Strong performance through leadership and teamwork

Teamwork is very important in any company and for someone’s career.
Members of the team need, at some stage, to come together and perform tasks together. Colleagues working together may not be friends if not for the job, but this does not mean that people cannot work together.
A company cannot afford to have a group of individuals trying to accomplish a single goal. What it really needs is to rather have a group of people, with different talents and abilities, working together to achieve a goal to benefit all.
And team spirit is one of RB’s core values: We drive success by pulling together. As individuals we like to win and are high achievers. We rapidly bring our international strengths together when needed to work as one, united by common principles and attitudes. We treat each other and our differences with a high degree of respect, sharing ideas, failures and successes.

As a trainee at Reckitt Benckiser, I had to manage several projects. All of them needed participation from people from different areas, with different abilities and knowledge. Not only that, but you are challenged to manage this group of professionals so that they become as high a performance team as possible.

Accomplishing this goal is invaluable and advantageous. It is not a simple mission, since most my colleagues come from different countries, have other backgrounds and sometimes are even more experienced than me.
On top of that, each department has its own processes and individual goals.

As the leader of a group you have to make sure that everyone is giving their best for the project to succeed. So here are 3 things I have learned about being a good leader:

1. Set clear objectives.
To be really effective you need to set objectives for your team members, leaving detailed implementation of these objectives to the discretion and judgment of individual members.
2. Never underestimate people.
Involving people on broad issues is motivational. Their views can enhance everything: methods, standards, processes and overall effectiveness.
3. People can’t read your mind.
Don’t assume that people know what you’re doing, still less what you are planning or thinking. Tell them, using all the communication tools to hand: team briefings, e-mails, TCs etc.

Above all that, I have also learned that being a good leader is a process and you will have to change your ways and strategy according to each group you are working with.
The most important thing here is to realize who are you working with and what you need from them to make the project achieve its goals. Once you understand that, you will see how things will naturally happen in time.
Good luck!