What does it take to build great teams?

A key task of effective leadership is building great teams. What is a great team?

Great teams are:

Productive
Cohesive
United
Able to effectively communicate
Know how to resolve conflict
Understand their goals
Drive towards success

What leader doesn’t want all of those characteristics in all of their team members?

A few months ago I wrote about great leaders building united teams:

I stand by this blog. It is true. Great leaders do know how to build united teams. That said, united teams are not always strong, effective teams. Yes, being united is part of being on a great team but being great takes more than being united. Building great teams doesn’t just magically happen. Building a great team takes:

Patience
Time
Risk
Sometimes a do-over
Constant evolution

Teams that work great together are because of great leadership. Effective leaders understand how to:

Commit time to the hiring process
Never settle on a candidate
Train new hires
Provide teams with necessary tools
Set goals/expectations
Run interference when needed
Hold teams accountable
Effectively communicate
Address issues as they arise
Make changes if needed

Effective leaders understand that committing the time to build great teams will pay off in the long run. These leaders know that reward is worth the effort. There is often pain in building teams and great leaders can endure the pain while building their teams.

Commit the time to building a great team. You will not regret it.