Building Successful Teams: Lessons from the 2026 Mid-Year Leadership Conference

Building a successful team is one of the most important and challenging responsibilities of any leader. At the 2026 Mid-Year Leadership Conference, the Building Successful Teams leadership session explored what truly makes teams effective, sustainable, and productive. Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all formula, the session emphasized intentional leadership, thoughtful preparation, and an understanding that teamwork evolves over time.

There Is No Single “Right” Way to Build a Team

One of the first lessons leaders must accept is that team success depends on context. Effective leadership varies based on several factors, including the leader’s comfort level, the maturity of the chapter or organization, team size, overall goals, and the competency of individual members. A strategy that works for a small, highly motivated group may fail entirely in a larger or less experienced team. Successful leaders remain flexible and adapt their approach to fit their people and circumstances.

This reality also challenges a common assumption: success does not always depend on having a single “strong” leader. While leadership matters, teams thrive when the environment supports collaboration, accountability, and growth.

What Makes Up a Successful Team?

The session highlighted a simple but powerful framework known as the 60/30/10 Rule, which explains where leaders should focus their efforts:

• 60% Creating the Right Conditions
• 30% Launching the Team Effectively
• 10% Ongoing Coaching and Training

This model reinforces that most team success is determined before the work even begins. Leaders who invest time upfront dramatically increase their chances of long-term success.

Creating the Right Conditions (60%)

Creating the right conditions means clearly defining roles, expectations, goals, and standards. Team members should understand why the team exists, what success looks like, and how their individual contributions matter. This stage also includes assembling the right mix of skills and personalities and ensuring everyone feels ownership in the mission.

Careful preparation “stacks the deck for success.” When expectations are unclear or mismatched, even the most talented teams struggle.

Launching the Team Effectively (30%)

An effective kickoff sets the tone for everything that follows. This includes establishing communication norms, decision-making processes, and accountability structures. A strong launch builds trust early and prevents misunderstandings down the road. Leaders who rush this step often spend more time later repairing confusion or conflict that could have been avoided.

Ongoing Coaching and Training (10%)

While coaching and training are important, the session emphasized that they play a smaller role than many leaders expect. Once the right conditions are in place and the team is launched properly, ongoing support becomes more about guidance and adjustment rather than constant intervention.

Rethinking Common Team Myths

Several common myths about teamwork were challenged during the session:

• “Technology makes communication easy.”
  
  While technology increases access, it does not automatically improve clarity or understanding. Strong communication still requires intention, structure, and follow-through.
• “Teams should always get along.”
  
  Conflict is inevitable, and healthy conflict is not only normal but necessary. The goal is not to eliminate conflict, but to ensure it remains productive rather than personal.
• “Adding more people solves problems faster.”
  
  Bigger is not always better. Research and experience suggest that the optimal team size is typically three to nine people. Larger teams can introduce confusion, slow decision-making, and dilute accountability.

Embracing Healthy Conflict

One of the most valuable takeaways from the session was the distinction between healthy and unhealthy conflict. Healthy conflict encourages diverse perspectives, challenges assumptions, and leads to better decisions. Unhealthy conflict, on the other hand, becomes personal, emotional, and destructive.

The goal is not to avoid disagreement, but to manage it constructively. Leaders play a critical role in modeling respectful dialogue and ensuring conflicts stay focused on ideas rather than individuals.

Teamwork Takes Time

Finally, the session reinforced that successful teams are not built overnight. Teamwork develops through experience, trust, and shared challenges. Leaders who are patient, intentional, and willing to adjust their approach over time are far more likely to build teams that last.

Final Thoughts

Building successful teams requires more than enthusiasm or authority. It requires preparation, adaptability, and a willingness to invest in people. By creating the right conditions, launching teams thoughtfully, and supporting them with purposeful leadership, organizations can set their teams up for lasting success.

The 60 / 30 / 10 framework and underlying team effectiveness concepts are based on research from 6 Team Conditions (6teamconditions.com). The 60 / 30 / 10 concept is copyrighted, and Sigma Pi Fraternity claims no ownership of this framework.