A lot has been written about how to improve company management, and indeed strategic planning and continuous improvement techniques have been developed for that purpose. Others have applied the "Total Quality", "Lean" and "Six Sigma" formulas. The problem is that competitors have adopted similar strategies, while globalization and information technologies have torn down borders and created a highly competitive environment in which obsolescence occurs at an ever increasing pace and the percentage of failures is getting dangerously high.

So how can a company set itself apart? What is the secret to standing out in such a complex environment? The winning card may be a concept that is not new, that seems obvious and yet is very difficult to implement. That concept is creating world-class work groups and knowing how to lead and inspire them. The McKinsey Quarterly has discussed this topic from various angles and maintains that the winning teams develop high levels of trust that elevate them to a state of greatness. The first step to achieving this is to minimize errors. This means that every member of the team has to be an expert at what he or she does. Secondly, world-class teams do not only seek victory but thrash their opponents with their actions. 

Achieving a state of greatness requires vision. But having a vision is not the same as having clear goals. Every team has goals, and they are usually rational ones. By contrast, vision has a strong emotional dimension. Vision leads teams to improve their performance and eventually achieve near-perfection. But in addition to a vision, the members of a winning team also need clear incentives to provide them with the energy they need every morning to give the best of themselves.

A second ingredient for achieving the state of greatness is ability. A winning team is not created by putting stars together. The team members have to complement each other and there have to be synergies, and that means putting experts together. However, in world-class teams the experts gradually become generalists as well, and eventually each member is a potential leader.

A third element required to achieve the goal defined is "divine discontent". This refers to a permanent attitude of wanting to learn more, of never becoming complacent and cultivating self-criticism. Achieving teams that have greatness requires a great deal of discipline. Progress can only be made when there is order and everyone accepts the rules.

The final thing is politics. I don't mean managing stakeholders or neutralizing opponents, but understanding how to manage each member of the group. Every successful partner usually has a strong personality and highly developed ego, a situation that can cause tension. A key factor is recognizing this reality and learning how to deal with it. This is where the leader's caliber really shines through. The first responsibility a leader has is not getting in the way. It's amazing how many leaders meddle in and diminish the group's work.

Inculcating values is another crucial aspect of leadership. The leader of a world-class team always steers and maintains the focus.

When world-class groups manage to sustain their position over time, they become institutions, and a world-class institution is the proof that the state of greatness exists.