7 Practices Of Highly Successful Teams

Most leaders understand that you can accomplish more with a team than you can by yourself.  We understand there is more power and potential in “we” than “me”.  We know that TEAM stands for “Together Everyone Accomplishes More.”  Leaders do not have to be convinced of these truths.

What leaders need, however, is a formula for achieving peak performance when bringing people together to form a team.

On January 26, 2007 Mark Price spoke to the Injoy Stewardship Solutions team.  For those unfamiliar with Mark, here are a list of some of his accomplishments:

• 1985 All-American point guard at Georgia Tech
• 4-time NBA All-Star
• 2-time NBA 3-Point Shooting Champion
• Member of Dream Team II

Mark gave some incredible insights that day on the practices of highly successful teams.  He would know.  The following are his thoughts:

1. Success Starts From The Top Down – As John Maxwell would say, “Everything rises and falls on leadership.”
2. Team Goals Must Be Ahead Of Individual Goals – Price goes on to add that team success always leads to individual awards.
3. You Must Have A Plan And Then Execute It – A failure to plan is plan for failure.
4. Always Remember You Represent The Team – Leaders, do you have people on your team who care more about the team’s success than their own?  More importantly, do you people on your team who do not?
5. Each Team Member Must Continually Try To Get Better – Highly successful teams are made up of individuals committed to personal growth.
6. Each Team Member Must Stay Positive And Encourage Each Other – Mark explained that one of the main things that made him successful then as well as today is looking for uplifting relationships.
7. Each Team Member Must Buy Into The Leader’s System – Coaches change.  Regardless of who your leader is, you must buy into their system.

In addition to these incredible insights, Price talked about the 4 Reasons Why Teams Under-Acheive:

1. Too Many Individuals.
2. No Leadership.
3. Apathy.
4. No Belief.

He also explained the 4 Key Ingredients That Highly Successful Coaches Look For In Team Members:

1. Attitude And Work Ethic.
2. Do They Have Skills And Do They Fit In?
3. Is The Potential There?
4. Intangibles.

Of all the things he said that day though, the one that impacted me the most was when he admitted, “My first 17 years, my god was basketball.”

It was an incredible day of having a great leader invest in our team.

What do you think of Mark’s thoughts?

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