First, not unexpectedly, The Barack Obama Presidential Campaign was cited the majority of times as an example of successful teamwork. Anyone studying the campaign would be hard pressed to argue that point. It may in fact serve as the best example of leading, inspiring and managing 21st century teams.
However, discussion of teamwork beyond Barack Obama's campaign seemed to produce tentativeness. At best there was a sense that truly effective teams are few and far between. At worst, there was outright disdain for teams, primarily because most people have never experienced a "good one" or were continually forced together into "bad ones". This discovery has inspired me to create a new blog The Teamwork Project where I am exploring the issues that have risen through conversations, experiences and answers to questions I posted online. Please join the conversation and share your thoughts on teamwork. In the final days of 2008 I will share some reflections on the subject both on the blog and via the Reflections on Leadership newsletter.
The topic has become fascinating and I hope what I share will either challenge your thinking or strengthen your resolve, perhaps it will do both. Clearly there is a tacit feeling that yes, two heads are better than one. The struggle rests in finding the complementary heads, agreeing on purpose, getting results and celebrating their achievements. We'll explore that later. For now, let's begin with success. Regardless of your political bent there is much to be learned from the Barack Obama Presidential Campaign.
Team Obama
Luis Valdes, founder and CEO of PerformanceVertical consulting LLC. http://www.performancevertical.com shared the following;
"The Barack Obama campaign was the team of 2008. They defied all odds to defeat a wide-range of Democratic opponents and his Republican rival through a clear and compelling mission and vision, strong leadership, relentless and inspired coordination, grass-roots recruitment, tremendous fundraising, quick decision-making and problem-solving, an ability to say calm and on message, and an ability to remain flexible through setbacks and adversity. They were able to use "Change" and "Yes We Can" as themes to rally support; they were able to use social networking and media to inspire passion and were able to turn that excitement into action with money, resources and people. They understood that it was about mobilizing people on the idea of needing change."
Luis details more insight from the recent campaign at http://leadershippulse.blogspot.com
Similarly, Ed Runner, President, of E C Runner & Associates, Inc. http://www.ecrunner.com offered this;
"In the political arena, I think the Barack Obama campaign team did a spectacular job organizing such a large group of on the ground volunteers. The leadership that set clear understandings of who does what by when was amazing.
Also on the political front, although there seem to be numerous accounts of disorganization and lack of clarity in the Hillary Clinton campaign, their organization of their high level surrogate response team was breath-taking. Before an opponent finished a press conference, high level surrogate spokes people were in front of the camera with clear, ordered responses.
Whether you supported either of these candidates or not, I think you can admire these successful team performances."
There are already many articles written on the success of this campaign, and undoubtedly several books are sure to follow which we can continue to reference. We probably should. As Ed Runner observed, "I think most people have a vague idea of good teams. Many have never experienced one, so they have no model and limited tools." That may be an understatement.
Stay tuned because next time we'll continue to explore why the value of teamwork seems to be eluding people.
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