No Bad Teams

A team succeeds or fails. There is no other way. If a team fails, look only to the leader. The leader owns it all.

“There are no bad teams, only bad leaders.” — Leif Babin

A team succeeds or fails. There is no other way.

If a team fails, look only to the leader. The leader owns it all.

Without a great leader, a team never realizes its full potential. A team of talented individuals differs little from a team of novices. Both are rudderless and working at cross purposes. Both devolve into less than the sum of their parts.

Why is that?

Great leaders make no excuses. They take ownership. They elevate teams toward success. They find a way to succeed, and in so doing, exemplify a winning attitude.

Great leaders exhibit characteristics that inspire and motivate:

• Visionary and creative

• Confident, not arrogant

• Courageous, not reckless

• Detail oriented, not obsessive

• Commanding, not unapproachable

• Close but not at the expense of standards

• Competitive but humble and gracious in defeat

• Equanimous in the face of impediments, not devoid of emotion

With great leaders, standards are a way of life. High performance is established as a norm. The most recent improvement is never the last. Success becomes a habit.

The impact of a great leader cannot be underestimated. The focus, attitude, camaraderie and results speak volumes.

Even when great leaders move on, the lasting impact to a team and its individual members is substantial. A team continues to function at a high level within the system, the culture, the way of life developed and demonstrated by the previous leader.

All of these things are not possible without a great leader. So the next time failure becomes an issue, look only to the leader.