Having had the privilege to gone through one of the toughest and elite military training as a Naval Combat Diver or better known as UDT - Underwater Demolition Team; this single most important journey of my life has taught me a lot about building and leading teams.
Pretty sure we have all experienced great teams and not-so-great teams, so let's not dwell in on how / why bad teams are.
Instead, let's focus on the Elites, the A Teams;
So...what makes up a A- Team?
If you've been on a team that was all fired up and performing at an elite level, it would have been sort of a near miracle! The amount of synergy, energy outputs, the level of happiness, motivation and putting in twice the amount of hard work; Everyone seems like Seal Team 6 conquering mountains and seas with ease, Life is good... real good! (Quit dreaming already) Then why isn't everyone else the same?
Whether born or bred, an AWESOME leader is a forceful personality who has the most effects on building such a great team; according to traditional wisdom. This leader is in charge of the Vision, Mission & Values of the organisation to be hanged somewhere in the main hall or meeting rooms; supposedly. Ends up, usually it's kept locked up in a lonely cabinet somewhere ( or lost in some thumbdrive...which ... is also lost )
The optimistic team after all the hype now starts charging and blunders here, there, everywhere, never making it to the top. That leader is now deemed a failure, and a new leader is chosen. Repeat the Cycle.
So... What is missing? - The Integration of the 3 Dimensions
1) The Leader - Self Leadership - The "I"
Our internal experience whenever we are alone and deep in thoughts - I believe everyone of us at any level of leadership / supervisory role would understand this
2) The Team - the "We"
Our internal experience including and during the who, what, when, why, how of us being located and cooperation with our teammates
3) The Organisation - the "It"
The "it" of our social systems - our organizations, schools, societies, etc. - has a broad and vague impact on the "I" and "we" dimensions. This dimension is the result of rigid rules, regulations, norms, systems, and the likes.
Imagine the experience you would have in the Armed Forces (The Organisation - the "It"). You know what to wear, where to go, what to do, norms for communicating (hand salute!), how much money you will make, and on and on.
Forward to the 1st day of retirement and out of regimental life. Your experience is different - VERY DIFFERENT. The Armed Forces, which somehow helped define who you were for 5, 10, 20 years, now has no impact on your internal experience besides lingering beliefs and habits. Chances are, you will still wake up, but you may not know what to do with yourself!
The "I" is the world of the interior-individual. This is where you reside inside your head and heart. This dimension is the hearts & minds of the leader's and the team In this Dimension, the individual consciousness and world view are the driving force. From inside each of us, informed by our level of awareness and consciousness, comes:
Trustworthiness - powered by our virtuous behavior
Self-Leadership - we must lead ourselves before leading others
Personal Mastery - the journey of personal mastery is a necessary journey on our individual path
That's the end of Part One, Tune in for Part Two soon!