Building a Team You Would Go to War With (Even for 45 Minutes a Week)
I rewatched Band of Brothers this week. It reminded me what it takes to build a team willing to put their lives on the line for one another. Schools are different, of course. In most cases we ask for something far smaller yet still demanding: that colleagues show up together for forty five minutes a week, work interdependently, and use that time to reflect, discuss, evaluate and improve teaching and learning. Leadership still makes the difference. Good leaders, like Lieutenant Winters, create conditions for courage and clarity. Poor leaders, like Lieutenant Dike, drain trust and slow teams at the very moment they need to move. Winters led by example and steadied his people under pressure. That is the standard. (Leadership Lessons from Major Dick Winters)
Boot camp first
Easy Company did not begin with heroics.
They began with boot camp.
Before the missions came the miles, the drills, the kit checks, the shared routines. School teams need a similar start. Before chasing initiatives, get your team in fighting form and settle the non-negotiables of the job.
In my work I describe these as outputs: the baseline professional responsibilities that build reliability and trust.
Lesson planning done on time.
Assessment calendars honoured.
Agreed norms for communication with families.
Materials ready before the bell.
These are not exciting, but they are the conditions that allow exciting work to happen. (Responsibility, Accountability and Taking Ownership)
Establishing non-negotiables is not about control. It is about removing avoidable friction so the team has energy for improvement.
In the early term we can also fall for the honeymoon effect and avoid hard conversations. Resist that. The middle leader’s role is to help colleagues enhance commitment, focus activity and reduce negative emotion by setting clear expectations and offering steady support. The earlier you do this, the sooner the team can move with confidence. (Leading from the Middle: The Honeymoon is Over)
Make time to lead
Leadership takes time that the timetable will never gift you.
I have argued before that leaders should plan to work two to three additional hours each week simply to lead. That time is for preparing questions, shaping an agenda that respects people’s time, drafting the follow up, and staying ahead of the conflicts that otherwise sideline everyone.
When you do not budget this time, collaboration costs the team twice over: first in muddled meetings, then in the extra work needed to fix what unclear meetings set in motion. Win the week by investing those extra hours with intent. (Plan to Work 2-3 More Hours per Week to Lead a Team)
From goals to questions
Once the team is in shape and marching in step, you can set your sights on objectives. Here is the shift: frame those objectives as questions, not targets. Questions invite thinking, surface assumptions, and build ownership.
Their responses tell you what they understand, what they value, and where support is needed. It is also the fairest way to check whether your plan depends on systems and people that are not ready yet. Inquiry makes objectives more honest and more achievable. (Don’t Set Goals, Ask Questions)
I have written extensively about drafting a goal in the form of a question and testing it with a few people. You can read about it in depth in my book Hidden in Plain Sight. Realising the Full Potential of Middle Leaders.
In practice, questions align well with evaluating team performance. Instead of “Raise writing scores by X by June,” ask “What will it take for more pupils to write longer, clearer answers across subjects, and how will we know by December that our plan is working?” Questions like this shape the work into small tests, visible routines and shared evidence. They help you avoid the all or nothing mindset that turns improvement into a pass fail exercise. (Evaluating Team Performance)
Lead yourself before you lead the room
Leadership also starts with how you show up. When emotions run hot it is tempting to assert authority. A better first move is to check your assumptions and ask, quietly, “What gives me the right to intervene here, and what outcome am I really seeking?” That pause often shifts a conversation from argument to problem solving. It helps you act with proportion and purpose rather than impulse. (What gives you the right?)
Similarly, in the messy middle of a term, change the questions you ask yourself. Move from “Why do they not get it?” to “What would help us both understand this differently?” Acceptance and adaptation do not mean lowering standards. They mean choosing responses that keep the relationship strong and the work moving. (Accept. Adapt. Overcome.)
Use the forty five well
If you have forty five minutes a week, spend them like this:
Five minutes to reconnect: what mattered in classrooms this week and why.
Twenty five minutes on one inquiry question: examine two or three short pieces of evidence, identify what is in our control, and agree the next test.
Ten minutes to plan the action: who will do what by when, and the support required.
Five minutes to close strong: name appreciation and confirm the follow up.
Keep the agenda stable for a half term. Rotate who facilitates and who brings the evidence. Your role is not to manage every task but to create an environment where no one feels alone and where the next small step is always clear. (Leading from the Middle: The Honeymoon is Over)
Winters or Dike?
The difference between Winters and Dike was not rank. It was presence.
Winters set direction, removed obstacles and modelled the behaviour he expected. Dike hesitated, went missing at key moments, and left others to carry the load. In schools the stakes are not the same, but the principle holds.
Your team will forgive honest mistakes. They will not forgive absence, vagueness or silence when clarity is needed.
Lead by example, ask better questions, and secure the non negotiables. Then point to an objective that matters and walk there together. (Leadership Lessons from Major Dick Winters)
Questions to take into your next week
What is our boot camp for the next four weeks, and which non negotiables do we need to reset?
What single inquiry question will guide our improvement this term?
Where will I spend my extra two to three hours to prepare the conditions for a better meeting and a better week? (Plan to Work 2-3 More Hours per Week to Lead a Team)
If your team can answer those three, you will not need heroics. You will need consistency, care and a leader who shows up. That is enough.
This approach to team leadership, starting with fundamentals, moving to inquiry-based goals, and investing the time leadership actually requires - forms the backbone of what we teach in our Leading Effective Teams workshop. If these ideas resonate but you're wondering how to implement them with your own team, Claire Peet is running a two-day intensive in Guangzhou will give you the practical frameworks to make it happen.
Her workshop takes teams through the same progression: establishing non-negotiables, building interdependent working relationships, and creating the conditions where real improvement can take root. Here are the details:
Team Leadership 101 - The Stuff That Actually Works
October 24-25 | Guangzhou
🔗 Leading Effective Teams for New and Aspiring Team Leaders
Two days that will transform how your new leaders think about team dynamics. No generic leadership speak - just proven frameworks for managing the different personalities, priorities, and perspectives that make team leadership both challenging and rewarding.
Where: Canadian International School of Guangzhou
Who: New team leaders, aspiring leaders, anyone inheriting a team
Early Bird Discount Until September 12th Available!
