A Team Is Only As Strong As Its Leader: How To Create A Harmonious Work Environment

John Calvin Maxwell, a world renowned author and clergyman coined the term “teamwork makes the dream work.” You’ve probably heard the first part of that sentence all too many times. From sarcastic jokes made by employees to business help seminars. But have you heard the back half of this phrase? He continues by saying: “… a vision becomes a nightmare when the leader has a big dream and a bad team.” The reality? It’s 100% true. Working together efficiently really can accomplish big goals; but if the leader is not clear on what it is they want then that’s when disaster is sure to set in.

Everyone wants to be a great leader like Mary Barra, the CEO of General Motors or Steve Jobs from Apple. But, not everyone has those natural born talents within them. How then does one create a successful team? Is it by hiring quote unquote perfect team members? Sure, that could help if you could find them. But what if you already have an existing team that you’re desperately trying to improve their workflow and work ethic? Whether you have a new and inexperienced staff or one that has been around the block a few times, no team is too big or too small to start working cohesively as one.

Powerful Purpose

Making sure everyone is aligned and on the same page when it comes to a company’s purpose is arguably the most important thing for any team if they want to be successful. We don’t want to be overly complicated, we just want to bring people together. Everyone loves the feeling of community. When trying to figure out your purpose, make sure it aligns with not only your goals, but the goals of your team. You want everyone to come together and not only support each other but an idea that is bigger than themselves. 

They say it takes an army to make a movie, and that couldn’t be more true. If the Director of the film isn’t clear on their vision, the costuming department won’t know where to go, the casting director will be floundering and the picture will flop come release day. The same goes for owning a Fitness Studio. It should trickle down to even the members of your staff that do not directly connect with the customers themselves. They need to know the impact of the work they’re doing. If you don’t properly communicate to your staff the purpose of your business, your team’s work ethic will be about as useful as putting a steering wheel on a mule.

Creative Culture

Motivational Speaker, Simon Sinek said it best: “A team is not a group of people that work together. A team is a group of people that trust each other.” Anything worth doing isn’t easy, and anything worth doing on a team level requires a tremendous amount of trust and respect. A fully functioning, creative and positive team culture really goes hand in hand with the powerful purpose you’ve set before them. 

So, how does one create a creative culture? If your team is homogenous with one another then going about creating this should not result in any roadblocks. If not, as the Fitness Professional and overall leader of your business and team you will have to grind some in order to achieve that end goal of harmony. A strong, tightly knit team culture in the end boils down to respecting the differing opinions of the ones that you work with. You still own the business at the end of the day. Just because someone has a better idea than you do, doesn’t mean they’re the new CEO. The next time you sit down for a company round table or staff meeting, devise a plan that allows all employees to better get to know one another and understand where each one comes from. Even if your staff consists of two people, including yourself, the other members of your team will always have a difference in opinion on how best to run things. Your staff wants to know their voice will not only be heard, but listened to.

Real Responsibility

Pat Summitt, an American Women’s Basketball Coach once said: “Responsibility equals accountability equals ownership. And a sense of ownership is the most powerful weapon a team or organization can have.” So, you have your staff aligned and they understand the business’ purpose. They articulate their feelings and are dedicated to growing the culture of your business. Now, it’s time to delegate.

Ambiguity equals anxiety. Anxiety equals stress. What that really means is that you should never leave your team guessing. When your staff has clear marching orders on not only what you expect from them, what your members should expect from them and more importantly what they should expect from themselves it is a fantastic motivator. When your staff is clearly aligned with you and your vision and they know how their actions, even the most mundane, correlates with the rest of the business as as a whole that’s when you’ll start to see a shift in your staff’s mentalities. That’s when they begin to take true ownership of their positions and respect the responsibilities you’ve laid out before them.

Feasible Feedback

Without feedback, and this goes for just about anything we do in life, not just running a fitness studio, we will flounder and continue to make the same decisions until the end of our days. Knowing what is working but more importantly what isn’t and efficiently communicating that to your staff is invaluable. Without feedback it can be nearly impossible to maintain a proper sense or willingness to improve for the things you and your staff are doing on a daily basis.

Constructive feedback when delivered properly should take many different forms: positive recognition in front of staff of a certain employee’s achievements, individual performance reviews, and of course keeping track of your staff’s overall progress. Celebrating successes, even the smallest of ones, can be extremely gratifying to your team. Letting them know all of the hard work that they put in is noticed and appreciated will go the long haul in forging a creative, collaborative and trusting team.

“It’s not how heavy the load, it’s how you carry it.” – John Calvin Maxwell

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