By: Barbara Bowes
Date: July 10, 2010
The Winnipeg Free Press


It seems our eyes these days are absolutely glued to the news.

Those of us who are interested in world events are busy reading the newspaper or flipping between radio and TV channels as we keep up the news. Lately, we have learned about the Truth and Reconciliation events, the Queen's visit to Canada, the unpredictable weather, the arrival of an original copy of the Magna Carta and the ongoing happenings at the 2010 World Cup of soccer.

For sports fans, in particular, both the World Cup and the recent inaugural 2010 Winnipeg Blue Bomber football game are keeping people on high alert. And all of these events have created a huge sense of excitement; in fact, I imagine it might even be hard for some people to concentrate on their daily work.

Yet, there is something to learn from these public events and high-profile sports teams because, believe me, it requires superior leadership to make these events happen and to build and sustain team success. If you think about it, sports, event management teams and work teams have a lot in common. There are several organizational level factors that in each case drive the success of a team and lead to superior performance.

Let's examine what each of these elements looks like in the field.

Superior visionary leadership -- Leaders who drive success are able to create a vision or goal of what they want their team and organization to achieve. They can envision the thrill of success for a special event, a team championship, or the completion of a building or project. Not only that, they are able to communicate that vision and attract people. They are able to influence people and bring all types of individuals together to share that vision. Finally, they mobilize people behind the vision and create energy and synergy within the team.

Planning and analysis -- Success doesn't just happen, success is the result of solid and thorough planning and goal setting. Planning includes all elements such as the deployment of people and technical resources required, strategies, tactics and specific operational activities as well as back-up plans, timetables and schedules and progress monitoring.

Technical competence ---- Building a team requires a wide variety of skills and abilities. Strong leaders assess what skills are needed and then search out individuals with them. Next, the leaders ensure that their technical team members have all the tools and support needed to conduct their role. Finally, good leaders give general direction and let their skilled teams do their job.

Multiparty involvement -- While some teams are small, there are still additional avenues of support that are required for success. For instance, a sports team not only needs team managers, but it relies on communication personnel to get the success message out to fans and for financial professionals to look after the revenue. Even a small department in an organization needs to rely on those other internal departments to get things done.

Organizers of major special events, for instance, have a difficult job because they need to rally a larger number of people together who might have very different views and levels of support. And then they must count on marketing and communications personnel to sell the event and finally hope a large number of people attend. All in all, leaders must create a sense of commonality and community.

Followup, follow-through and reward -- Good team leaders make a special effort to monitor, coach, mentor and reward their players. People want to know that they are doing well and that they are being successful. This gives them a sense of accomplishment that further drives their success. In most cases, it isn't money that rewards the achievement drive among team members -- it is simply recognition for good work, a pat on the back and involvement in the project's success.

Deal with challenges as they arise -- No matter what, every team, whether it is work based, sports or involving special events, will at some point be confronted by some kind of conflict and controversy during the course of meeting its goal. Therefore, team leaders must be decisive and nip the conflict in the bud. Procrastination and indecision is a death knell for any leader.

Develop and retain a network -- Successful organizations and teams result not only from good planning, but also from the ability of a leader to tap into additional resources when needed. U.S. President Barack Obama's motto is to "never let the well run dry." By that, he means to become acutely aware of what resources are out there in your industry sector(s) and beyond, and to get to know and befriend these resources so that you can tap into them when needed. In particular, pay attention to the next generation of team members you could bring on board.

Use diversity as a strength -- A diversity of education, experience, gender, political affiliation, socio-economic background and world views is the only recipe for success today and into the future. This diverse combination of team members creates diversity of thought and enriches organizational culture and team perspectives. Teams who operate under a "group think" mode where no one offers critique or alternatives more frequently race toward disaster rather than success.

Setting a good example -- There isn't a single day that goes by without some kind of news reports headlining a spectacular fall from grace by a sports team leader, a political figure or a business leader with his hands in the money till. Let's face it: In today's world, there is simply nowhere to hide. All team leaders must always be on their best behaviour and recognize that they are public relations figures with the goal of developing and retaining solid relationships with everyone, whether they are detractors or supporters.

Develop a strong reputation -- While team leaders need to develop a strong personal reputation, so do members of the team and the team as a whole. This is done through the development of strong recruitment and selection standards, training and development, and performance management. Teams also need to build a public persona within their organization and more broadly as a group of professionals who do what they say they will do and do it well. This strong reputation will serve as an attraction and retention tool for all team members, customers, fans and event attendees.

Source: Leadership the Barack Obama Way, Make change Happen, Shel Leanne, McGraw Hill, 2010

Barbara J. Bowes, FCHRP, CMC is president of Legacy Bowes Group, Manitoba's leading Talent Management Solutions firm. She is also host of the weekly Bowes Knows radio show, a speaker and author of the bestselling book, Resume Rescue, amongst others. Bowes can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .