Following the Leader

Several factors distinguish great leaders from the simply good, including the ability to build great teams. But what does greatness in a team look like, and how do you, as a leader, foster it? 

To answer those questions and others related to developing and leading effective teams, a group of industry up-and-comers and seasoned mentors came together on a call in fall 2023 as part of the annual SAM Summit Series, a forum for sharing leadership best practices across the industry. 

The six mentors were Amber Broadaway, president and COO, Solitude Mountain, Utah; Susan Cross, GM, Snowmass, Colo.; Jonathan Davis, GM, Perfect North Slopes, Ind.; Ellen Galbraith, VP and GM, Stevens Pass, Wash.; Jason Perl, GM, Boyne Mountain, Mich.; and Pete Sonntag, VP and GM, Sun Valley, Idaho. The conversation was facilitated by leadership expert and executive coach Paul Thallner of High Peaks Group.

Among the takeaways: To build effective teams, leaders must develop the knowledge and capabilities of their people, set priorities, foster a collaborative environment, encourage problem solving, build trust, keep their cool, and be willing to listen—and that’s just a start. 

SIX TEAM CONDITIONS

To understand what makes a team effective, Thallner pointed the group toward the work of Dr. Ruth Wageman. Wageman, in partnership with Dr. Richard Hackman and other scholars, has developed six research-based “team conditions” that can predict outstanding team performance. There are three essential conditions for a high-performing team, and three enablers (i.e., forces that support effective teamwork). 

The essentials:

Real team. In a real team, everyone knows who is on the team, is able to communicate effectively, and works together long enough to accomplish something meaningful.

Compelling direction. To be effective, a team must have a purpose that is clear, consequential, engaging, and connected to its values. 

Right people. An outstanding team has the right people, i.e., those that have the skills to do the job and a range of perspectives and problem-solving abilities.

The enablers:

Sound structure. A team with a sound structure is one that is as small as possible, focused on mission critical priorities, and collaborative, with shared work practices.

Supportive organizational context. The systems around a team—such as how a team is rewarded or recognized, and the training and resources at its disposal—enable teamwork.

Team coaching. An effective team has someone (internal or external) with experience and capacity available to it to provide support and advise on its working practices. 

The six team conditions are not only a predictive tool, advised Thallner, but also elements leaders can improve to strengthen their teams’ efficacy and, in doing so, create higher performance and positive impacts downstream as well.

CLARITY OF PURPOSE

When asked to reflect on a time when their respective teams were functioning at a high level, mentors cited several common factors that made high performance possible. Among these were a sense of purpose, shared priorities, and transparent expectations. 

Referring to the recent example of reopening amid the pandemic in 2020-21, Sun Valley’s Pete Sonntag reflected, “There were a ton of questions that had to be answered, and I was in a situation where I was leading a new team that I’d inherited. We were still in the getting-to-know-each-other phase and the building trust phase.”

There were mask mandates, chairlift protocols, and changes on the fly to navigate, and yet, said Sonntag, the winter went remarkably smoothly. What made it work? “I think, for me, it was about being super vulnerable with the team, saying I am here to learn from you, support you, and enable your success, and then following through in my actions. So, I wasn’t coming in with all the answers. And the team really rallied because they understood the gravity of the situation. And they also wanted to prove something to me as well. 

“I think dealing with Covid gave everybody a pretty significant sense of purpose,” he added.

Shared priorities. More generally, observed Stevens Pass’s Ellen Galbraith, “Change is hard. When the scope of work changes, or priorities change, or ownership changes, if someone is not aligned and not on the bus, per se, that can drag an entire team down.”

It’s thus been important in her experience to make sure, “everyone is clear about where we’re going, why we’re going there, and whether or not they want to be a part of what is going to happen. And if they don’t, that’s fine. But then it’s time to find a new home, or a new role, or a new responsibility.”

THE RIGHT PEOPLE

When a team is failing to perform, said Perfect North Slopes GM Jonathan Davis, it’s often an issue of people and positions. “It’s been my experience that if I put the wrong person in a seat, that is probably the biggest challenge to overcome—it can upset the balance of the team. The wrong team of people working together can set the organization back both in time and financially. It has ripple effects. 

“Getting that wrong team unstuck takes a lot of my time as well,” he added, “whether that’s through coaching to try to get them up to speed or by bringing in a new person or replacement on the team.”

When you hire the wrong candidate, it’s important to admit the mistake rather than doubling down on a poor fit. “About a year ago,” said Snowmass GM Susan Cross, “I overlooked an internal candidate because I just thought he wasn’t the right fit, and I chose someone from the outside and was all excited about fresh blood coming in.”               

In a matter of months, after trying to coach the new hire to the role, it was clear to Cross that it wasn’t working out, and a change was made. “And now the young man that I overlooked is in the role, and I had to fess up that, ‘I just didn’t think you were the one.’ He’s doing a fantastic job now.”

Hiring the right folks. “When you’re building a team, really look and be sure that you have the right person come in and they’re in the right seat,” advised Davis.

That task can be easier said than done in the current hiring climate. “We tend to have a fair amount of people who say they want a promotion and a raise, but they really just want the raise,” observed Cross. “They don’t want to do the job that comes with the promotion.”

When candidates do step forward, Cross added, to boost their chances, “we’re working harder now to prepare them for the interview, though there’s no guarantee they’re going to get the job.” Even if an internal candidate isn’t right for the role for which they’ve applied, said Cross, it’s an investment made in their future, one that can prepare staff for future promotional opportunities.

“If we can train them to be the best at what they’re doing now, eventually there probably will be a role for them,” Cross said. “We’re just trying to keep those people in-house.”

The mentors look for certain qualities in the right candidate. Solitude’s Amber Broadaway places emotional intelligence high on her list. Sonntag looks for a base skill level and then a cultural fit—“I want to work with people who are fun to work with.”

SOUND STRUCTURE, SUPPORTIVE CONTEXT

Leaders tend to rise through the ranks because of demonstrated skills and expertise, and as Boyne Mountain’s Jason Perl pointed out, many have “type-A personalities, and with our backgrounds, we just want to jump in and get it done.”

That impulse must be reined in if you want your team to work effectively. 

Clear decision-making. For Broadaway, an important quality of an effective team is transparency in decision-making, which requires strong communication among leadership. Without clarity in how decisions are made, and who is going to make them, team members can feel alienated. A lack of clarity will likely erode trust and diminish the sense of shared purpose, resulting in a team that is not able to fire on all cylinders.

To avoid such pitfalls, Broadaway advised that leaders should “communicate upfront and set the expectations” for the decision-making process and team members’ roles within that.

For organizing the roles and responsibilities of a team, Thallner pointed the group toward the RACI methodology. RACI stands for responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed. “It’s a handy tool for articulating what everyone’s roles are on a task or throughout a project,” i.e., who is responsible for what, who should be consulted about what, etc., said Thallner, adding, “It keeps people from bumping into each other.”

Empowering your teams. “It’s a challenge to lean into the proper level of delegation and to balance that with appropriate leadership skills, casting vision, and giving the team the tools and the definition of what’s ahead so that they can be successful,” said Davis.

One thing being in the field has taught Davis, who comes from an IT background, is that there are multiple ways to meet an end goal. Davis advised that when a leader grips the wheel too tightly, team members don’t feel like they can help drive a solution. “In order for them to contribute, they’ve got to try to take your hands off the wheel, and they don’t want to be in that position.

“When I’ve taken too many prescriptive measures and guided [the direction] too much without allowing the team to direct themselves organically, the morale for the project starts to fade and the level of excitement or drive of production lowers, the effort lowers,” he said, adding that getting out of the way allows team members to “lean into their skills and maximize their contributions.”

To empower his teams, Perl uses two strategies: asking questions rather than making statements, “so the person being delegated to can find their own path, which is helpful to their growth;” and giving his team 51 percent of the vote in most situations because “that’s their line of business, their department, their team, their relationships.”

It comes back to trusting that you’ve hired the right people—“I remind myself that I hired so-and-so because they are the expert in this field,” said Perl—and providing them with the right tools to get the job done.

COACHING

To provide a team with the right tools, many of the mentors—who oversee multiple teams, each with its own leader—adopt a coaching role.

Sonntag spends time coaching his direct reports on how to work with their direct reports. Many of them have the field expertise but not necessarily the soft skills to lead their own teams effectively. So, Sonntag works with them to understand how they are connecting with their teams, how their teams are responding to them, and how they are delegating tasks. 

Learn from mistakes. Perfection isn’t the goal, said Sonntag. “I think it’s really important to be able to make mistakes and to be able to try things and fail and have it be OK.” And sometimes effective coaching means stepping back: “You actually have to hold back sometimes and allow somebody to learn by making a mistake (not a catastrophic failure, of course) and then talk it through and figure out what the approach is going to be next time around,” he said.

Broadaway encourages her senior leaders to form partnerships with key players on their teams, and also to keep their boots on the ground so they can build relationships and see operations for themselves. She also works with her leadership team on thinking strategically. 

Work-life balance is another area where she provides support. “Three of my people have moved across the country [to work at Solitude],” she noted. “The biggest threat for me is relocating these individuals and then they’re not happy here. So, it isn’t just about making sure they’re successful in their job, it’s also about helping make sure they can be successful in their new home here in Utah.”

BUILDING GREAT TEAMS

Effective teams don’t form accidentally. They are formed by effective leaders who create a variety of measurable conditions for success. “When a not-so-great leader departs for whatever reason, you see how quick the energy and team can turn around,” observed Perl.

Great leaders, as the mentors shared, are available to their teams and, among other things, ensure their teams have the resources they need, are comprised of the right people, are collaborating effectively, and are focused and united by the same mission. It’s a lot to balance, but that’s what makes great leaders great.