One key to successful teams is leadership. Katzenbach and Smith devote an entire section to team leadership, stressing that the leader needs to highlight the importance of clear and pertinent direction, create an atmosphere of commitment and confidence, remove obstacles and outside interference, and do real work as an equal on the team. When leaders model true team work, they can move potential teams toward becoming real teams. In some cases, they can motivate team members to create high-performance teams. The wisdom of teams, in short, is that they can be more flexible, responsive to the needs of the task, exciting, and interactive than larger structures.
Individuals can contribute directly to the organization.
Team members learn more, not just about the task that is before them, but about accountability, networking, cooperation, and continuous improvement. In many cases, team work enhances a member's knowledge of and commitment to the larger organization. Teams build better, more productive work forces in the long run. In the pursuit of quality, it is imperative that individuals be empowered to grow, to learn, and to perform. Obstacles to growth and performance need to be removed.