Leaders Role in Building High-Performance Teams
High-performance teams comprise of a group of people having complementary skills which are aligned with the objective of fulfilling a common purpose by following a collaborative approach and encouraging an environment of innovation. Several studies and research on the connection between leadership and the success or failure of high-performance teams reveal that the quality of leadership will make the ultimate difference. Gallup’s research findings (2015) explain that around 70% of the variance in the scores of employee engagement will depend upon the role played by the leadership in setting the direction, providing the right culture and motivation to the employees.
Leaders enable the success of high-performance teams in the following manner:
How do Leaders Attain High-Performance?
By Valuing the Contributions of the Teams: Leaders facilitate the environment of collaboration and foster a passion for excellence.
Effective leadership has the following advantages:
Facilitating Thinking Out of the Box and Critical Thinking Abilities: Leaders play the role of trendsetters and motivate people to deliver exceptional outcomes by way of exemplification. Leaders set enduring examples and redefine the existing processes to be followed by the team members.
Capturing Opportunities: Leaders can visualize the big picture and develop strategies for seizing the right opportunities by preparing people and setting the processes in place. An able leader should be able to provide the right kind of environment for the team members so that the team is made ready to adapt to the challenges and seize the opportunities around them:
Shackleton (1995) highlighted six important roles of a manager for empowering high-performance teams:
According to Manz and Sims (1996), the role of a leader evolves with the maturity of the team. During the start-up stage, the leader plays an authoritarian role, provides instructions and guides the team members through every step. On the other hand, once the team attains the maturity stage, the leader plays the role of a team champion, facilitates high-performance by way of collaborative thinking and problem-solving, defines boundaries for the team members and acts as a mentor and a coach to the team members. NHS Modernization Agency (2003), identified team leadership as the crucial factor in the successful adoption and implementation of innovative practices and new ideas.
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