“Having tripled in size and recently merged, LSA helped us to create team clarity on our executive team to increase our level of strategic alignment, solidify our new direction, and push our agency forward with clear goals, roles, and success metrics.
This is exactly what we needed to take our leadership team to the next level.”
Matt Britton | CEO | MRY, a Publicis Groupe Company
“LSA Global rocks! Thank you for helping our executives to create team clarity. Our executive team now has a clear and powerful strategic direction with clear metrics of success, accountabilities, and actions going forward.
From a sales growth perspective, I am really energized about the outcome and grateful for what I have learned throughout the process.”
Stacey Wong | Director of Sales | Servicon Systems
“The team strategy alignment session exceeded my expectations. It was great! We made a lot of important progress, made key decisions, and committed to important growth plans. It was much better than any other leadership sessions that I have been involved with in the past. Thank you for helping with one of our most important teams.”
Nhieu Luu | Chief Financial and Operating Officer | Jamis Software
Create Team Clarity
We define a team as a group of people who depend on one another to achieve a meaningful common goal. Unlike individuals working independently, true teams combine complementary skills, perspectives, judgments, and experiences to accomplish something that no single person could achieve as effectively alone.
When the work requires high levels of coordination and interdependence, well-aligned teams can outperform even the most talented individuals. Think of championship sports teams, military special forces, surgical teams, or other elite groups where success depends not just on individual excellence, but on how effectively people perform together.
Teams Are Different than Working Groups
One of the first steps to create team clarity is understanding the difference between a team and a working group.
Working groups may share information, resources, or an overall objective, but their results are primarily the sum of individual contributions. Individual performance matters more than collective performance. Golf and gymnastics teams are good examples — athletes may compete under the same banner, but their individual performances largely determine their results.
A true team is different. Team members have a shared direction and purpose and collective work product, and their success depends significantly on one another. The greater the interdependence required to succeed, the greater the need for team clarity.
Teams Are Different than Tribes
Teams should also be distinguished from tribes.
A tribe is a group of people connected by a powerful sense of identity, belonging, trust, and shared purpose. Members understand why they are together, feel deeply committed to one another, and rally around a common cause. A close-knit family is a simple example.
While high-performing teams can certainly develop tribe-like levels of trust and commitment, the distinction matters. Teams are primarily defined by performance interdependence; tribes are primarily defined by identity and belonging.
How Do You Know If You Are Truly a Team?
Ask one simple question: How much of my success depends on the success of others?
If the majority of your success depends on other people delivering, collaborating, making sound decisions, and fulfilling shared commitments, you are operating as a team. And the more interdependent your work becomes, the more important it is to create clarity around goals, roles, priorities, decision rights, ways of working, and mutual accountability.
Creating a high performance team starts with team leaders creating shared clarity, agreement, and commitment in the following areas:
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