Teams have more talent and experience, more diverse resources, and greater operating flexibility than individual performers. So why do so many teams either struggle unpleasantly to an unsatisfactory conclusion--or, worse, crash and burn shortly after launch?

J. Richard Hackman, who has studied group and organizational dynamics for many years, argues that the answer to this puzzle is rooted in flawed thinking about team leadership. It is not a leader's personality or management style that determine how well a team performs, but how well a leader designs and supports a team so that members can manage themselves. In Leading Teams, Hackman identifies the five key conditions that any leader can put in place to increase the likelihood of team success--regardless of his or her preferred style of operating. They are: a real team (rather than a set of people who are a team in name only), a compelling direction, an enabling team structure, a supportive organizational context, and the availability of competent team-focused coaching.

These five conditions, Hackman shows, set the stage for great team performances. Leading Teams lays out in concrete detail what leaders can do to create them and to help team members take full advantage of them.

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