One of the challenges of taking on coach position for a team leader is to personally stay out of the details of the discussion. Here, the leader must stay above the discussion to see the big picture. The pay-off is that by encouraging a flow of ideas, like leaves on a stream, the team can capture the largest set of possibilities, and gain greater understanding. This optimizes decision making and it moves the needle on team growth.

Are you welcoming that upcoming meeting with the team today? What are your first thoughts?

• We are all in this together; that we will be in the right place at the right time.

• You’ve got positive vibes, knowing people in your tribe “get you”, and you can be yourself.

• You’re confident that your creative contributions will be honored and in fact asked for.

Without the right conditions, teams, despite their best intentions, will eventually run out of speed and energy, and meander slowly into a swamp-like state of atrophy. To move into a state of high performance, teams need an environment in which they are permitted to develop, which means letting go of the old “do as I say” mentality. With the right environment and skilled leader/coach, a high performance team can restore vitality and life throughout an entire company.

A lot of what goes on in group discussions is about what’s not being said. Prolonged discussions about seemingly minor things are just one signal that suppressed emotions are taking control and steering the team way off course. How well a leader can raise team awareness of what’s happening emotionally will greatly impact the group’s ability to perform.

In many small to medium sized businesses with long-time employees, ground rules were learned through years of experience as opposed to academic pedigrees from business schools. But no matter what company you work for or their trade, there are some ground rules that are bedrock. Knowing these fundamentals will help you prepare for this important step in your career, or give you an idea on what you still need to work on.

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.