A-Team Leaders Bring Their A-Game

An A-Team leader heads a small group of people with unique talents and complementary skills committed to a common purpose and goals. These leaders have an approach that engages team members in producing and holding themselves mutually accountable.

The movie The A-Team is a remake of the television show that ran from 1983 to 1987, the movie has a few variations --- like the characters are Gulf War veterans rather than Vietnam veterans --- but the premise is the same. Although faced with their own challenges, these good guys are on a mission to help others and to succeed.

Although The A-Team movie may be a rugged example of how teams work together, the emphasis for leaders is the capability to build a team and keep it together and functioning optimally.

A-Team Leadership Competencies

If you work with A-Team leaders, you'll notice several proficiencies they all possess:

• They create an inspiring culture and provide a clear, shared vision that enables people to achieve more than they dreamed.
• They listen to the team's input.
• They build trust and share their values.
• They make decisions with integrity and reliability.
• They are the primary forces behind successful change, which they consider an opportunity.
• They use passion and intuition to achieve extraordinary results.
• They can mold groups into a team that becomes a force of competitive business advantage.
• They know how to influence individuals to function collaboratively, as well as how to motivate them to excel in performance and balance their individuality with others to create synergy.
• They help each team member develop into an effective self-leader by providing the tools, training, coaching and incentives needed to help team members exercise and foster their own ability to set priorities and make decisions.
• They have a competitive spirit and set an example for others to follow.

Setting the Example

Lessons from Jack Welch, an American Businessman and Author, indicate that great leaders create a vision and help people generate passion about what they do so they become excited about achieving results. These leaders don't micromanage, and they encourage the team's input.

In 1983 or in 2010, it would have been difficult for the leader of the A-Team, Hannibal, to produce the results needed without the ideas and unique talents of each team member. A-Team leadership never goes out of style. Welch says that we must lead by example and master the four E's of leadership: energy, energize, edge and execution.

There Is No 'I' in Team

A-Team leaders are all about the collective results of the team rather than "I." Gen. George Patton said it well: "An army is a team. It lives, eats, sleeps, fights as a team. This individual stuff is a bunch of crap."

What we see in the TV show "The A-Team" and now in the movie is that every member shares in taking responsibility for failures. When tough decisions are made, every team member buys in.

In any organization, success depends on the employees as well as the leaders. A-Team leaders help each of their team member recognize the importance of his or her place on the team, as well as in the company. They help others see that their hard work --- and sometimes sacrifices, during these tough economic times --- are essential to creating solutions and achieving results.

A-Team Leadership Training

Effective training can help managers and supervisors become successful A-Team leaders. Regardless of the method or the intensity of the training, employees perceive it as valuable. Along with coaching, organizations can adopt the necessary leadership competencies and use training packages to build A-Team leaders.

An example of how to customize A-Team leadership training is to cluster training into core training packages, such as those offered by Vital Learning. For example:

Leadership Essentials™ provides 12 core learning solutions that address the typical management challenges leaders deal with every day. This suite includes seminars such asEssential Skills of Leadership™, Essential Skills of Communicating™ and Developing Performance Goals and Standards™.

Leadership Plus™ provides learning solutions designed to build the key strategic capabilities that every A-Team leader needs in order to perform at the highest level. This package includes Leading Successful Projects™, Hiring Winning Talent™, Motivating Team Members™ and Developing and Coaching Others™.

Following Vital Learning's training courses, your employees will have the added bonus of applying for college credit through the University of Phoenix. Ask your training consultant how Vital Learning can help you build A-Team leaders in your organization.

Thought for the Day

"Leaders inspire people with clear visions of how things can be done better."

--- Jack Welch, American Businessman and Author

Sources:

The Leadership Series (2010). Vital Learning Corporation
Bruce, A. (2001). Leaders Start to Finish, American Society of Training and Development.
Lessons from Jack Welch
Sanibel, M. (Dec. 2009). It Takes Leadership, Entrepreneur.