I set up my own business training and coaching teams last year, but I wouldn’t have done this if I didn’t have complete confidence in one absolute truth:

This truth is, that teams already have within them all the answers they seek, which will help them become the amazing, happy and successful team they can be. They just don’t know it yet.

 Most teams don’t even think about the concept of becoming a better team. They just expect and accept that life at work is ‘meant’ to be hard, difficult and stressful, that politics and gossip and mistrust are just part and parcel of corporate life. Some have an idea that this doesn’t have to be the case, and dream about a better life, but just don’t have the courage to do anything about it. Few – very few, don’t accept this life and actively do something about it.

 I know how powerful teams are in themselves. They are just blind to their own ability and potential to be the master of their own destiny.

 My job as a team coach is partly to act as a mirror, and reflect the team back upon itself. I get the team to ‘see’ itself and become aware of what is happening within. I keep quoting Eckart Tolle but I do so for a reason, because it’s so true, that ‘awareness is the greatest agent for change’. Once a team can see itself, it is aware of it’s own strengths, weaknesses, challenges and opportunities, and it can evolve and grow. If it is blind, then it cannot change.

 Taking the blindfold off can be difficult; there can be hard truths that are uncomfortable to admit and get out into the open. The way can be stormy.  But no team achieved anything great without being able to look itself in the mirror and be honest about what it isn’t very good at. The process of talking through things is the only way to deal with them, and find a route to a brighter future.

There’s a Second Truth:

 And here’s the second truth about teams: They are naturally creative, intelligent and resourceful. They are the only ones who can work out what’s available to them and decide on the course of action that is right for them to evolve. I am not there as their coach to give them answers and tell them what to do.

 This is one of the fundamental differences between training and coaching. Because each team is completely unique in its make up, every answer is different. There is no such thing as an off the shelf solution. Yes, there are themes and practices that we know need to exist for a team to be successful, like conversational turn taking, building trust and having a psychological safe atmosphere, but the ‘how’ and the ‘what’ they need to do, can only be decided by them, once they have become aware of their situation.

 And here’s the fundamental thing. They had the answers inside themselves all along – they just needed help to access them. Once a team identifies that it wants to have a different future to their current reality, they need help to work this all out so they can get there. Because often they are the too deeply involved to be able to dispassionately deal with things, they need some help to work through it.

 Teamwork requires effort. It is something that you can be lucky with, but you will have a far greater chance of happiness and success if you consciously work at it.

If you want to talk to me about how I can help your team, please get in touch. And I wish you good team health.