A manager’s playbook for building high-impact teams

In the 1990s, the Chicago Bulls established a dynasty. Under the leadership of head coach Phil Jackson, the Bulls won six NBA championships from 1991 to 1998. The superstar on the Bulls roster is, of course, Michael Jordan. To this day, Jordan still holds career regular season and playoff scoring average records and is widely considered the greatest basketball player of all time. (LeBron James fans can certainly argue that last point, though.)

But it’s not just Jordan’s dynasty. Jackson leads a team filled with impact players who contribute to the Bulls’ strength. And Scottie Pippen, another all-time great. Dennis Rodman improved the team’s defense, while players such as John Paxson, Horace Grant and Bill Cartwright all made important plays at critical moments.

“The workplace has an impact, too,” says Liz Wiseman, executive consultant and impact player, said in an interview with Big Think+. “(These are) the guys we turn to in high-stakes situations. We get the ball in the hands of guys in big moments who know they’re going to get the job done, but they’re going to do it in a way that ensures the whole team wins.”

Unfortunately, the business world often focuses on leaders rather than teams. Steve Jobs, Jack Welch, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg have had more accolades attributed to their careers than most saints. However, they would never have achieved the success they have today without a team of dedicated and talented individuals.

Want to build your own team of high-impact players? Wiseman can help you start building your script.

What is an impact player?

Many team members do solid work. They showed up on time, got the job done, and everything was done to an acceptable level of quality. Bonus if they bring a dynamite casserole to the semi-annual office dinner.

While there’s nothing wrong with that, an impact player goes beyond solid, good, or even great to a level of excellence.

In his interview, Wiseman listed a number of qualities that influence players. These include stepping up in higher-stakes situations, providing leadership regardless of role, and working seamlessly with others. They also contribute beyond their job description and perform their work with an understanding of the value the job will bring to the organization.

This description does not encompass all of an impact player. There are as many ways to change things as there are characters. But it does hint at what separates these team members from regular contributors: mentality.

As Wiseman said: “Being an impactful player is not just about changing our behavior, but also changing the beliefs that drive our behavior. (…) It’s about telling myself, I can do something about this, I have the ability to do something about it, and someone would want me to do something about it.”

Build a team of impactful players

It’s a blessing when a superstar joins your team. But as a manager, if you don’t know how to leverage and develop talent like this, you won’t be successful by default.

In fact, over-reliance on talent can have the opposite effect. It can be frustrating for superstars when their efforts don’t bear fruit, it can be frustrating for other team members when they are marginalized, and it can be frustrating for you when your plans don’t come to fruition. There are a lot of unpleasant feelings around.

The solution is to build an influential team, develop their skills and the ability to use those skills collaboratively to create more value. Wiseman recommends starting with these four steps:

1. Be an influential coach

Star athletes don’t play for just anyone. They want a coach who can help them create the best version of themselves. For Michael Jordan and the Bulls, that coach was Phil Jackson. For Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, it’s Bill Belichick. Every Manchester United player between 1986 and 2013 was Sir Alex Ferguson.

What sets impact coaches – and managers more broadly – ​​apart is their ability to create environments that push people forward while also giving them the freedom to try meaningful plays. They’re not worried about whether the plays will make them more influential. Instead, their goal is to support players and help them succeed at the highest level.

A word of warning: Don’t mistake winning for impact. Coach Bob Bowman may have led Michael Phelps to unprecedented success as an Olympian, but his aggressive, dismissive coaching style led to Phelps burning out and retiring.

Fortunately, Bowman learned his lesson. Now, the equally successful but cooler Bowman has developed a group of impactful players as Arizona State’s head coach.

2. Find influential thinking

Skills are important, but impact players are not defined by their resumes. As mentioned above, it takes a certain mindset to put these skills to the test.

You’ll recognize this mindset because team members will have a desire to learn and grow, Wiseman says. After all, if they feel comfortable, then what reason do they have to rise to any occasion? Influential players also have a strong sense of agency and believe they can solve difficult problems, but without the need to control others in the process.

Finally, they should be able to deal with ambiguity, since challenges often lie at the confusing edges of things we already know how to do.

3. Accept failure calmly

As a leader, if you create an environment where failure is not allowed, even influential players will hide in the safety of the familiar. To drive impact players to success, Wiseman said, you need to allow them to be brave.

“What we found is that for impactful players, they’re not working harder. They’re working in a braver way,” she noted.

To do this, you need to develop psychological and intellectual safety for your team. Your team should feel they can adapt, learn, experiment, and speak up without fear of retaliation or censorship. Praise effort, don’t bemoan failure, and be sure to communicate this clearly and often. Only then can you expect your team to make an impact in what Wiseman calls a “resilient environment.”

“(In a resilient environment) people should do what needs to be done and not hide behind comfortable job descriptions or boundaries,” Wiseman added. “Create a sense of relief where people feel compelled to continue solving the problem.”

4. Recognize that everyone can make an impact

Not every player reaches superstar level. But just because everyone can’t make an Air Jordan-level impact in their field, office, or career, doesn’t mean they can’t make meaningful change.

Therefore, team leaders need to first assume that everyone can be an influential team member. This means providing the necessary support and training to hone team members’ skills and allow them to demonstrate their capabilities.

The Bulls dynasty is a perfect example. While Michael’s fandom may outweigh the contributions of others, it’s worth remembering that despite his incredible skills, he lost a lot of games early in his career. To borrow a phrase from teammate Pippen, Jordan may have been more focused on scoring than winning. It wasn’t until Phil Jackson assembled a team of impact players capable of playing alongside Jordan that the Bulls began their historic rise.

“Don’t just identify the impactful players on your team. Lead your team with the assumption that everyone, regardless of level, position, can have an impact. Everyone can play a bigger role,” Wiseman advises. “When you do that, you build a team where everyone thinks and operates like an impact player. “Everyone is a difference-maker, not a position holder. “