Welcome to Friday 411, issue #144. In 4 minutes, with 1 insight and 1 action, you’ll understand why one leadership team is not enough.
1 Insight
A single team can’t do it all. It actually takes three types of teams. Each one has a different focus. When you get the right people on the right team doing the right work, everything changes.
A few years ago, we led a day-long workshop with an executive team led by Sonia. Sonia’s team was working to identify their biggest goal, strategic bets, and projects for the next five years.
One team member, Henry, seemed bored all day. Frequent sighs. Tapping on his laptop. When Sonia asked his opinion, he’d say, “I’ll do whatever you think.”
His coworkers started exchanging glances, showing signs of frustration with Henry’s disengagement.
At a break, we pulled Sonia aside. “What’s going on with Henry?”
“Oh, he’s our IT guy. He hates this stuff. But he’s technically on the Leadership Team, so I told him he needed to be here.”
That was the problem. Henry didn’t need to be in that room. He needed to be on a different team.
One Team Can’t Do It All
Most leaders, like Sonia, think they lead one team. They gather their key people around a table, talk about everything from long-term vision to printer paper, and wonder why people like Henry check out.
One type of team can’t do it all. You need three.
Each one has a different focus. When you get the right people on the right team doing the right work, everything changes.
1. The Strategic Team: “Where are we going?”
This team acts like a compass. They set the direction by looking to the future and answering the big questions:
- What’s our purpose?
- What are our values?
- What’s our biggest priority?
- What are our strategic bets and projects for achieving that priority?
Once the Strategic Team answers those questions, they identify the opportunities and obstacles ahead. They don’t get lost in the weeds. They keep everyone focused on the future.
Think of how a football team operates. Its strategic leadership team includes (at least) the head coach and athletic director. A Strategic Team is made up of anyone who sets the vision, creates the culture, and decides where the program is headed.
2. The Functional Team: “How do we get there?”
Think of your Functional Team as your operational team. While your Strategic Team might have fewer people, your Functional Team includes everyone who runs a specific area of the business: marketing, sales, HR, operations, IT, etc.
Each person owns a lane. They take the future the Strategic Team identified and figure out how to make it happen in their area.
This is where Sonia went wrong. Henry didn’t need to be on the Strategic Team. He had no desire to sit in a room and dream about the future. But he had every ability to lead IT toward that future. He belonged on the Functional Team.
Back to football. The head coach builds a functional leadership team with the coordinators (offensive, defensive, and special teams) and may include key players like a quarterback and/or team captains as well. Each person is responsible for making the vision come to life in their area.
3. Project Teams: “How do we get it done?”
This is where the real work happens. Project Teams are small, temporary groups built around a specific project. They have several common features:
- A clear purpose
- A deadline
- A team leader
- Defined roles for each team member
- An operating system for how they’ll work together
When the Strategic or Functional team identifies a project, a Project Team forms to get it across the finish line. When the project is done, the team dissolves. No lingering meetings. No zombie committees. Done means done.
In football, these are the position groups within each unit, such as the offensive line. Small groups with clear assignments executing specific plays.
The Real Shift
Your job as a leader is not to sit on every team. You don’t need to be the coach, the coordinator, and the quarterback.
You just need to make sure the right people are in the right seats on the right teams. You guide the Strategic Team. You may lead the Functional Team. You stay out of the Project Teams—trust your leaders to run those.
Your Next Steps
1. Clarify your Strategic Team.
Identify the three to five people who should be thinking about the future with you. Set a recurring meeting focused only on long-term direction.
2. Train your functional leaders to build Project Teams.
Give them a simple framework: every Project Team needs one leader, a clear purpose, success criteria, a deadline, and an operating system. Then step out of the way.
3. Remove yourself from one team this week.
If you’re on a Project Team someone else could lead, hand it off. Your job is to build teams, not sit on all of them.
Sonia didn’t need a better team. She needed the right teams. So do you.
1 Action
Clarify who your Strategic Team is this week.