Building team muscle: What getting the flu taught me about leading sustainable teams

16 July

I've always loved the powerful feeling that comes from lifting weights. The sense that I could achieve more than I thought. The undeniable confirmation of strength that belies my size. In recent years, with limited time, that love has been superseded by the joys of leaving my desk to head out into the fresh air for a run.

It's impossible to miss the voices shouting about the importance of exercise. Every second post in my social media feed is an 'expert' gifting me a long list of 'shoulds' for women of my age. The right type of activewear. Supplements that will change my life. Expensive retreats that I simply cannot miss. And the importance of lifting heavy weights.

While I absent-mindedly scroll past most of it, the science behind lifting weights is hard to ignore. So I've rebalanced my fitness program to include a greater focus on strength training. Over the last 8 weeks, I have religiously followed a workout program designed for me by a trainer who knows my fitness level and my goals. That is until I got the flu and spent 2 weeks unable to exercise.

Last night was my first visit back to the gym. Wow! My strength had gone backwards. Not just a little bit. A lot. The phrase 'use it or lose it' clanged in my ears throughout the workout as I struggled to get close to the levels I had achieved before the flu took me out.

I began to wonder about how investment in building and speed of loss applies to team growth and development. When targeting physical strength, we know the muscle groups to focus on and the set of exercises to do it. But what about leading teams?

How do you ensure your team is building the right muscles to deliver your strategy? What happens if a critical muscle atrophies?

As leaders, it's our job to identify the muscles we need and invest in development. Just like in professional sports, recruitment plays a significant role in the potential for success. Balancing the talent pool by identifying those who have the required muscle profile with those who can develop it. That's your starting point. Then, as they say, it's what you do with it that counts.

So, how can you identify the most impactful opportunities to build muscle in your team?

Try asking some of these questions:

What is the most important muscle for delivering your strategy? How are you investing in it across your team?
What are the warning signs that indicate critical muscles are beginning to atrophy?
What is your equivalent of a 'workout program' for maintaining and building your team's critical muscles? How do you support consistent effort in the program?
Which muscles (if any) are self-sustaining? Which ones require consistent attention to prevent decline?
Are there any muscles that, while important in the past, are no longer a priority for your team?

It's easy to reduce the parallels between physical fitness and team development to surface-level metaphors, but there's more to it. Just like my absence from the gym, organizational capabilities can atrophy when they're not consistently exercised. Teams require consistent, intentional strengthening.

Your next step starts with an honest assessment. This week, take a critical look at your team's capabilities. Identify which essential skills haven't been exercised recently. Notice where you're relying on individual expertise without building broader team resilience. Pay attention to the capabilities that, if lost, would significantly impact your ability to deliver.

Don't wait for the equivalent of organizational flu to reveal what you've lost. The question isn't whether your team's capabilities will face pressure, it's whether they'll be strong enough to withstand it when they do.

You can start today. Create opportunities for your team to exercise critical muscles regularly. Build systems to ensure consistent development. Don't rely on risk-filled sporadic training. Your team's strength, like your own, depends on what you do with it every single day.

To find out more about my approach to building team muscle, book a 1:1 call today.