Turning Ordinary Teams into High Performing Teams

This type of speed and quantum demonstrated by NDRF has never been seen in the past. Air Force teams may have many instances of such quick response times. An equally great team work was demonstrated by Indian Navy, Indian Air Force, our foreign ministry and Air India when they rescued thousands of Indian nationals and foreigners from 48 nationalities from Yemen. Here too, the full operation was led by General VK Singh, a minister of GOI from ground zero.

These are just the signs of a developing nation taking strides and taking pride in the potential of its people. Just see the number of organizations working all over India to help our Nepali brothers and sisters. There is a saying in India: ‘Yatha Raja, Tatha Praja’ (The people of a nation behave the same way as the King does). It looks as if an average Indian has suddenly become a bit more responsible, a bit more patriotic, a bit more concerned. I say this because I saw a young girl pleading with a Gol Gappa/Chaat Wallah (fast food vendor) to keep his surroundings clean and surprisingly the Gol Gappa wallah (fast food vendor) also immediately saying sorry and telling his assistant to put the littered empty plates in the dust bin.

I had the opportunity of serving under some of the excellent senior officers during my 22 years of service in the Indian Navy. I still remember the story narrated by one of them during our initial training: Once the renowned French General Napoleon Bonaparte was having a meeting with his military staff. Some officers complained bitterly about the poor quality of soldiers in their units. They gave this logic as one of the main reason for not achieving some of their objectives.

The discussion went on for some time. Napoleon allowed his officers to give vent to their feelings. Then Napoleon smiled and quietly said,

“Gentlemen, There are no Bad Soldiers, Only Bad Officers.”

There was pin drop silence. All those complaining about their soldiers were seen looking left and right. In that brief statement the little General had underscored the importance of good leadership to turn ordinary team members into high performers.

Great leaders take the ownership of whatever they do. – Swami Vivekananda

“I consider my ability to arouse enthusiasm among the men the greatest asset I possess, and the way to develop the best that is in a man is by appreciation and encouragement.” -Charles M Schwab

There is a need for effective leadership everywhere. In the absence of dynamic and effective leadership, an organization is like a rudderless ship in the ocean drifting with the winds without any direction for a destination. Disasters at times bring out hidden leaders. No voting is necessary in those conditions. People respond to the person who takes the initiative and he/she acquires a commanding position. People will listen to the one who has the presence of mind, boldness to take over and the courage to lead from the front.

Even the normal public or mob is not capable of acting without a leader. A crowd or mob if headless is powerless and shall disperse in no time at the sight of the police force. Even the mob engaged in creating unrest on the streets is not the disorganized group as it appears to be. There is a leader behind the violence in the background who controls the mob remotely through his or her henchmen.

So a leader can make or mar a nation. I leave it to the readers of this mini article to go through the comparative contribution of various Prime Ministers of India and decide who stands where. An inspired leader inspires others to lead with enthusiasm and energy within their own domain and at their own level. He takes everyone with him like a team leader. And a good team leader has to be a good team mate also. A great leader creates an environment that encourages creativity, productivity and future leaders. He converts ordinary team members into high performers through his own examples. He recognises the crucial stages of a team’s evolution.

-5% people make things happen -15% watch things happening -80% don’t know what the hell is happening

He inspires confidence about his capability to lead in the minds of his team mates. He is an effective communicator who communicates the mission to his team with unity of purpose and vision. He trains his people from time to time or ensures their training in the areas where they need to elevate themselves. Just being a strong, decisive dynamic and informative leader is not enough these days to succeed. The Inspired Leader must understands what, how, when and why people behave under specific circumstances and then he should be able to responds appropriately. Only then the leaders will be able to provide the desired direction to their team mates and ensure that their performance and productivity goes up to ‘The Next Level of Excellence’.

*Leaders are a source of abundant energy