“Powerhouse.” This term and concept – according to Olympic midfielder and US Women’s National Soccer Team dynamo Kristine Lilly and executive leadership development expert Dr. John Gilis, Jr. – is given to a synergistic, high-performance team.
Their book, “Powerhouse: 13 Teamwork Tactics that Build Excellence and Unrivaled Success,” shares the formula for cultivating well-oiled teamwork within organizations. Here are the four pillars for Powerhouse development:
- Transform – The Transform pillar focuses on the quality of the team’s composition. By selecting exceptional team members, where each team member acts interdependently to contribute to the completion of a clear, specified and common goal. Goals should specifically to align team activity with a common overarching purpose to drive performance. In addition, diversity is appreciated within the Transform pillar, as a team will be stronger and more effective with a group that encompasses different working styles and various levels of experience.
- Empower – Powerhouse teams build up leadership in every role within the Empower pillar. Principled leadership asserts authority in an empowering manner, aligning individual rewards with the team’s goals. Following the leader is also acknowledged as a leadership role, with each member showing up the way they want others to show up.
- Achieve – A powerhouse team must learn through preparation, practice, and performance. Team members prepare themselves to help the team reach its potential by practicing their teamwork process and performing when it’s time to execute their winning strategy. From a practical perspective, when a problem emerges or a conflict arises, the team must work together to generate, evaluate and implement a solution by engaging in conversations where everyone’s opinion is heard and proactively dealing with issues head-on.
- Motivate – The Motivate pillar is centered around trust. A shared ethos around three principles: build friendships, increase self-awareness, and develop team awareness. Chemistry is created by clarifying roles and engaging every player on the team.
These four pillars are built upon a foundation of the final tactic “Doing what is right,” wherein a Powerhouse team overcomes adversity by confronting their failures. A Powerhouse is also ethical, clearly knowing right from wrong and working to transform its culture so that it can affect societal change.
Powerhouse teams can be developed through a dedicated, shared mindset of Transform, Empower, Achieve, and Motivate — creating exceptional results through a commitment to doing what is right and achieving shared excellence.
