Collaboration That Delivers Results
SUMMARY
Do you feel like you are continually herding cats as the leader of your team? Are your people working together, or are they all over the place doing their own individual tasks, and you need to try and piece that all together? Do they communicate well? Do they handle conflict well? What is happening for you?
Stay with me—this month, you will learn how to lead a team that actually wants to work together and get done what you need them to achieve.
Hi, this is Grant Herbert, Leadership and Sustainable Performance Coach, and today I want to start a conversation around the four pillars of effective teamwork.
You have probably heard it before: “Teamwork makes the dream work.” But here is the problem. You have also heard “there is no I in team.” I want to challenge that straight away.
Teams are made up of lots of “I”s—lots of individual people who have their own ideas, their own opinions, and their own ways of thinking and doing. You need to find a way to bring all that together—to celebrate the diversity of thought and ideas—because that is what gives you the cohesion you need.
In today’s busy world of getting things done, I talk about four pillars that underpin effective teamwork: collaboration, communication, conflict, and change. How your team operates in those four areas will determine whether you are leading a team that gets things done or one that is falling behind.
Let us begin with the first pillar: collaboration.
It is about recognising the value each individual brings and combining those strengths in a way that delivers the results you are aiming for.
Collaboration is the antidote to a lone-wolf mindset.
When collaboration is missing or done poorly, the result is confusion. People double up on work. Responsibilities are unclear. Everyone is busy but not productive—running around like chooks with their heads cut off.
Collaboration is the first pillar that underpins effective teamwork.
So, who are you collaborating with? What are your current beliefs about collaboration?
Share your thoughts in the comments. Join the conversation.
TRANSCRIPT
Do you feel like you are continually herding cats as the leader of your team? Are your people working together, or are they all over the place doing their own individual tasks, and you need to try and piece that all together? Do they communicate well? Do they handle conflict well? What is happening for you?
Stay with me—this month, you will learn how to lead a team that actually wants to work together and get done what you need them to achieve.
Hi, this is Grant Herbert, Leadership and Sustainable Performance Coach, and today I want to start a conversation around the four pillars of effective teamwork.
You have probably heard it before: “Teamwork makes the dream work.” But here is the problem. You have also heard “there is no I in team.” I want to challenge that straight away.
Teams are made up of lots of “I”s—lots of individual people who have their own ideas, their own opinions, and their own ways of thinking and doing. You need to find a way to bring all that together—to celebrate the diversity of thought and ideas—because that is what gives you the cohesion you need.
In today’s busy world of getting things done, I talk about four pillars that underpin effective teamwork: collaboration, communication, conflict, and change. How your team operates in those four areas will determine whether you are leading a team that gets things done or one that is falling behind.
What I want to do this month is go deeper into each of these. Instead of just brushing over them, I want to give each pillar the depth it deserves. I also want to make sure you have practical strategies in each area so that you can get out there and get real value. This is not just a video about ideas—it is about understanding why each of these pillars is important and what you can do to build them into your team.
You will have a next step you can take after every single video, so you are able to implement what you have learnt. Throughout the month, I will share short videos that provide tips, practical steps, and small insights you can build on.
You will also get an eBook that you can download, read, and share with your team, so this becomes part of your culture—something that you talk about. If you would like someone to come in and work with you, I am happy to talk about how we might do that as well. But for now, I want to equip you with the understanding you need before you can benefit from the knowledge we are going to explore this month.
The first thing you need to do is think differently.
As a leader, you must have an open mind that says, “The way we have always done things is not necessarily the way we need to do them moving forward.” You need to remove some of the outdated beliefs and understandings about teamwork.
For example, when you start talking about teamwork, many people associate it with warm and fuzzy “soft skills.” But these are actually critical skills you need as a leader so you can get the real work done—the technical work, the expertise you bring.
However, without removing the roadblocks created by ineffective teamwork, and without strategies to build a strong team, the output of your expertise is tainted. It will not reach the level it could.
You need to shift your mindset around these so-called “soft skills.” These are the ones that give you the greatest return on investment.
So, stick with me as we go through this. Look for opportunities to change the way you think and act. Let us begin with the first pillar: collaboration.
Collaboration is not just working together. It is not just getting along. It is about strategically placing the right people in the right roles, with the right connections and skills that complement each other.
It is about recognising the value each individual brings and combining those strengths in a way that delivers the results you are aiming for.
Collaboration is the antidote to a lone-wolf mindset—people like me who just wanted to get things done without interference. True collaboration is about taking the unique skills, talents, and strengths of your team members and pairing them up so that you deliver more value to your clients and stakeholders.
It is about asking, “How can I do this differently so that what I used to do alone now becomes a shared effort?”
This mindset shift is important. Sometimes people resist collaboration due to scarcity thinking. You might fear that if you share your work, others will take from you or learn how to do it and not need you anymore.
That fear, that underlying psychology, can make collaboration feel like a threat. But true collaboration is about the collective—about reaching the destination together.
When collaboration is missing or done poorly, the result is confusion. People double up on work. Responsibilities are unclear. Everyone is busy but not productive—running around like chooks with their heads cut off.
But when you collaborate—when you bring people together—it creates synergy.
I love the metaphor of a rope. Think about the strength a single rope has—what it can lift or pull. Now, take two ropes and intertwine them. You might assume you double the strength, but in fact, the strength multiplies—tenfold.
Collaboration helps you achieve more with less, which is essential in this volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world.
And while these four pillars—collaboration, communication, conflict, and change—are each distinct, they are not linear. They intertwine. Communication is critical to collaboration. Handling conflict well is just as important. Navigating change effectively also plays a role. So even though we will look at them one at a time, they all form part of the larger picture.
Collaboration is the first pillar that underpins effective teamwork.
So, who are you collaborating with? What are your current beliefs about collaboration?
Share your thoughts in the comments. Join the conversation.
This is not just about me talking to you. This is about you and I, and everyone in this community, collaborating on this topic.
Your input is just as valuable as mine.
That is all for now. Keep an eye out for the next few short reels where I will share more practical insights about collaboration. Then, over the coming weeks, we will dive into the other pillar areas as well.
Join the conversation. I will see you then.
