As a team leader, are you inspiring, motivated and results-oriented? Maybe you are because you love what you do because you are doing what you want to do: Team Building.

Somewhere along the way you made a decision, you took control of things under your control, you got to know yourself, your dreams and desires, and you paid the price to make your dream come true by mastering self-discipline and personal leadership. That’s what a leader needs to build an effective team. Are you a team builder?

This is not always the case with most team leaders: they don’t know how to build teams because they haven’t built themselves yet. Many team leaders are not self-controlled, motivated, inspiring, or results-oriented.

Team leaders may not be aware of the fact that in order to lead, inspire or motivate others, they must first lead, inspire and motivate themselves. How can you give something to someone else if you don’t first have it yourself to give? Building an effective team is from the inside out.

You need to take an inside-out approach and take inventory. You have to go to work on yourself before you can get into team building.

You are the #1 person in the world. If you can’t do it for yourself, how can you do it for someone else? These disciplines must be mastered first before you can master anything else, and only then can you prove it in team building.

Before you create and build a team, you need to know why you are creating one and the expected results. But are you the team leader? If so, you will have a better understanding of the job description, roles and behaviors of being a leader and how to increase leadership effectiveness.

A leader no longer directs people, but develops self-motivated individuals. They are not managed individually, but instead create teams that manage more of their own work.

A leader also performs many tasks, from being an administrator to being a psychologist, not to mention being the guardian of the bottom line. A leader is an enthusiast, a team builder, a good listener, and gives credit to others through recognition and praise, while maintaining and demonstrating a results orientation.

To build an effective team many characteristics are required. A team must have a purpose. The purpose of a team is defined by its mission. The team’s mission is something the team intends to do. It is the object by which the team exists as determined by the team leaders and team members.

It is a clearly stated purpose that serves to direct and motivate the team in pursuit of its goals. This is a necessary teamwork discipline to inspire a motivated and results-oriented team.

The team’s mission is driven by the organization’s vision. The vision of the organization provides a “big picture” perspective that serves to align people, ideas and attitudes. However, it must be communicated to team members in such a way that they feel inspired to be a part of it. To be successful, the team must align its purpose or mission with the vision of the organization.

Each member must have a clear understanding of the team’s goals and what is expected of them. A team goal is an end that the team strives to achieve; directly supports both the team’s mission and the organization’s vision. Teams that agree on their agendas can direct their energies toward getting things done.

All team members determine effective team goals. When everyone participates in setting the overall team goals, the people on the team have a clear understanding of what is expected and can develop a commitment to work together in pursuit of the team’s goals. This is a necessary teamwork discipline to inspire a motivated and results-oriented team.

Within the team, a high degree of communication, trust, support and cohesion must be established between the members. The team needs to operate under flexible procedures using effective problem-solving and decision-making methods. The use of authority in decision making by a team leader is no longer effective.

Using a consultative or, better yet, consensus approach in which everyone has a voice, to decision-making allows greater freedom for team members. This is a necessary teamwork discipline to inspire a motivated and results-oriented team.

But, there has to be something more than freedom. There has to be an element of fun. Fun is part of the team culture and can be created in many ways. One way could be for the team to create a team name and identity that reflects the mission of the team and/or its members. This is a necessary teamwork discipline to inspire a motivated and results-oriented team.

Team members must know how to run effective meetings through the use of an agenda, ground rules, goal setting procedures, roles and responsibilities. Effective methods for action planning, monitoring, communications, evaluations and follow-up should also be reviewed and established.

Each member must also demonstrate appropriate personal, interpersonal, and group task behaviors. These are team-building disciplines necessary to inspire a motivated and results-oriented team.

Team members must be empowered and confident that they will do the job to the best of their ability. If they are, they are more action-oriented and committed to implementing the plan. Be there to train them, not to lead them. Allow mistakes and lessons learned.

The bottom line: Demonstrate appropriate team-building behaviors and the team will follow, but also give everyone a chance to participate and lead.