Collective confidence is the glue that can make your team more effective

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The collective, not the individual, is the primary unit of performance in the modern workplace, argues organizational researcher and executive coach André Martin. And the key to success for a team, he adds, is collective confidence – a belief that they have the capability to achieve greatness.

Research indicates groups with high collective confidence consistently excel. They are more motivated, set more ambitious goals, are better at taking calculated risks, are more likely to get by obstacles and communicate and collaborate more effectively by quickly sharing knowledge. They outperform teams with lower collective confidence even when individual skill levels are comparable.

“When adversity hits – and it will – your job isn’t to have all the answers. It’s to protect and replenish the shared belief that your team can find them together,” he writes in Collective Confidence.

He calls collective confidence the “invisible glue” that holds everyone together under pressure. And he has six principles for manufacturing that glue:

Build belief in every team member: A team is made up of individuals and each must have confidence in their ability to contribute. If key individuals on a team doubt themselves, the hesitation can ripple outward.

“In my experience with top teams, the best leaders and coaches understand this connection deeply,” he says. They find a way to fan the flame of self-assuredness by looking for a situation where the individual can contribute their skills to a team success.

Put everyone’s genius to work: The individual must fit into the group. The composition of each team is different and we must figure out the value of our contribution – what we know or can do that will directly influence the success or failure of the group. That builds not only confidence but responsibility. The leader, therefore, must shine a light on distinct individual skills, experiences and contributions, explicitly connecting the dots between each person’s efforts and the team’s outcomes.

Try to tell stories that highlight how each person plays an essential role. He also urges you to look for cross-pollination projects, where team members with different expertise collaborate on ambitious projects. That can help them gain appreciation for each others’ skills while discovering how their own expertise can be valuable in unexpected contexts.

Create low stake ways to win together: Success – even in unrelated or low-stakes tasks – strengthens a group’s belief in its ability to succeed in future endeavors. If a soccer team excels in a tug-of-war competition, the camaraderie and teamwork developed in that setting can translate into better on-field performance.

This is particularly important in the early moments of the team’s journey, after trust has been established but before high performance in complex situations is expected. Don’t make the early wins too hollow, however; the challenge must be real or the victory becomes meaningless. Then work to maintain momentum through progressively greater challenges, individually and collectively.

Borrow brilliance that sets the bar: Observing the success of other teams provides a roadmap for what’s possible, offering both inspiration and actionable insights. “It is in the experience of greatness that others can find the formula for their own triumphs,” he notes.

Cardiac surgeons at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London studied pit crews in auto races to better understand the pivotal moments after open-heart surgery when a youngster was transferred to intensive care. Lines have to be reconnected, monitors handed over and critical information passed between teams under strict time pressure. They also invited the motorsport engineers to watch the hospital in action and were told: Too many voices, no clear leader, no shared rhythm. See if you can mine brilliance from another context and team.

Turn learning into a team sport: Education, from school to the workplace, tends to be focused on the individual – a single person building competence. He argues that is inefficient, making only a small percentage of knowledge available to the team.

“When a team trains as a unit, whether in a classroom, on a practice field or during corporate workshops, they develop an intuitive understanding of each other. Knowledge doesn’t stay in silos; it becomes collective capital,” he writes. When a software development team attends a coding bootcamp together, they establish common languages and frameworks that make co-ordination smoother later.

Make everyone the boss of something: In most high-performing teams, leadership isn’t a one-person show. Instead, it’s like a relay race, the baton of leadership passing to whoever is best positioned to carry it at that moment. Rotate leadership, giving everyone a time at the helm.

“By systematically rotating who leads meetings, projects or initiatives, organizations create leadership muscle memory across the entire team. This isn’t about arbitrary turn-taking; it’s about strategic development of collective capability,” he advises.

Mr. Martin doesn’t dismiss other aspects of team success. You will still need open communication, role clarity, sensible recognition systems, ambitious goal setting and constructive conflict. But you also need something new to ponder – collective confidence – and the six steps for garnering it.

Cannonballs

• Leadership consultant Amy Bonsall defines three rungs in the ladder of artificial intelligence usage in companies: 1) AI for Answers such as search, emails and thought partnerships; 2) AI for Time, enhancing efficiency and productivity; and 3) AI for Revenue, offering new value for customers. Most companies she has spoken with are somewhere between the first and second rung.
• Don’t take minutes in meetings unless required by statute, advises consultant Skip Prichard. Each person should take their own notes, capturing actions of importance to them. Group minutes often don’t reflect the meeting and are rarely read. A short list of actions, owners and dates distributed after the meeting is read.
• Ottawa consultant Shaun Belding says the most common mistake in customer service is lazy listening, ignoring the fact each customer’s problem is distinct and instead, after a few words or sentences, making assumptions as you jump to a faulty solution.