Leading Teams for the Win
Do your teams really believe in what you, as a leader, are asking them to do? Do they believe in their own potential to succeed, even win?
These are important questions. Why? Because if you and your teams don’t truly believe you can execute against strategy, it’s going to be tough to achieve goals.
Take, for example, that historic moment in time when the fate of Apollo 13 suddenly shifted from a stable mission to one potentially destined for tragedy.
The crew—not to mention all involved in saving this spacecraft—had to work effectively as team. And, importantly, they had to believe they could succeed because, as NASA engineer Gene Kranz famously said: “I have never lost an American in space, sure as hell aren’t going to lose one now. The crew is coming home. You got to believe it. Your team must believe it. And we must make it happen.”
It’s a great (true) story—in fact, that’s why we use the movie “Apollo 13” in one of our MAP Film Series Programs. On so many fronts, this and other films in our series give us clear insights on powerful leadership, particularly around inspiring and managing teams. Case in point, any shred of doubt as to the ability to bring those men home would have undermined what ultimately became a successful mission.
Regardless of type of challenge you or your team are facing, a belief in your potential is key. And your team must believe in its potential, too. Here are some tips to help build up and apply that vital asset:
Address deficits in confidence. Identify areas where you or your teams lack confidence, analyzing the “why” behind it all. Within any professional development plan you create, build strategies to boost self-confidence, using goals and controls to support this growth.
Build on your wins. Notice what’s working or “the wins,” and commit to do more of whatever that is. This could be expanding upon current successes, scaling them out in some quantifiable way. Or perhaps simply setting the bar higher so to hit a new, loftier goal.
Quiet inner critics. Had Kranz or any of those involved in the Apollo mission allowed skepticism or self-doubt to seep into their thoughts or actions, it could have instantly compromised the mission’s success. But here’s the thing—it’s not just in moments of crisis that people need to squelch or ignore negative self-talk. It needs to be a daily practice. Then when challenges arise, you’ll naturally fall back on faith in your abilities…not fear, disbelief or doubt.
Download MAP’s 7 Mistakes of Leadership Checklist today!