10 Qualities of A Great Team Leader: Part One

For those of you that know me, you know that nothing excites me more than coaching and leading teams. I love it. I find fulfillment in leading and developing highly efficient, excellent, healthy teams more than most other things I do in business.

In the spring this year, I took our team leads from Catalyst away for a two-day retreat. The goals were simple: learn more about each other. Learn about our unique wiring. Learn the DNA of our current team, and create energy around becoming great leaders.

I asked these leaders what they believe makes great team leaders, and It did not take long for us to come up with a list of 21 qualities that would surface from the greatest team leaders we know.

I have narrowed it down to the top 10, which is still too many, but I can’t edit anymore. So over the next few days, I want to talk about each of these characteristics and the value that they bring to leading teams.

Before we start, I have one MAJOR precursor to this list. It was the point of the entire exercise, and 9.99 times out of 10 this is true with this exercise. If you look at this entire list of characteristics, less than 5-10% of the traits would be qualified as a “results–based” trait. In other words, almost all the great traits that are attractive and constitute great leadership have to do with how you lead PEOPLE. John Maxwell always says that leadership is influence. I would add that you influence people, not necessarily projects. So as we go through this list, I would love for you to think about where you have seen these play out in the leaders you have respected the most and how you can apply them to your leadership.

1.  Leverage Influence for the team

Let’s start with how great team leaders leverage their influence for the sake of those around them. In his 8 part series called Follow, Andy Stanley outlined the importance of this in the 7th part of the series (check it out here.)  Basically, paraphrasing, of course, when you are at the top of the food chain at your office or on your team, how you leverage your influence is an indication of the type of leader you are.  He would argue (and obviously I agree) that the greatest [team] leaders are the ones who use that influence, resource and power to bring others up and serve them.  This comes from the passage in Mark 10, where James and John ask Jesus if they can sit at his right and left in paradise.

He then says, “You know that those are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them…not so with you.  Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.”

Here’s what this looks like in a day-to-day situation. Great team leaders will always see opportunities for them as opportunities for their team. Many times they will use the resources given to them to celebrate, develop and care for their teams. It is so powerful when leaders are with their teams until the last chair is stacked and the lights are turned out.  We have all had moments where we saw our leaders as sweaty as the rest of the team while everyone knows they don’t have to do that. It’s contagious. It’s the kind of leader everyone wants to work for….I mean with. Great team leaders feel like they are on your team and are constantly leveraging all they have at their disposal to serve.

2. Be Approachable

The second quality on this list cannot be removed or deleted from a great team leaders resume. To me, this has to be such a central principle that without it, I’m not convinced you can be a great TEAM leader.  I know the argument can be had that there were great leaders in history who were not approachable.  Agreed.  But I would argue they were not necessarily great TEAM leaders. They probably were brilliant minds and strategist that led through fear and had turn over.

Great team leaders create a culture on their team where your team members feel the freedom to express their thoughts and an “open-door” type policy.  I always want my team to feel like they can bring any question, comment or concern to me. Let me say this as well.  When this is accomplished correctly, there is not a lack of respect for the authority your role carries.  At a Catalyst East event, Patrick Lencioni talked about the argument that many CEOs or execs would use about being vulnerable and approachable.  He said that you can’t be vulnerable enough.  I would add that when your team members feel like you are authentic and their advocates, they will respect your position even more!

I can promise you one thing, approachability will create a team of loyal team members.  Try it and let me know if I’m wrong…