Don Yeager wrote Great Teams to examine factors common to great teams.
The Soundview Executive Business Summary notes, "truly amazing organizations
don’t stay at the top of their marketplaces without
building a team-first culture."
Common elements:
Purpose - The "Why" of Simon Sinek...incorporates "main thing" thinking
Leadership - stays fresh and creative (subtypes below)
...Command (autocratic)
...Relational (people first)
...Expert (extreme competence dimension...they reference Phil Jackson)
...Charismatic
...Synergistic/Balanced (I'd include Dean Smith here)
Great teams have great culture, depth, and a road map (think Nick Saban's "Process"). The road map should be clear, specific, and written. The best leaders create trust and respect within the culture.
Synergy - sum is greater than the parts
Great teams collaborate to overcome differences, have strong mentoring (think Kevin Garnett), flexibility to manage change, and productive meetings with focused agenda, engagement of members' emotions, and review.
Trust - uniting motivation (Celtics had Ubuntu) and shared competence.
Great teams using scouting, unique perception of value (Mike Trout was the 25th choice in the first round of MLB draft, Mookie Betts was drafted in the fifth round...at that point the Tampa Bay Rays had drafted 14 players ahead of him). At Pulaski Academy, Coach Kevin Kelley studied punting and NEVER punts. His teams have won five state championships.
Great teams win 'critical situations' and speak a unique language. Management catches "employees in the act of doing something right." And they are not spoiled by success, what Pat Riley has called, "the Disease of Me."
"For a Great Team, repeat success is often a byproduct
of a high-performing culture." The sum of great culture and great process will not always be championships but championship behavior.
Here's a link to a terrific podcast. It is full of great anecdotes.
"The great teams can feel it...have that connection to their purpose...it flows throughout the organization."