Nearly six years ago I created a team at work that is responsible for Loan Production that comes via our website, our call center, and mobile devices. I worked closely with our leader in Lending to create the processes and the workflow, and our results have been impressive.

In less than six years, this team has grown loans outstanding by over $24MM. Monthly loan production is at an all-time high. This team has broken sales records every month so far in 2017. 

The team has been under the same leadership the entire time. While monthly production has remained relatively consistent, a couple of years ago production waned just a bit. But the manager of this team started working on her leadership impact and influence based upon a survey I had her staff take. She owned her areas of improvement and things improved.

She also learned what a productive team member needs to do on this team to be successful. She has learned how to hire more effectively. She better understands now the kind of team member that is needed in this fast-paced environment. And she’s bringing people on the team that are getting results like we’ve never seen before.

Sometimes we look at successful teams and assume it is all about leadership. While that was our starting point, it’s been a great combination of effective leadership and effective teamwork that has gotten our results. The two go hand-in-hand.

Leaders, never underestimate your impact or influence. But also never underestimate the impact your team can have. It takes an effective leader with an effective team to produce outstanding results.