In any kind of environment, the most successful teams are the ones that have thoroughly learned to work together in solving problems and making good decisions thereof. It is common knowledge that a team's effort can outperform an individual's effort at any day. As such, the team's ability to solve complex problems, and make collective good decisions is paramount to an individual's ability to make good decisions.
Most leaders pride themselves in having the skill to identify problems or even potential problems and making good calls thereof. This is a skill or attribute which I believe anyone in a position of authority or leadership should possess, however, in forming a great team and culture, the most important task for a leader is not to solely make good decisions but to facilitate good decision making in the entire team.
Great leaders are coaches and create more great leaders. As such, fostering good decision-making in the entire team should be of paramount importance than that of a leader as the only individual that has the ability to troubleshoot, solve complex problems, and make good calls.
A lot of team leaders get so consumed in their own individual goals and achievements to such a point that their personal gains supersede the gains and the achievements of the team.
It would be a sad sight to witness a leader that takes credit for the team's successes but never takes responsibility for the team's failures. A team's failure lies on the leader's back as much as success; hence the overall success of every individual in a team should be the leader's primary focus.
Being good at making decisions alone and not coaching the same set of skills to the team is purely a selfish act for any leader.
There has never been a great selfish leader - such leaders are more likely to lead failing teams that are disconnected in every facet. Moreover, no matter how wise an individual can be or deemed, he/she can never beat the wisdom of a collective.
Great leaders shall leave a long-lasting good experience on their followers, they shall instill confidence, share skill, and knowledge, and genuinely want to see their members succeed - not only as a team but in their individual capacities as well. And facilitating good decision-making in a team is one of the many critical tasks every leader should be concerned about.
Every leader's goal is to see his or her team complete their tasks and reach the set targets and even go beyond. And it is the leader's responsibility to ensure that whatever the objective of the team is, materializes in time.
On the other side of the same coin, it is also the leader's responsibility if the team fails to complete its tasks and reach its targets.
Understanding this, calls on the leader to be fully aware of the importance of facilitating good decision-making and discipline. It doesn't help to have a team that only performs at its optimum level only when the leader is around, but when he/she is not present, the quality of the team's output decreases. This happens when the leader is not facilitating the team or his followers properly.
Implementing and fostering ways of ensuring that the team performs as well even when the leader is not around, is something that leaders are to strive for.
Having a strong team where there's a strong sense of belonging and identity, where there's the same level of commitment across; will surely create a shared culture and unity in a team. These are one of the main ingredients of high-performing teams with a high-performing culture.
The leader is the driver of these factors, and it all starts with simple tasks like facilitating good decision-making that yields positive results for the whole team rather than being selfishly focused on being the sole individual that has the ability to make good decisions.
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