What Makes a Team Great?
I’ve spent my career on teams.
Some of those teams were U.S. Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) units preparing for combat operations where a mistake could cost lives. Others have been executive leadership teams building businesses, playing and coaching hockey, or developing leaders in the private sector.
Despite the different missions, I have learned one enduring truth:
A team is more than a collection of people. It is a collection of people who commit to accomplishing a mission together.
That’s an important distinction.
Many organizations have employees. Some have work groups. Very few have true teams, comprised of great teammates.
A team has a shared mission.
The strongest teams understand why they exist.
In the military, we never deployed simply to complete tasks. Every dive, every parachute insertion, every explosive device rendered safe contributed to a larger operational objective.
The mission came first.
In business, the same principle applies.
When people understand how their daily work contributes to something meaningful, engagement changes. People stop merely completing assignments and begin advancing the mission.
Purpose creates commitment.
Great teams trust each other.
Trust isn’t built during a crisis.
It’s built every day before the crisis arrives.
In Navy EOD, trust was earned through preparation, repetition, and shared hardship. We rehearsed constantly because when the mission began there wasn’t time to wonder whether your teammate was ready.
You already knew.
I’ve carried that lesson into business.
Trust grows when leaders are approachable, when teammates treat each other with respect, and when everyone understands that we’re here for each other as much as we’re here for the organization. Over time, that trust becomes one of the organization’s greatest competitive advantages.
Great teams have shared ownership.
Culture is not something leaders announce.
Culture is something teammates own.
I’ve often said that culture and values are enabled from the top down and owned from the bottom up.
The leader establishes the environment.
The team determines whether it comes alive.
When every teammate feels they have a voice…
When they understand the mission…
When they take pride in contributing…
When they know they’re valued…
…ownership replaces compliance.
That’s when organizations begin to thrive.
Great teams develop one another.
Leadership isn’t reserved for managers. See my article on Leadership Versus Series: Leadership vs Management
One of the greatest strengths of the military is that leadership development begins early. Young sailors, soldiers, airmen, and Marines are given responsibility long before many of their civilian peers ever supervise another person.
Every leader should be developing future leaders.
Invest in your people.
Teach them.
Coach them.
Challenge them.
Allow them to fail safely, learn quickly, and grow confidently.
Organizations that neglect leadership development eventually discover they have managers without leaders.
Great teams communicate.
One of my favorite military acronyms is BLUF—Bottom Line Up Front.
Clarity creates speed.
Confusion creates friction.
High-performing teams communicate early, honestly, and frequently.
They don’t avoid difficult conversations.
They don’t walk on eggshells.
They attack issues—not each other.
A lesson from Military Freefall
One memory captures teamwork better than almost any leadership model I’ve studied.
During military freefall operations, the final command before exiting the aircraft is simple:
“GO.”
That one word represents hundreds of hours of training, countless rehearsals, detailed planning, equipment inspections, and complete trust among teammates.
When the Jumpmaster says “GO,” everyone commits.
There is no hesitation.
There is no debate.
Every jumper trusts that every other jumper has done the work.
Once we leave the aircraft, each person is temporarily on their own—navigating freefall, deploying the parachute, and landing safely.
Then something remarkable happens.
We regroup.
We determine our direction.
And together we move toward the objective.
Business leadership isn’t much different.
People may execute different tasks independently throughout the day, but high-performing teams always regroup around the mission.
The leader’s responsibility
Leadership isn’t about creating followers.
It’s about creating an environment where teammates trust one another, understand the mission, and willingly give their best.
That environment doesn’t happen by accident.
It is built deliberately.
One conversation.
One decision.
One act of integrity.
One investment in another person at a time.
If you’re wondering whether you have a great team, ask yourself these questions:
- Does everyone understand the mission?
- Do teammates genuinely trust one another?
- Is culture owned by everyone or dictated by leadership?
- Are people developing leaders around them?
- Would your team confidently respond when it’s time to say “GO”?
Because when those answers become “yes,” you no longer have a group of talented individuals.
You have a team.
And great teams accomplish extraordinary things.