like they can come to you with a situation no matter what it is and talk about it with and find a solution that makes things better for everyone.

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December 17, 2008 01:12 AM
Jason's response is excellent as well as several others.

In order to be effective as a leader you must have the respect of your team and you must also respect each member of your team. Without either all of the other suggestions are meaningless.

The question is how you you get that respect and convey your respect. This can be done many ways (as is noted in some of the other responses). You must be able to listen to each idea presented and allow the idea to be explained, responded to, and discussed. The important point here is that you must keep everyone on topic and not let the discussion devolve.

An effective leader guides the team to a decision and does not impose any specific solution or influence how the goal is met.

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December 17, 2008 01:31 AM
1.Be proactive i.e take initiave but know you limits. 2.Commence action with the end in mind and listen before you speak 3.Prioritize put first things first in order of importance 4. Think along the lines of win win and be decisive 5.Have a firm grasp of the task at hand and explain it to the team.,but also be responsive 6. synergize and communicate with the team frequently 7.Manage the passion of the team without losing sight of the end game. That pretty much sums it up.
Source(s):
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_79.htm
http://damngoodmanager.com/2007/11/06/7-habits-of-damn-good-managers/


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December 17, 2008 01:35 AM
There are several things I've found helpful through experience. I'm assuming you've already paid attention to hand-picking your team:

First of all, listen to what they're telling you. This will help you tailor your communication to them to a style they can both understand and be more motivated by.

Secondly, using your knowledge of how your individual team members tick, communicate the overall goal to them. If you connect it to them so they make it their own, they're more likely to perform.

Third: Convey *real* respect. Too many people just pay lip service to it and equate it with mere politeness. It goes far beyond that. A real leader is willing to step aside and let people use their strengths and intelligence. A sham leader will talk a good game but insist on being in front of the team, micromanaging it, so that peoples' strengths are wasted. It is completely untrue that if you want anything done right you have to do it yourself!

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December 17, 2008 04:18 AM
Your potential is determined on how well you lead. Yea, I know that's a non-answer, but it's an important one. The better you lead, the better you can do at whatever it is you're leading for. Influence is your major goal. The more you can influence, the better a leader you are. Patience with yourself. You become a better leader over time. Your success won't come in a day. If you expect it to be, you won't be successful. Let people know they are doing a good job. Maintain a positive atmosphere. Insist that people focus on the positive. Ask people about the positive publicly, and if they have something negative, they should bring it up in private and only in private. For whatever you do, have everyone be there always fifteen minutes early. "On time" is not getting to the finish line when the gun goes off. The leader can steer the ship, but a leader must chart the course. A leader's job is to see more than the others see. All that others see gets compiled, and in the end your knowledge should be more complete than the others. When you speak, other people listen. If they aren't, you need to have more presence. Make sure all your followers trust you. People follow you because you are a stronger leader than they are. A leader has to know by instinct what to do next. The people that surround you are the people that are most like you. If you are surrounded by crap, scoundrels, back-stabbers, failures, antisocials, etc it's because those are the people that most relate to you. You have to connect to the heart of your followers. Your potential is determined by those closest to you. Only secure leaders give power to others. Are you able to produce another leader, if a potential leader came your way? If so, then you're a leader. If not, then you're not. People follow you before they follow your vision. Lead with the goal of winning. Momentum is your best friend. Action is not necessarily accomplishment. Everything you or your followers do must have a purpose. To grow, lead followers. But to really grow, lead leaders. Can any of your followers replace you if need be? If so, you've done well. If not, you haven't.

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December 17, 2008 04:21 AM
Very simple, very hard, and very rewarding. Pick the most important thing you could do, and do nothing but that.

Getting the big things, the important things, done takes sustained focus and the patience of a chopping block.

Talk with your team, find out what they need, and what the organization needs. Internalize their needs.Make them your own. Decide on the best and most important thing you could do. Tell your team at every turn what you are working towards.

Spend every free minute contemplating how to get it. Make it your hobby to plan your next step.

Avoid distractions at all costs. Delegate. Keep it simple, and remind yourself that you can have a choice between an urgent problem and the important one.

Focus. Make everything you do a step towards your goals. Your mind will find ways to sidestep obstacles if you constantly focus on what to do next.

If you could do anything what would it be?

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December 17, 2008 04:21 AM
The purpose of the team is to accomplish its objectives, so productivity goals are the main focus priority. The plan or strategy to reach your team's goals is next in line of importance. Team organization, member skills, and resources are considered in developing a strategy. Team member empowerment is important to maximize inclusion of diverse member strengths. Communication skills need to be developed and reinforced so that member input flows freely and discussions are constructive. The team leader needs to serve as a facilitator of team progress by encouraging efficient team collaboration and needs to serve as a resource and a liaison between the team and the larger corporate organization (the main economic resource).

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December 17, 2008 04:40 AM
The goal and what each member of the team have to offer.

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December 17, 2008 09:29 PM
Get the team to really understand what the goal is and what little steps you will need to take accomplish to reach intermediate objectives. That can help break down responsibilities and build more of a team mentatility instead of trying to get a few people to be stars and do it all.
Source(s):
Team Sports


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December 18, 2008 05:33 AM
Just remember this and everything will be alright. A good leader is a good follower.

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December 18, 2008 06:12 PM
1.Admittedly, the right skills and domain knowledge are necessary to execute business goals and for building effective teams.

2.Only a few things disrupt a team as much as a leader who is a misfit. No matter how talented, when you bring in managers who don’t share the values and vision of the people they lead, they end up incurring the resentment of the rank and file.

3.Only a few things disrupt a team as much as a leader who is a misfit. No matter how talented, when you bring in managers who don’t share the values and vision of the people they lead, they end up incurring the resentment of the rank and file.

4. A good manager should be a good decision maker and a problem solver. These qualities take on great significance because a manager is not only expected to resolve his own problems and conflicts, but also those working under him.

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December 19, 2008 09:19 PM
Make sure you remember and utilize every person's strengths. Everyone is good at something, and the key is to make sure everyone is doing what they are good at doing.
Source(s):
Personal experience


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