5 C's to Build a Great Team

As posted by Jon Gordon author of The Energy Bus

High performing teams don’t happen by accident. They are built and developed by leaders who focus on building a great team and team members who strive to be part of a great team. In this spirit I want to share 5 C’s leaders and teams can focus on to build a great team.

1. Communicate - Most teams, including teams at home, break down because of poor communication. As I wrote in Soup, where there is a void in communication negativity fills it. Frequent and positive communication fills the void and begins the process of building trust. You can’t have a great team without strong relationships and you can’t have strong relationships without great communication and trust. Leaders must communicate with team members individually and collectivity as a team and team members must enhance their communication with each other.

2. Connect - While communicating begins the process of building trust, connecting is what creates a bond of trust. Many teams communicate but the great ones also connect. (Tweet This) They form bonds of trust that strengthen relationships and the team. They go deeper, below the surface level of communication, and communicate and connect in a more intimate and powerful way. Getting to know your team members, being vulnerable, sharing experiences together, facing challenges together, and working on projects together are a few ways to connect.

3. Commitment - Without communication, connection and commitment your team will not perform at a high level. Communication and connection build the trust that generates the commitment that fosters the teamwork that delivers results. Great teams are not only committed to doing great work. They are also committed to each other. They put the team first and are willing to serve and sacrifice for the benefit of the team.

4. Care - When you care you give a little more time, a little more effort, a little more energy, and a little more love to the things and the people you care about. You may be a good team but to be a great team I encourage you to care just a little more. Care about the work you do and how it contributes to the team. Care about the people you work with. Care about the mission of your team. Those who care build great things that others care about. (Tweet This)

5. Contagious Energy - Of course I’m talking about contagious positive energy. Great teams are filled with positive energy and it’s important for each person on the team to know that they are contagious. If you’re moody your negative energy is contagious and makes it hard for others to trust and feel comfortable around you. If you are positively contagious you make everyone around you better. There’s no "i" in team but there are two "i" in positive. This means "I" must be positive to be my best and "I" must be positive to help my team be our best. As a team member you can be a germ or a big dose of vitamin C to your team. Choose to be positively contagious.

An inspirational teaching story:

How much do we notice as we go through a day? 

Lisa Beamer on Good Morning America - 

    If you remember, she's the wife of Todd Beamer who said 

'Let's Roll!' and helped take down the plane over Pennsylvania

that was heading for Washington, DC back on 9/11- 

she said it's the little things that she misses most about Todd, 

such as hearing the garage door open as he came home, 

and her children running to meet him. 

 Lisa recalled this story: 

    "I had a very special teacher in high school many years 

    ago whose husband died suddenly of a heart attack. 

    About a week after his death, she shared some of her 

    insight with a classroom of students. As the late 

    afternoon sunlight came streaming in through the classroom windows 

    andthe class was nearly over, she moved a few things aside 

    on the edge of her desk and sat down there. 

    With a gentle look of reflection on her face, she paused 

    and said, 'Class is over, I would like to share with all of 

    you, a thought that is unrelated to class, but which I feel Is very 

    important. Each of us is put here on earth to learn, share, love, 

    appreciate and give of ourselves. None of us knows when this fantastic 

    experience will end. It can be taken away at any moment. 

    Perhaps this is God's way of telling us that we 

    must make the most out of every single day. Her eyes, 

    beginning to water, she went on, 'So I would like you all 

    to make me a promise. From now on, on your way to school, 

    or on your way home, find something beautiful to notice. 

    It doesn't have to be something you see, it could be a 

    scent, perhaps of freshly baked bread wafting out of 

    someone's house, or it could be the sound of the 

    breeze slightly rustling the leaves in the trees, or the 

    way the morning light catches one autumn leaf as it 

    falls gently to the ground. Please look for these things, 

    and cherish them. For, although it may sound trite to some, 

    these things are the "stuff" of life. 

    The little things we are put here on earth to enjoy. 

    The things we often take for granted. 

    The class was completely quiet. We all picked up our 

    books and filed out of the room silently. That afternoon, 

    I noticed more things on my way home from school 

    than I had that whole semester. Every once in a while, 

    I think of that teacher and remember what an impression 

    she made on all of us, and I try to appreciate all of those 

    things that sometimes we all overlook. 

    Take notice of something special you see on your lunch 

    hour today. Go barefoot. Or walk on the beach at sunset. 

    Stop off on the way home tonight to get a double dip ice cream cone. 

    For as we get older, it is not the things we did that we often regret, 

    but the things we didn't do.