Bill Gates has it. Steve Jobs had it. Chances are you have even personally known someone who had it, too: the ability to create and lead a great team. While Bill Gates and Steve Jobs had a lot more than team-building skills going for them, part of their greatness was their uncanny talent for getting people to contribute their best selves to a common goal.
We don’t all need to be visionaries and geniuses in our field to be great leaders like Mr. Gates and Mr. Jobs, but there are a few essential components to team leadership. Below are a few of the skills you need in order to become a team leader.
Two steps to team leadership
Step One: Understand the role of teamwork
The first step is recognizing the importance of teamwork in business. You can have a company full of all-star players, but unless the coach draws them together to work as a team, they will all want to hold the ball themselves (or not at all). That’s not a strategy for success.
How do we know teamwork is important? Research shows that teamwork is essential to a high-functioning organization. In some cases, it’s more important than the individual skill sets of the team members. In other words, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts when it comes to groups of people working together to achieve a large-scale goal.
In fact, the importance of team leadership is now so well-established that every Master of Business Administration in the country dedicates a significant portion of the curriculum to management. If this area is of particular interest to you, then look for an online MBA program that emphasizes this area.
Step Two: Understand personality types
Secondly, any future or present manager should become familiar with personality types. Understanding how each employee communicates and what sets them apart is the foundation of good management. Drawing upon the strengths of individuals and putting those strengths to use for the group is key for optimal productivity.
An online MBA program prepares managers for successful team leadership by offering coursework in personality types and behavior.
Learn more about Lamar University’s online MBA programs.
