Sediu-Social

An extraordinary group achieves outstanding results while members experience a profound shift in how they see their world.

These amazing groups show up in all sectors… Our stories of these extraordinary groups came from organization leaders, information technology professionals, soldiers, software developers, trainers, managers, small business owners, community college counselors, doctors, nurses, event organizers, health care administrators, insurance executives…

Extraordinary groups exhibit 8 factors…

1. A compelling purpose that inspires and stretches members to make the group and its work a top priority.

Watch an extraordinary group at work and you will see that an inspiring and shared purpose surfaces repeatedly. Motivated by their purpose, members make their group a priority even in the face of other demands on their time. Members know that agreeing on a common purpose is critical to their work together.

2. Shared leadership that encourages members to take mutual responsibility for helping the group be successful.

Extraordinary groups are not top-down or leader-centric. Instead, leadership is expressed by many in the group; the lead role shifts with the subject at hand and the expertise required.

Members know they can initiate with a quest, task, issue or proposal. In these groups you will see members leading together; initiating, facilitating, structuring, suggesting, and doing all manner of things to help the group be effective.

3. Just-enough-structure to create confidence to move forward, but not so much as to become bureaucratic or burdensome.

Extraordinary groups will come up with ways of working that are governed more by outcome than structure. Members work together in ways that are collaborative, flexible, creative and adaptive.

They create just-enough-structure – at the time that is needed – to support purpose and outcomes.

4. Full engagement that results in all member jumping in with enthusiasm, sometimes passionately and chaotically, regardless of role. When fully engaged members readily contribute their knowledge, skills, and talents; they do not wait to be asked, rather than holding back, members may have trouble getting airtime – waiting for others to breathe so they can dive in.

5. Embracing differences so that group members see, value and use their diversity as a strength. They respect each other for who they are as human beings as well as for the skills, knowledge, and talent they apply to the group’s purpose.

6. Unexpected learning that translates into personal and group growth. Learning is central to these groups being transformed. Excited by the work before them, members are united in learning together and supporting one another.

7. Strengthened relationships among members characterized by trust, collegiality, and friendship.

New relationships grow form the work together and sometimes result in lasting friendships. This is not surprising given the quality and energy of the interactions that characterize such groups.

8. Great results, tangible and intangible. Results that surpass members’ expectations regularly happen in extraordinary groups.

Keep this list of indicators at hand. Watch an extraordinary group at work and you will be busy checking them off… Whether the groups were for profit or not, involving volunteers or employees, fact-to-face or virtual, these eight indictors emerged.

We often overlook understanding whether what we’re doing on a daily basis is actually as far as we can get? The fact that we are content with the work we pursue on a daily basis, is the biggest obstacle we create for ourselves. This is not the case with leaders, as they’re always looking for ways to get a job done better. Following those lines, here are the top five qualities extracted from incredible leaders.

5 attribute the help you improve your leadership skills:

1. Confident streak- A confident leader is an inspiring individual. He/she inspires the subordinates to set an expectation higher than what they usually do. A streak of confidence in the leader will have the employees to believe in the fact that setting a higher expectation will derive better results. Enrolling in a leadership training program will help you get the right amount of confidence to lead your team gracefully.

2. Passion for your job- Nothing is a stronger drive for any human, as much as passion. Passion for one’s job is something that is seen loud and clear. It is about believing that what you’re doing is important and that it will impact you and a host of others positively. A team remains motivated when a leader is passionate about his work.

3. Team first- A true leader will let his/ her team take the credit for success, all on account of their hard work. It is this support that helps the team members’ work towards achieving success relentlessly. Holding your team as the most important asset will help them prove your confidence in them worth it. The commitment level will see a rise and that will impact your overall success positively.

4. Assign vital tasks- Just because you are the leader, does not make you any superior to the potential of the lot. You need to delegate crucial work among your team members and make them feel worthy. This will also give you a fair idea of the prospective your team holds.

5. Build trust- No team can really function smoothly without building a bond of trust among every team member. Since you are the leader, you are solely responsible to provide your team with the trust factor that they will weave among themselves. Remember that trust is the basic principle of leadership.

I was facilitating an on-site training for a business recently. Several times during the training the request was made by the employees, “for managers and leaders to acknowledge the positive.”

I have found this to be a common theme in most every business. Employees often feel like the only time they get attention is when they are doing something wrong instead of when they are doing things right.

This is why I intentionally choose to begin my leadership trainings by having the owner acknowledge something that they sincerely appreciate about each of the leaders.

In one training in particular, I took this one step further. I encouraged each of the leaders to then share with their team something that they genuinely appreciated about each member of their team.

One of the leaders said, “You know it’s interesting… while I often thank my employees at the end of the day, I don’t thank them for anything in particular. I just say, “thank you.” I’ve realized the value and importance in truly acknowledging the specifics around what they have done that is worthy of acknowledgement.”

Think about a time when someone gave you a compliment (at work or in your personal life). Didn’t it feel great? Did you experience an immediate surge of energy and feel your spirits lift?

Acknowledgement is a gift to both the giver and receiver because both people end up feeling more energized as a result.

Here are 3 simple tips to powerfully acknowledge another person…

Start with a simple thank you.

Tell them specifically why you are acknowledging them. Share the details. Don’t just say, “thank you for doing a great job today.” Tell them exactly what they did that made you realize that they had done a great job.

Tell them how their actions impacted you or another person. For example, “I noticed how you took the time to give that customer your full attention today, even though you had lots of other things to do. I could tell that they left the store feeling heard and that you really made a difference for them. It made me feel excited to have someone like you on my team who really cares about our customers.”

I want to invite you to set the intention to acknowledge at least two people today (identify one person in your business and one person in your personal life).