"None of us is as smart as all of us." - Japanese proverb
"Talented teams always outperform teams of talent." - David Whitaker
"It is amazing how often you come across teams with an average intelligence of over 120, but the team functions with a collective intelligence of about 60" - Peter Senge
"Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work." - Vincent Lombardi
"If everyone is thinking alike then somebody isn't thinking." - George S. Patton
"Leadership is not a person or a position. It is a complex moral relationship between people, based on trust, obligation, commitment, emotion, and a shared vision of the good." - Joanne Ciulla
Team Coaching and Development
In the same way that executive coaching makes individuals more competent as leaders, so team coaching helps teams work more effectively together by increasing their shared sense of leadership. A relevant quotation is“talented teams outperform teams of talent” (David Whitaker). Whereas teams spend most of their time on the tasks they need to complete, team coaching specifically focuses on the process of how they work together to realise their combined potential.
Most senior level teams find it almost impossible to work together effectively and achieve the results that the business demands of them. Starr works with CEOs, Boards and senior teams to both develop individuals within the team and to develop the team's capacity to work effectively in relationship with their peers and others, allowing the team to realise its true potential.
Team Coaching and Development
Unless it is specifically addressed, the performance of a team is often much less than the sum of the team's parts. The focus of any team coaching will vary depending on context, but is likely to include clarifying the purpose of the role/team, team working skills, decision making, managing stakeholder relationships and strategic planning.
Teams will experience increased levels of constructive dialogue, improved decision making and greater team performance.
Leading and Leadership - the role of Team Coaching
A modern perspective in considering what constitutes leadership is to view leadership, not just as a set of qualities which reside in the leader, but to consider leadership as a process defining the relationship between a leader and their team(s). Looking at leadership this way brings into importance the need to create and then maintain these complex relationships. This is the role of team coaching; to explore and help the team agree the ways which they need to work together to be effective and to uncover and resolve dysfunctional team behaviours which impeded team effectiveness.