What Makes a Cohesive Teams and to Keep Them Together

I believe that cohesive teams out perform star individuals. And to have a championship team, there needs to be a common goal and for each person to perform their role at an exceptional level. I also believe that there are a few things that make teams champions or disasters.

1. How the team takes criticism. If you give direct criticism and they cave, you're in trouble. If they bite back, you have a chance, if it's valid and they take responsibility, you're on your way.

2. Do people play to win. Some people show up, some don't. But day in and day out champion teams grind. They keep working. They don't expect it to be easy. They make mistakes. And they improve.

3. Peaking early. Few teams come out of the gate firing on all cylinders. Those that do usually fizzle out. Why? Because learning to work together takes time. You need bumps to learn how to get through the really hard times. This process of continual improvement is what makes a team.

4. Champion teams are better together. They balance each-other out. They point out strategic errors, represent opposing points of view and provide insights to an alternative path. But they are always geared towards winning.

5. Are willing to go backwards, to go forward. This is one of the most difficult and gut wrenching things to do. Champion teams will give up short term wins to learn something new or change a path. But after going backwards, they come out better in the long run. If poor teams try this, they may vanish.

Here are four things leaders can do to keep coehsive teams together.

• Make sure each person has the opportunity to make a major contribution
• Make sure people are highly rewarded/compensated
• Make sure the people have a significant opportunity to learn 
• Make sure the people have the opportunity to make the world a better place.

Doing these things for the individuals will make the team stronger.  It's the team that provides the opportunity.