Game of teams
Game of Teams is a story about how to become a collaborative leader and realize the critical value and competitive edge Collaborative Leadership offers people, teams, and organizations in today's highly dynamic and interconnected world of work, where teams and team-based applications continue to grow.
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Discover How to Become a Collaborative Leader
In a world demanding management innovation for solving complex challenges, the significance of collaboration cannot be underestimated. Defined as a marked departure from customary organizational forms that alter the way the work of management is performed, management innovation is described in Game of Teams in the form of a new operating platform. Applied, this platform helps teams harness the power of their connections across networks to effectively collaborate, creating added value and win-win outcomes.
Game of Teams promotes a collaborative mindset, helping teams function interdependently to produce win-win outcomes. This application is critical in today’s VUCA [1] world, where collaborative leadership has vital significance. In contrast to the "Lone Ranger" leadership style that was typically employed and celebrated during the Industrial Revolution, the level of leadership required in a VUCA world is far beyond the scope of a single leader. Indeed, we should all recognize by now that a collaborative mindset is no longer a “nice-to-have," but a "need-to-have” quality when it comes to managing and leading individuals and teams who deal with accelerating – and unprecedented – levels of change!
Written in the form of an allegory, Game of Teams introduces an operating platform made up of several operating principles used to describe a collaborative mindset, along with a series of essential competencies used to describe a collaborative skill set. The operating principles, when applied, demonstrate a collaborative mindset, producing a high level of interdependence that optimizes team performance. The competencies are aligned with the operating principles and are described as essential to the successful application of a collaborative skill set. Here, Game of Teams leverages the Polaris® Competency Model to help people develop competencies that make up the collaborative skill set.
The endgame calls for using the operating platform to help teams function with a high level of interdependence, and trust by, providing a shared approach to establishing necessary principles, processes, and protocols – all important aspects of effective team performance. In fact, when it comes to virtual teams whose members are not physically together, this type of operating platform is critical to establishing trust, as it's a highly effective alternative to the more traditional, social ways of building and sustaining trust among colleagues who work together in person. And, we all know that without trust, collaboration is impossible.
As the story unfolds in Game of Teams, a new manager is challenged to learn how to harness the power of people on his team to effectively collaborate and produce win-win solutions. To be successful, he will need to become a collaborative leader, in other words, one who is able to lead with a collaborative mindset and apply a collaborative skill set. On his journey, he will need coaching to help him succeed.
His journey is a never-ending challenge requiring his personal commitment to learning and development. Although it may not take him places where no one has gone before, it will be a journey on a road less traveled.
[1] VUCA – an acronym used to describe four general conditions and situations: volatile, uncertain, changing, and ambiguous. Its relevance to leaders in business is clear, as these conditions are highly descriptive of the environment in which business in the twenty-first century is conducted every day.
endorsements...
"Accessible, timely, and practical, Game of Teams delivers an urgent and relevant message to leaders eager for fresh advice in our volatile and uncertain world. A must read to prepare for the next normal."
- Bruce Griffiths, President, Organization Systems International and co-author,
Competencies at Work: Providing a Common Language for Talent Management
"In Game of Teams, Winsor calls out the value of developing self-awareness and the importance of learning agility to become a collaborative leader in today's VUCA environment. I recommend this book to all first-time managers, or those aspiring to the role."
- Tim Reeves, Principal, Learning Simulations, AMAZON
"Game of Teams provides valuable guidance for anyone tasked with leading a team. We follow Jim as he steps into a new role leading several global teams, and we learn along with him as he applies practical strategies for bringing out the best in others."
- Britt Andreatta, CEO of 7th Mind, Inc., and author of Wired to Connect
"Leadership in today's knowledge economy requires collaboration within a high performing team. Author Winsor Jenkins' story effectively captures this "win-win" outcome when a coach teaches interdependence."
- Dr. John Gillis Jr., Co-author, Powerhouse
"The leap from individual contributor to team leader can be one of the most significant transitions any employee ever makes. Many fail because they are not prepared, supported, or coached for success. Game of Teams is an engaging tale that reveals how powerful the concept of collaboration is to team success and how, with the right support and encouragement, an individual contributor can become a better leader than they ever imagined."
- Tony Bingham, President & CEO at Association for Talent Development (ATD)
"This is a must -read book for leaders who strive to collaborate and lead teams successfully. Winsor Jenkins shows us through quality storytelling how a leader unlocks the collaboration code by adopting proven practices that guide team collaboration and win-win outcomes.'
- Engique G. Washington, Executive Talent Acquisition Leader for Fortune 500 Companies
and co-author, Competencies at Work: Providing a Common Language for Talent
Development.