5 Leadership Keys for Successful Teams

1. Any plan that doesn’t take into account the human factor is a flawed plan. I have attended meetings where the team discusses to-dos, goals, and even sometimes the project plan they need to take to get where they want to go. What they don’t discuss is where each person on the team fits, how they will interact with one another, and — perhaps most importantly — how they will hold one another accountable.

Accountability is a much desired, yet often not realized, objective. Put the human factor at the center. Help your team members understand one another and learn how to work together most effectively. When I teach a class on leading teams, I show students that the goal of the team isn’t the number one consideration. Rather, figuring out how best to work together to achieve that goal is number one. Unfortunately, that doesn’t get focused on until things start to go awry!

2. Get out of the habit of assuming people will figure things out. In class, the students complete their online profile for DISC (Dominance, Influencing, Steadiness and Compliance) which shows their behavioral and communication style and Driving Forces which shows values and motivators. Learn more here: https://the-collaborative.com/behavior-and-values-profiles/

I separate them into groups by style and ask them to complete a simple task — coming up with a party approach for the end of the year. I’ve done this for many years now, with hundreds and hundreds of students over time. It still stuns me how accurate the styles are in playing out this simple, 15-minute, exercise.

Style matters because it’s all about how we communicate and what approach we are likely to take in completing a project, finishing a task, or working with others. The “Ds” (those whose main personality trait is dominance and motivation is addressing problems and tasks) were done in two minutes and working on their other homework. They came back and said, “We’re just going to ask others what they want and do it.” The S group (those whose main personality trait is steadiness and who focus most on people and process) had a project plan and a form for people to fill out about their food preferences. The C (for compliance/analysis and data) group had a date and a time for start and finish of the party (no other group had this). They also asked before they started, “What’s the budget?” I had so many high I’s (influencers motivated by people and socializing) I had to separate them into two groups. One group had a penguin for entertainment, the other had balloons and a party bus so the festivities could go on all night.

There were many other aspects, of course, but just by watching their interaction, I knew which group was which. The beauty of this is that we are largely predictable, so if I know my own style and that of my team member’s, I know how to calibrate my behavior so we can work together most effectively. As a leader, create teams that aren’t all the same, and guide them in working together.

3. Embrace obstacles; don’t dismiss them. You can’t identify and solve a problem if you don’t let your team members talk about what’s getting in the way. It’s actually easier to come up with a plan of action without acknowledging obstacles, because you can lull yourself into a false sense of security thinking you’ve got this.

Obstacles are what your team members see every day as they try to implement a new approach or a change to what’s being done. Don’t have obstacles be a direct part of problem solving. Instead, let them stand on their own. Allow team members to talk about them and categorize them: what they can control on their own, what they can influence to gain support from others, and what is out of their control. Focus the attention where it matters. Keep checking in on obstacles, too, to see how they are evolving and being removed.

4. Never meet just to meet. Have a desired outcome for every meeting — what do you want team members to walk away doing, thinking or understanding? Set the end goal at the beginning. Have an agenda, but never make it so aggressive that you can’t complete everything.

I was just at a client meeting with goals, to-dos, problems to solve and so on, and of course the team didn’t even scratch the surface in an hour. Their to-dos date back several weeks, or even months ago. If you believe in the human factor, you’ll realize you have to make this all realistic and doable. It can be distressing for a team member to come to a meeting and not get their issue addressed because there is so much on the list. If you can circulate an agenda in advance, that’s even better, because people then know what is expected of them.

5. No step-by-step system is going to work if you don’t work on your emotional intelligence, communication skills, and building trust with your team. Having a way to run meetings, set goals and determine to-dos doesn’t create culture. Culture comes from the leader being intentional about creating an environment that is meaningful to the team.

While the steps may help you keep track of what’s happening, they won’t deepen relationships. Get to know each of your team members. Learn what motivates them. Understand their style and communication approach. Be engaged. There is no replacement for relationship when it comes to leadership. You have to learn more about yourself, and be willing to be vulnerable. Nothing impacts a team as much as having a leader who, while confident, is also humble and open and wants to learn and care about them.

Beverly Flaxington co-founded The Collaborative, a consulting firm devoted to business building for the financial services industry, in 1995. The firm also founded and manages the Advisors Sales Academy. The firm has won the Wealthbriefing WealthTech award for Best Training Solution for 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026. Beverly is currently an adjunct professor at Suffolk University teaching Executive MBA students Leadership and Managing Teams. She is a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst (CPBA) and Certified Professional Values Analyst (CPVA).

She has spent over 25 years in the investment industry and has been featured in Selling Power Magazine and quoted in hundreds of media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC.com, Investment News and Solutions Magazine for the FPA. She speaks frequently at investment industry conferences and is a speaker for the CFA Institute.

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