What is new here?

Two things are new: the inside-out approach regarding the skills needed by team members and the leadership skills that foster these teams. Heretofore little has been written on what the team members skills should be and leadership has been addressed in isolation without considering the effect on high performing teams.

What do you mean by an inside-out approach to teams?

Simply said: we need to take the perspective of a participant, not that of an observer.

Team members cannot be told how to handle every situation. Inevitably this fix-the-problem approach fails since the team members lack sufficient contextual experience to match a solution to the right problem.

Trainers like this cookbook approach though because it sells well to leaders. A lot of consulting fees have been earned this way. But team members regularly report that there is little transfer from this training to their real world. The training environment might be interesting, entertaining and have good snacks but it is not the real job environment and it is not clear how to apply what was studied.

The inside-out approach guarantees that the team members’ new skills directly apply and are useful in the real world. When the learning takes place in the job environment, transfer is not an issue.

If everyone learns how to be a high achieving team member and all the leaders do their part, can everyone have superlative results?

Yes, but of course, not everyone is willing to pay the piper. Those who do will benefit and likely benefit disproportionately beyond common expectations. The differences in performance experienced by teams and leaders is not just somewhat better or even one or two times better. Experience has shown that the scale from the beginner to the expert is about one thousand times better. This is an enormous potential payoff. But it does take discipline and commitment.

How do you know these skills are the right ones and are comprehensive?

Observation and research, available literature, experience, prototyping and actual usage. This approach has not been invented but rather discovered. What is described here has been in front of our eyes but only now organized and validated in current American business and culture.

A team member summarized the reality of this material in a feedback session when they remarked "Finally, someone understands!" This was followed by spontaneous applause from the team showing their appreciation and agreement.

It all sounds too good to be true. Is it?

Anything that sounds too good to be true is to good to be true. So too here because there is a substantial challenge for the team members individually and collectively, the leader and the greater organization.

Make no mistake. There is a price to be paid. All are being asked to become more sophisticated by learning and using these skills. This takes significant effort and energy, time, patience, insight and self-examination and trust in the process. Not everyone will be up to this task; nor will everyone have the patience and discipline.

Why use this material now?

To compete and stay in business.

The urgency to use this material varies based on how competitive one wants to be. Some strive for high achievement and will be rapid adopters. Others are more resistant to new learnings and will wait to see how the rapid adopters do.

There is no mandatory requirement that any organization use this material. It will depend on the organization’s need for early success with high achieving teams. For those who seek this success, these skills are direct answer.