Kola is the Principal Consultant at K.O. Management Consults, a leading organizational management consultancy based in Abuja. He is billed to speak at the upcoming Financial Leaders Conference on the theme: Leading High-Performance Teams. As part of his research, he thought of visiting a blacksmith company to learn more about the process of making heavy-duty steel chains used in anchoring ships.

He met Ziad, the Lebanese owner of the Smith company, with a few questions on the chain-making processe.

Ziad explained that to build a chain, the purpose or use, must first be considered. This determines the quality of material to be used, the typed of welding, and the thickness. For anchor chains, Ziad explained, attention is paid to a non-corrosive material and the casting process, ensuring that each link is equally able to contribute to the strength of the whole chain…

Later that week, Kola was speaking to the crowd of Executives at the Conference when he shared the lessons he learnt from Ziad; the first step to building a high-performance team is building strong links across the team. Like chain manufacturing, team building requires that you pay attention to the condition of each link, because the strength of the entire chain, is dependent on the links…

There are three easy ways to identify the weakest links in your team. An whether as a Team-Lead or as a team member, you want to know who this is.

They are Prone to Repeated Errors

Mistakes are a part of growing on the job, no doubt. But when they are repetitive and similar, it spells a slow learner, or a low confidence member of the team. A leader can either help the team member improve on their ability to learn faster or help them overcome a self-confidence barrier to their improvement.

They do not Trust Other Members of the Team

Trust is an essential ingredient to a great team. Being trustworthy or trusting is critical to team synergy. Whenever a team member is unable to trust others, or earn the trust of others, it will not be long before the ship falls apart. They are a weak link to the team, and should either be amended or cut loose.

They Prefer Running Alone

There are Lone Rangers who are more unlikely to function in a team. Identifying them will help you apply their competencies and tendencies correctly. However, it is a round-peg-in-square-hole-situation to expect a loner to play well in a team.

As Phil Jackson will put it, “the strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.”

Cheers my friend. Please leave a comment… 🙂