Maximizing Team Potential

Good teams don't become great by accident. They pursue their purpose, on purpose. The gap between good and great isn't talent. It's leadership that knows which levers to pull. It's not the transformative moonshots. It's the bite-sized wisdom with outsized impact. Here are 9 moves that transform good teams into great ones: 1. HONOR WHAT'S WORKING Don't fix what isn't broken. Acknowledge the strengths that got you here. Ask: "What is our team's competitive advantage?" 2. NAME WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE Don't hint at improvements vaguely. Be specific about what stops and what starts. Write it down: "We will no longer... We will now..." 3. MODEL THE STANDARD Don't exempt yourself from expectations. Be transparent about your own growth areas. Show the team what accountability looks like. 4. CLARIFY THE TARGET Don't rely on abstract long-term visions. Set crystal clear 6-month milestones and metrics. Break quarterly goals into weekly wins. 5. DEFINE WINNING BEHAVIORS Don't settle for generic corporate values. Codify specific, observable actions. Spread your team's mythology. 6. BUILD NEW RITUALS Don't add bureaucratic processes. Create consistent, meaningful habits. Make feedback feel like reviewing game tape. 7. CELEBRATE PROGRESS Don't wait for perfection to recognize effort. Acknowledge improvement and iteration. Run weekly retrospectives to capture learning. 8. MANUFACTURE TRUST DAILY Don't assume trust builds automatically. Create it through authentic connection. End every 1-on-1 with "What else?" 9. CATCH THEM WINNING Don't offer vague "good job" praise. Give specific recognition of impact. Keep a daily wins journal for your team. The truth about great teams: They don't need another framework or methodology. They need a leader who: • Sees what's working and amplifies it • Names what's not and changes it • Models the behaviors they expect • Celebrates progress, not just perfection Your team already has the potential. Your job is to unlock it. ♻️ Share this to help others. 📕 Save this playbook for your team's next plateau.  🔔 Follow Dave Kline for more practical leadership moves.

"If you only make them a better player on the field, boy, you have lost a great opportunity" Tony Dungy was head coach for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts. In this video he provides some guidance for young coaches. Personally, I think this is great information for coaches of all ages and leaders in industry. Coach Dungy speaks about the importance of: 1) Getting to know your players 2) Connecting with players This approach fits very nicely with Ryan and Deci's (2000) model of self-determination theory, and in particular the basic psychological need of relatedness. When a coach gets to know his or her players and has a connection, it fulfils an athlete's basic psychological need of relatedness. The need for relatedness includes an athlete’s need to feel cared for by significant others such as a coach or team mates (Duda, 2013) and a secure sense of belongingness (Amorose, 2007). Techniques for coaches to enhance perceptions of relatedness 1) Develop the coach-athlete relationship The coach-athlete relationship is key to an athlete’s psychological needs being met (Amorose, 2007; Meageau and Vallerand, 2003), so coaches could work on developing their relationship with players and managing any conflict when or if it arises. 2) Promote positive relationships with other players  Coaches who work in team sports could devise activities that foster camaraderie among players to ensure that all players feel valued. This could also be achieved by not encouraging competition among team mates, or placing very little emphasis on the results of such competitions. Team building activities may also help athletes feel a sense of relatedness. 3) Listen and acknowledge – Coaches should listen to what their athletes say and acknowledge the feelings of athletes, rather than disregard such feelings (Amorose, 2007). This will help create trust between athletes and coaches, which is important in helping people feel cared for (Tessier et al., 2010). 4) Involve parents (IF COACHING YOUNG ATHLETES)  Amorose (2007) suggested that coaches should play an active role in involving an athlete’s parents, especially among younger athletes. This is supported by more recent research (e.g., Amorose et al., 2016; Gaudreau et al., 2016) who demonstrated the importance of autonomy support from parents. As such, coaches could provide information to parents regarding how they can be more supportive to their children and fulfil their basic psychological needs better. 

Building a sales team can be tough, especially if you're new to leading others. Many salespeople crush it when they’re out there closing deals, but when they step into a management role, things don’t always go as smoothly as expected. Why? Because selling and managing are two very different skills. When you’re on the ground, your focus is on persuasion, negotiation, and hitting targets. But when you’re building a team, it’s about developing people, setting processes, and creating an environment where others can thrive. Here’s the thing: too many sales leaders try to wing it. They assume that because they were great at selling, they’ll automatically be great at leading a team. But the truth is, leadership takes work. It requires learning new skills, being patient with your team, and sometimes stepping back so others can step up. So how do you avoid failing when building your sales team? Here’s what I’ve learned over the years: 1. Hire for Potential, Not Just Experience   You don’t need people who can already do the job perfectly. What you need are people who are hungry to learn and grow. Teachable, coachable talent will always outperform someone who thinks they already know it all. 2. Train, Train, Train   Don’t assume your team knows what you know. Create a clear onboarding process, set up regular training sessions, and give them the tools they need to succeed. Consistent coaching is key. 3. Lead by Example   Show your team what it means to be a pro. Share your strategies, walk them through your thought process, and let them see how you handle challenges. People mimic what they see, so make sure you’re setting the right example. 4. Focus on Culture   Your team’s culture will make or break you. Create an environment where people feel supported, where failure is seen as a learning opportunity, and where collaboration is encouraged. A toxic culture will drive away your best talent fast. 5. Know When to Let Go   Not everyone will work out, and that’s okay. Holding onto underperformers can drag down the whole team. Have tough conversations early, and don’t be afraid to make changes when necessary. Building a sales team isn’t just about hiring bodies—it’s about creating a machine that works even when you’re not there. It takes time, effort, and a willingness to learn. But if you put in the work, the payoff is worth it. If you’re struggling to build your team, take a step back and ask yourself: Am I leading, or am I just trying to sell through others? The answer will make all the difference.

One of the clearest signals of whether a transformation is working isn’t in the plan - it’s in the conversations happening in your teams. So pay close attention to the frequency of healthy debate, constructive challenge and openness to new and divergent ideas that takes place. If the frequency is low… …there is the risk of creating the illusion of performance because people readily ‘understand’ each other, agree on everything, collaboration seems to flow smoothly and there is a collective sensation of progress. However, the opportunity cost is teams gets trapped in their own paradigms, opportunities get overlooked, risks ignored - and ultimately their output becomes derivative not innovative, performance diminishes as opposed to improving and compounding. If the frequency is high… …there is a level of psychological safety that allows for team members to be more objective, to speak up with relevant ideas, to constructively challenge each other, and bring their diverse perspectives and experiences to the table - in the knowledge it won’t be held against them. This opens up the opportunity of reframing the paradigm, and connecting different perspectives and ideas. Ingredients for creativity, innovation, resilience and performance. You see homogeneous teams might feel easier, but easy doesn’t translate into Performance. Here are a few ideas to experiment with your teams… 1. Intentionally foster a team environment that replaces scepticism with intellectual curiosity, an open and learning mindset.   2. Consider how you can create a ways of working that allows all ideas and perspectives from everyone in the room to be heard. 3. Encourage dissenting perspectives. Surrounding yourself with people who are willing to disagree with you and challenge your perspectives and each other. 4. Consider whether you may need to invite others to that creative or idea generation meeting to ensure you get a broader perspective. 5. De-stigmatise failure through sharing past mistakes and celebrating lessons learnt. 6. Institutionalise a team culture of healthy candour. Candour is one of the key attributes to improving the quality of output, levelling up creativity and enabling effective collaboration. What would you add? #transformation #culture #psychologicalsafety

“Congrats, you’re a leader now – go lead! Oh, and we’ll just assume you know how to communicate effectively.” ‘tis a tale as old as time. I was that person too. The problem is that team leader communication is so critical to engagement, understanding strategy, and aligning your team behind purpose. So here’s 10 ways leaders can improve their communication right away. 1.      Ask your team what they want – find out what they want to know more about, their preferred methods of communication, how often they want to meet, etc. And keep asking them – preferences will change over time. 2.      Get feedback, constantly – don’t wait for an engagement survey. Ask what’s working, what’s not, and what ideas people have to improve comms in your team. 3.      Say more, with less – don’t get caught in the trap of long-winded emails and team calls. People are time-poor and busy. Keep it short. And don’t assume that ‘poor communication’ is solved with more communication! 4.      Record and review – facilitating online meetings? Record them, and watch them back, and self-reflect. 5.      Co-create content – you don’t have to come up with it all yourself. Get your team involved, share the weekly newsletter around or get them all to contribute to a teams chat. It creates a sense of ownership. 6.      Set a rhythm – people like things that are predictable. So after you’ve found out what people want, set a rhythm with your comms and stick to it. 7.      Find out the answers – it’s okay to say you don’t know something, and commit to finding out and reporting back. As a leader, especially during change, it’s your job to find out why things are happening, and what that means for your team. 8.      Be authentic – people can see through the ‘leader mask’ we sometimes put on. Authenticity builds trust. So use the words you’d normally use, and talk to others like human beings. 9.      Get equitable – this is getting harder in hybrid worlds, but equitable access to communication is key for your team members, especially during change. Make sure everyone has an opportunity to hear directly from you, and to talk to you 1:1. 10.  Listen to understand, not to respond – sometimes we jump into solution mode when our team members come to us with worries. Let them talk, and ask curious questions to understand the real problem, and what they need from you. Sometimes, they just need to be heard, they don’t need you to do anything. What would you add to the list?

Tired of being the bottleneck? Speak like a leader who inspires. No one teaches us how to be great leaders. Most of us learn by observing those we’ve worked for. We pick up habits along the way - some helpful, others not so much. If we’re honest, we’ve all used phrases that unintentionally demotivate our teams. I know I have. The good news is that leadership is a skill, and like any skill, it can be refined. We can choose to intentionally use words that motivate and inspire, rather than try to control and criticise. It's a small shift, but it can have a big impact. Next time you feel frustrated or find it hard to inspire your team into action, try using language that encourages collaboration and growth. 1/ Instead of saying: "You need to fix this." ↳ Try saying: "Can you walk me through how you plan to approach this?" 2/ Instead of saying: "Don't make mistakes like this again." ↳ Try saying: "What can we take away from this to avoid it happening again?" 3/ Instead of saying: "Just do it the way I showed you." ↳ Try saying: "How would you approach this? Let’s compare ideas." 4/ Instead of saying: "Who's responsible for these mistakes?" ↳ Try saying: "Let’s work together to understand what happened and prevent it next time." 5/ Instead of saying: "I might as well do it myself." ↳ Try saying: "I see you’re struggling with this - how can I help you succeed?" 6/ Instead of saying: "That's not how we do things." ↳ Try saying: "Can you walk me through why you’ve done it this way?" 7/ Instead of saying: "This didn’t go as planned." ↳ Try saying: "I appreciate the effort - how can we adapt this together?" 8/ Instead of saying: "I’ll just save time and do it myself." ↳ Try saying: "I trust your judgment to take this forward. What do you need to make it a success?" 9/ Instead of saying: "Why didn’t you tell me earlier?" ↳ Try saying: "What can we do to improve communication on this?" 10/ Instead of saying: "This isn’t good enough." ↳ Try saying: "What additional support do you need to make this even better?" Leadership isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about creating an environment where others feel trusted, supported, and capable of success. 👉 What phrases do you use to motivate your team instead of micromanaging them? ♻️ Share this post to help your network build stronger leadership skills. 🔔 Follow me, Jen Blandos, for actionable daily insights on business, entrepreneurship, and workplace well-being.

Most leaders think delegation is about getting things off their plate. They're wrong. As an executive coach for 25 years, I've watched dozens of executives "delegate" only to end up more frustrated than when they started. The real problem? They're not delegating. They're dumping. I talked about this with one of my clients last week. "I gave David the board deck project and he completely missed the mark. I should have just done it myself." When we dug deeper, here's what actually happened. She said: "Can you handle the board deck? He said: "Sure." That was it. No clarity on what success looked like. No context about the stakes. No check-ins planned. David had seen board decks but had never created one himself. So chances were good that David wouldn't meet the mark. And it wasn't his fault. The framework that works: 1️⃣ Get clear in your own mind first Clarify  what you're delegating. Are you handing off a task or giving them authority? What does "done" look like? What does "great" look like? 2️⃣ Give context Don't just explain the what. Explain the why. Share the background, the stakes, how this connects to bigger goals. 3️⃣. Assess the person Use the will/skill matrix. High skill, high will? Give them space. Low skill, high will? Provide guidance. High skill, low will? Find out what's blocking them. Low skill, low will? Provide a lot of structure. 4️⃣ Decide on check-ins Midpoint check-in? Weekly summaries? Let me know when you're done? Be specific about how you'll stay informed. 5️⃣ Set clear deadlines "ASAP," "when you can," and "by next week" all mean different things to different people. Thursday at 3 PM means one thing to everyone. The difference between delegation and dumping is stark. Delegate with structure, and you develop leaders. Dump without clarity, and everyone gets frustrated. Save this to remind you to give context and clarity when you delegate.

3 team building activities to try at your next company offsite. —Leadership team— Have every member of the leadership team answer the following 3 questions in advance: 1. What do I love most about my job? 2. What’s the hardest part of my job? 3. What’s something people often don’t know or misunderstand about my job? Share everyone’s responses as a pre-read ahead of the live session and then lead a group discussion with helpful prompts like: What’s one thing that caught you by surprise? How did it feel to share this with the group? What patterns stood out to you? This is a great way to build x-functional empathy and awareness while surfacing underlying challenges. —Managers— Ask your managers to answer the following Q: On a scale of 1-5, how hard is it to be a manager? Facilitate a live discussion with follow up Qs like, “What’s the hardest part?” and “How does it feel looking around the room and seeing everyone else’s responses?” Then break everyone into pairs for a peer coaching session on a management challenge they’re currently facing. (Link below for template.) This is a great way to foster community and resilience for managers. —Employees— Break everyone into pairs and have them answer the following prompt: What’s a piece of feedback you’ve been sitting on? Provide them with coaching Qs like, “What’s holding you back?” and “How do you think the person would feel if they knew you were feeling this way?” This is a great activity to surface underlying issues, foster communication, and provide a peer coaching buddy your employees can lean on the next time they’re facing a challenge. Looking for more offsite tips and resources? Check out my favs here: - How to coordinate an in-person offsite (including template comms to employees): https://lnkd.in/eMQyHeNa - Leadership team building activities: https://lnkd.in/epGKs9ZH - Low lift management training activities: https://lnkd.in/ea3SPTVN What are your favorite company offsite activities?

I watched my team burn hours and achieve nothing that mattered. Emails flying. Meetings back-to-back. Tasks stacking up. We were busy. We felt productive. But the results told a different story. The real question became: what actually moves the needle? I started tracking every task against measurable outcomes. I aligned the team around the top three priorities. Meetings became decision-making sessions. Deep work blocks were protected. Low-impact tasks were delegated or dropped. The transformation wasn’t overnight. But slowly, busy teams became strategic teams. Focus shifted from doing everything to doing what matters: We reclaimed hours. We saw tangible results. And the team felt calmer, more empowered, and more motivated. If your team feels constantly busy but stretched thin, try this: • Track what drives impact. • Align efforts around the highest priorities. • Protect time for focused work. The shift from busy to strategic isn’t easy, but it’s worth it. I’d love to hear from you: What’s one change you’ve made that helped your team focus on what truly matters?

High-performing teams don’t just happen. They’re built on a foundation of empathy. Winning cultures lead with empathy and accountability. Leaders who create a culture of empathy lift others up, strengthen trust, and unlock the full potential of their people. Here’s how to do it in practice: ⭐Model empathy first: share your own challenges and perspectives openly, showing that it’s safe to be human at work. ⭐Listen beyond words: pay attention to tone, body language, and what’s not being said. ⭐Invite perspectives and ask: “What’s your take?” before making key decisions, especially when change is on the table. ⭐Respond, don’t react. Pause before speaking in tense moments to ensure your words build, not break. ⭐Recognize effort: notice the work behind the work. Appreciation fuels motivation and morale. ⭐Flex your style: adapt communication and leadership to different working styles and needs. ⭐Create space for well-being: encourage breaks, check-ins, and sustainable workloads so people can perform at their best. When empathy is embedded into the culture, performance isn’t sacrificed. Instead, it’s amplified. Teams move faster, collaborate better, and stay committed longer. Reflect on: one way you can lead with empathy today?