Ever been on a team where it feels like your team is disengaged, dysfunctional, uncooperative, or uninspired? Yeah, it sucks. It feels like no matter how hard you try, how much effort you put in, how much quality you strive for in your output, it’s just not enough. It feels like you just can’t win.

I’ve been there too, and the pain is real. But let’s not sulk in this sad swamp of sullenness. Instead, let’s seek out the sweet sound of success.

Today we are introducing a new word into our workplace vocabulary. That word? Teamship.

Strange sounding, yes. But what a punch this word packs. It’s like leadership but with a twist. It’s leading from within the team instead of in front of it. Think about it like this: While the leader calls the plays, it’s the team that scores the points.

And when teamship is in place, more points are scored, more goals are achieved, and more winning happens, quarter after quarter, year over year.

In his book, Never Lead Alone, Keith Ferrazzi lays out 10 keys to shifting from leadership to teamship. Today, we’re focusing on just three keys—because let’s be honest, no one remembers more than three things anyway. Here are your three keys to effective teamship:

1. Co-elevation (lifting each other up, instead of just tolerating each other’s existence)
2. Celebration (yes, adults need gold stars too)
3. Motivation (finding meaning even in the mundane)

Some of this might remind you of the often-cited workplace survey by the Gallup organization touting that “having a best friend at work” is a strong indicator of employee engagement. Celebration and co-elevation – sounds like having a best friend, right?

Now before you roll your eyes and say, “Hey, Mr. Shortcut Man, I don’t need a work bestie, I just need people to do their jobs. And I sure as heck don’t need any more silly celebrations.”

I get it. Work is for work, not friendship. So, instead of asking if you have a best friend, I’ll argue the better question is: Does your team have your back? And if you don’t know the answer, buckle up—this post is for you.

So, how do you know if your team has your back? That can be answered with the evidence produced from the concept of co-elevation.

Co-elevation is not simply collaboration but a sense that “we are all in this together” with a commitment to lift each other higher.

In the land of co-elevation, there is no place for mediocrity. Because that leads to boredom and apathy. And once those feelings set in, there is little reason to strive for unity, trust, or achievement. We have to support each other, push each other, and show that we care and want the best for each other.

With that we build a culture of support and sustainability.

Let me take you back to my first real corporate gig. Fresh IT grad, thrown into the soul-sucking  world of a computer call center. (I know, sounds delightful.) I knew it was temporary, so I decided to milk it for all it was worth. I wanted incentives, better skills, and, honestly, to make the day suck a little less.

Enter Olekan—the guy across the aisle. Now, we didn’t have assigned teams, but we created our own. Instead of just pushing through, we made it a game. Who could handle the toughest calls the best? Who could troubleshoot faster? Who could get down to the lowest “aux time”?

For those of you that don’t know, “aux time” is the time when agents are not actively on a call with a customer, but logging the call, taking a break, or using the bathroom. The lower your “aux time”, the better your pay.

So, Olekan and I had noticed we were doing things a bit differently than the other hundred or so agents in the center. We talked about this, and began to see each other as rivals to compete and beat the other at our “aux time”. (I don’t know if you know this, but I tend to be a bit competitive. And so was Olekan.)

Before we knew it, our little competition had created a powerhouse of productivity. We were both getting very good at our jobs and we decided to share ideas and support each other to fine tune our skills.

What we really did was create our own little team. We didn’t have a formal team structure, but by sharing ideas and supporting each other we created a force of co-elevation. At the end of the day, we both won – better performance, extra incentives, and a whole lot more fun!

Here’s a great way to do this at your job: Next time someone shares a challenge they are facing at work, don’t offer advice. Instead, ask them,

“What can I do to support you in overcoming this challenge?”

Notice how that reframes the dynamic—from advice-giving to team-building. You’ve gone from “Here’s what you should do” to “I’ve got your back!”

Co-elevation isn’t just about teamwork; it’s about transforming “my” success into “our” success. And it starts with vulnerability, listening, and a collective drive to excel and win together.

Since we are talking about wins, let’s celebrate!

Most workplaces do celebrate stuff. They celebrate birthdays, work anniversaries, promotions, retirements…and that’s about it.

But the best teams celebrate progress. Don’t believe me? Next time you’re watching a sporting event, look beyond the athleticism and pay attention to the camaraderie and celebration.

In sports, when someone scores, the players cheer, not just the crowd and the coach – all teammates get excited for the achievement. And they do it every step of the way, not just when scoring or winning at the end of the game.

Think about this: when a player does something good, performs at a higher level, or reaches the next marker, their teammates cheer them on. High fives, pats on the back, and chest bumps are all on display.

Why? Because it feels good! Celebrating and cheering releases dopamine, endorphins, and oxytocin, which create feelings of pleasure, camaraderie, and confidence. And those emotions lead to motivation. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We’ll talk about motivation soon enough.

I once worked with a healthcare company where morale had reached some pretty low levels. Culture among employees was about as appealing as you might find in a laboratory petri dish.

With people basically going through the motions and doing just enough to not get fired, we implemented a “Shoutout” recognition program – one based, not on manager recognition, but peer recognition.

It was a little awkward at first because employees didn’t know how to do it or what to say, but we coached employees on how to better express themselves and soon it started to catch on.

Shoutouts were posted in emails and on digital signage to recognize goal attainment, individual greatness, and peer appreciation (simple things like thanks for: picking up my shift, helping me move the A/V equipment, setting up the recreation room, sitting with one of my patients).

Within weeks of implementation, we saw employee engagement go up by over 200% and productivity soared. People actually began to enjoy their workplace again. They couldn’t wait to see their name on the TV screens in the hallways – whether it was receiving recognition or giving it!

And later that year, this organization received its first ever perfect survey – not a single deficiency across the all departments in the entire division. Talk about a celebration!

So, how can you do it at your workplace? Think about a coworker who recently crushed it on an assignment. Take a moment to jot down what they did and why it mattered. And then tell them what an impact they made. Extra credit if you tell that person today!

Celebration is something we should do more regularly. It’s easy to spot the mistakes, and we sure don’t hesitate to point them out. Instead of seeking out error, approach awareness from an appreciative aspect. Put a smile on someone’s face, recognize their effort…appreciation makes all the difference.

While recognition and celebration are great, real teamship success comes from peer motivation. Here is where we really get to prove that we have each other’s backs.

Now, motivation is typically seen as something that is strongest when it comes from within. In fact, it is a requirement that we internalize any external stimulus, incentive, or urging before we actually do anything about it.

And that’s because it has to mean something to us—we have to assign meaning or align purpose in order to be motivated.

Another client of mine was going through a culture shift and needed to ensure mutual alignment and engagement with the new direction. We implemented a recognition program based on the Ken Blanchard book, Gung Ho!

It was a peer-based program, and it sought to engage employees to nominate coworkers from within departments and across departments. Each nomination had to select one of three ways their coworker was doing excellent work, and they had to write an explanation of how that person was excelling in that area.

The three aspects were:

1. The Spirit of the Squirrel – working with purpose
2. The Way of the Beaver – supporting with trust
3. The Gift of the Goose – cheering the progress

With this new language, all team members now knew how to appreciate each other, and what words to use to achieve the greatest impact. This process of nominating others through story and appreciation created an add-on effect. People started thinking about tasks and assignments with a sense of meaning and purpose for the work of others and for themselves, because they could end up giving an award or even winning one themselves.

How can you do this at your workplace? Take a minute to think about a project you are working on. See if you can find a task that you’re really not that interested in. Maybe it is boring, or hard, or not exactly in your “job description”. Now zoom out – what bigger purpose does this task serve? Draw a line of sight from the drudgery of your task to the delight of the customer.

We all struggle to find the motivation to get through the tough stuff. Often finding that motivation is a matter of taking a new perspective. When we are able to zoom out and gain a line of sight between us and the customer, we increase purpose and incentive to complete the task. And ultimately, we can use this knowledge (or superpower!) to support our teammates in assigning meaning and aligning purpose to their own work.

That is what teamship is all about – working with purpose, supporting with trust, and cheering the progress.

So, how will you seek out ways to shun mediocrity and spur excellence through co-elevation? How will you cheer your team’s strengths and efforts through recognition and celebration? And how will you alter your perspective to find meaning and purpose in your work to embrace the power of motivation?

Leadership isn’t about being the smartest (or bossiest) person in the room. It’s about giving everyone in the room the ability to shine. If we continue to think about leadership as being in the spotlight, we still have a pretty dark room. We can’t see anyone’s faces, we can’t see what they are feeling, and we certainly can’t see what they are doing.

When we give each team member the opportunity to shine, we create a room of bright light. When we shine our light, we can share that light; and when we share that light, we all shine brighter.