Is Your Team in Tune?
At some point in your life, you were lucky enough to be part of a team that worked really well together. For this to have happened, a collective mindset was present, even though individual skills would have shone through.
Imagine a jazz band getting into a “flow” state when they are performing. There is a positive tension and energy. At the heart of it is a constant dialogue, and a seamless entry and exit of solos.
The heart of a high performance team’s energy is a dialogue of ideas, where concepts build on each other. “My idea” emerges into a collective idea.
Our strongest recollection of being on teams likely includes a lot of misalignment and competition. Hardly a memory of a “flow state” or collective mindset.
If something could be done to bring more alignment and trust into a team, wouldn’t the time and effort be worth it if it meant better performance, and happier team members?
A Team Coach can step in to raise awareness about blind-spots and develop a team’s abilities to create engagement, curiosity and mutual trust. With a specialized coaching program focused on team objectives, a team can learn to trust each other and believe in their own resilience to perform at an optimal level.
Acting as a “conductor of ideas”, a Team Coach uses essential skills, such as powerful questions, to invite people to explore what’s possible. “What do you see as you look ahead? - What do you see as you join these two ideas together?” When the team begins to relax and trust each other, they can thrive. Eventually, a team can reach a state of self-direction, where each team member is empowered to take the lead “conducting” when necessary.
Once aware of the ground rules of team coaching, a self-directed team harnesses the energy of each individual, and just like the “flow state” of the jazz band, they can reach moments of surprising insights and breakthroughs.
Stay tuned for more blog posts as I explore some of the ways teams can develop a higher state of “team intelligence” through Team Coaching.