Team Work Better When Led Better

The Upanishad, a peak of Himalayan Vedanta, articulates a way of life for better living in the
following linesOm Sahana vavatu
Sahnau bhaunaktu
Sahaviryam Karvaa vahe
Tejasvinavv adhitamastu
(Let us live together, let us be nourished together, let us be able to do great deeds together, let
us learn together and enjoy the fruits of knowledge together)
This togetherness or group activity is central for achieving a goal. The starting point of the
process of the team building is picking up the members for a particular objective with of aim
of achieving excellence. Next come the process of galvanization. This is an arduous task
since in an organisation people from different background, culture and mental framework join
with their fostered egos and pathos. Keeping the vision focussed, the galvanization becomes
easier. Mahatma Gandhi brought Indian people under one umbrella and the
reason/result-Freedom of India. The galvanization is possible by the leaders who have
character, commitment, courage and conviction.
APJ Abdul Kalam rightly pointed out the importance of team or group in the following
words:
Technology unlike science is a group activity. It is not based on an individual intelligent
but the interacting intelligence of many
The true spirit of team cannot come in the real sense without motivation-the drive to rise
above selfish interests. We live in a society that seems fascinated with individual
accomplishment and almost oblivious to teams. That is the environment we have to overcome
in order to build a group at work into a team.
Money is a strong motivator. However, the strongest motivator available to a manager is a
self esteem. The more the individual sees a benefit to his or her self esteem from supporting
the team, the more successful team building efforts will be.
Highly effective leaders nurture a strong pride of craft for the products or services the
organisation provides and what these do for customers. Workers feel valued for what they do.
Individual, team, and organisation accomplishments and milestone are celebrated. Everyone
feels emotionally committed to the organisations goal and displays a deep sense of making a
difference through meaningful work.

A leader, therefore has the power to influence team motivation. There is no simple formula
for motivation- one must keep an open view point on human nature. There is a complex array
of forces steering the direction of each person and these forces cannot be seen or studied. In
addition, if the same forces are steering two different people, each one may act differently.
Knowing that each person may react to different needs will guide the decisions and action in
different situations.
The following may act as guidelines for a leader of team building:

Allow the needs of your team to coincide with the needs of your
organization:
Nearly everyone is influenced by the needs job security, promotion and appreciation from
their peers and /or leaders. They are also influenced by internal forces such as values, morals
and ethics. Ensure that your team is trained, encouraged and has opportunities to advance.
Also, ensure that way you conduct your business has the same values, moral and ethics that
you seek in others. If you conduct business in dishonest manner, your team will be dishonest
to you, for that will be kind of people you attract.

Reward good behaviour:

Although a certificate, letter or thank you may seem small and insignificant, they can be
powerful motivators. The reward should be specific and prompt. Do not say something
general, such as for doing a good job, rather cite the specific action that made you believe
it was indeed a good job. In addition, help those who are good. We all make mistake or need
on an occasion to achieve a particular goal.

Allow you team to be a part of the planning and problem solving process:
This motivation the as people who are the part of the decision making process become the
owners of it, thus it gives them a personal interest in seeing the plan succeed. Secondly,
communication is clearer as everyone has better understanding of what role they must play as
part of the team.
In the book Good to Great, Jim Collins remarked, Leadership is about vision but
leadership is equally about creating a climate where the truth is heard and brutal facts
confronted. There is huge between the opportunity to be have your say and the opportunity
to be heard. The successful leaders understood this distinction creating a culture where
people had a tremendous opportunity to be heard and ultimately to be heard.

Care for your team:

Although you do not have control over their personal lives, you must show concern for them.
Things that seem of no importance to you might be extremely critical to them. You must be
able to empathize with them. The Sioux Indian Tribal Prayer reads, Great Spirit, help us
never to judge another until we have walked for two weeks in his moccasins. Also note that

empathy differs from sympathy in that sympathy connotes spontaneous emotion whereas
empathy is the ability to perceive another persons view of the world as though that view
were your own.

Make their jobs challenging, exciting and meaningful:

Make each feel like an individual in a great team rather than cog in a lifeless machine. People
need meaningful work, even if it is tiring and unpleasant; they need to know that is important
and necessary for the survival of the organisation.

Counsel people who behave in a way that is counter to the companys goals:
All the guidelines before this took the positive approach. But, sometimes this does not always
work. You must let people know when they are not performing to an acceptable standard. By
the same token, you must protect them when needed. For example, if someone in your
department is always late arriving for work and it is causing disruptions, then you must take
action. On the other hand, if you have an extremely good department and once in a while they
are few minutes late, then do the right thing...protect them from the bureaucracy!

The Paradigm change:

Until now we have given emphasis how the leaders who have build a team shall behave or
shall prevail upon team to gain an objective. To elaborate the above, we must also describe
the deviation that has taken place in the present day situation- this is altogether a paradigm
change. Alvin Toffler in his extraordinary synthesis, Future Shock has warned us more
than 30 years before what the present situation would be.
In the new paradigm, development of emotional intuitional intelligence is also quit essential.
The intelligent people can give logic and temporarily can win a debate and may be
considered to be very good speaker but ultimately what matters are the conviction which
comes not only from intelligent but an emotional intelligence. Our scripture believe in
rule with heart and not with logic.
There is a change in the style and functioning in the business. In the 21th century we should
adopt a new holistic philosophy which gives more weightage to value system and activation
starts for developing people. Conventional management system which depends more on the
development of intelligence and pragmatism for dealing with business is adequate.
Number of books has been written on the subject and team building activity has gained
momentum but what is required to keep the team spirit is the quality of the leader which
drives the employee to achieve excellence.
I shall conclude under the shadow of Bhagvad- Gita prescribing the qualities a leader must
have for keeping the team spirit alive

Steadfastness
Self discipline & Self restrain

Truthfulness
Absence of wrath
Absence of fault finding
Compassion
Forgiveness
Modesty

Apart from above what is most important is-You should behave in the way, you expect from
other. Business begins and ends with this simple precept. The rationale is that the leader
must aspire to be a role model for others, be visible champions of high standards of
professional and ethical behaviour, be leaders who others in their organisation can be proud
of and be leaders that competitors are envious of. Not many of these characteristics are
imbued in our leaders by default. They have to be learned, can be learned , and should then be
continuously developed and enhanced. With these personal attributes in place, business
leaders will be more effective and more successful in building a motivated team oriented
towards organisational goals.
References:
1. Indian Ethos in Management- Swami Jitatmananda
2. Barber 200- Waitley
3. God talks with Arjuna- Pramahansa Yogananda