SmartBrief on Leadership - 4 ways to build an Olympic-level team

In the new box office hit "Deadpool & Wolverine," the superheroes display imitation-worthy leadership skills as they give cast-aside heroes a second chance at success, display the "emotional equanimity" needed to work together despite differences and use "maximum effort" in the right way to achieve results without burning out, writes Ben Sherry. Other lessons leaders can learn from the film include the power of teams to succeed, how past failures can propel future success and why it's vital for team members to be operating in their "Zone of Genius," writes Jennifer Dulski, the CEO at Rising Team.

Put it into practice: The "rule of reciprocity" is prominently featured in the film, writes Jennifer Dulski, pointing out that "The Resistance," made up of forgotten superheroes, come to the aid of Deadpool and Wolverine. "Even when we don't ask people for anything in return when we help others, they are likely to assist us when we need it."

Being on an Olympic-level rowing team taught Mike Donohue, the senior vice president of global sales at Gupshup, the value of building trust to create a tight-knit team that can handle differences while focusing together on the goal at hand. "The difference between a good company and a great one lies in cultivating a supportive and efficient team. The results come later," Donohue writes.

Put it into practice: A rower's strokes in the water must be precise to move the team forward, just as business teams must keep abreast of market conditions and strategies and avoid being obsessed with the wrong metrics, Donohue writes. "In sports and business, the aim should be to take steps to improve every day, not to fixate on the end-of-the-tunnel, final destination."

Effective leadership thrives on asking the right questions daily -- focusing on supporting others' goals, understanding their thoughts and exploring recent surprises, writes Fred Ende, director of curriculum and instructional Services for Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. These questions can foster deeper connections and drive meaningful progress within teams, Ende notes.

Put it into practice: It may be difficult for your team to immediately articulate how you can help them succeed or what they are thinking about at this moment, Ende notes. That means leaders should be patient and ready with follow-up prompts to help them think through their thoughts and feelings.

The middle of the year can be a time of burnout for employees, but business leaders can help alleviate those feelings by urging workers to disconnect and take personal time, writes Aytekin Tank, founder and CEO of Jotform. In addition, help employees ease back into work after vacation by automating tasks and fostering a sense of community.

Most people have an automatic sense of perfect pitch and can accurately sing an earworm or involuntary musical imagery despite their doubt of their abilities, according to a study that notes that fewer than one in 10,000 people has true perfect pitch. "These musical memories are actually highly accurate representations that defy the typical gist formation that happens in some other domains of long-term memory," co-author Nicholas Davidenko says.

Fred Ende's advice to ask three thoughtful questions that will spur your direct reports to think more deeply about what they want and how you can help them achieve it is worth a deeper study. Asking questions that don't allow us to challenge our assumptions or take a step back to see how we have grown doesn't lead to fresh ideas or innovation.

Sometimes, though, the simple question of "Why?" can help us uncover our deepest desires. Author and speaker Mel Robbins, in a recent podcast, talks about "The 5 Why Method." First, ask yourself what you really want and then ask yourself five times why you really want that. By the end of those five whys, you should arrive at the deeper reason why you want something and why you don't need to wait until you achieve that thing to bring that energy of change into your life.

She uses the desire to get into better shape as an example. We may want to do that to become healthier (a first why), or because we hate feeling tired all the time (a second why), or that we want to enjoy life and do fun things with our family (a third why), or because being around for them matters (a fourth why), which leads to the root cause or the fifth why -- because you're worried you won't be around if you don't get in better shape.

This can lead you to work toward that future goal of better health. But, at the moment, it can help you prioritize time with your family, even as you move toward getting into shape.

You can use these "five whys" in any area of life, from career to money to relationships. I invite you to dig deeper into what you really want to accomplish with your one precious life.

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