Building Teams That Lead Themselves — Jamie Thomas
It’s a question I’ve asked often throughout my career — whether leading billion-dollar businesses at IBM, managing globally distributed teams, or navigating complex digital transformations. And over time, I’ve come to believe that the best teams don’t just execute well — they lead themselves.
That’s the heart of transformational leadership: empowering individuals to take ownership, hold each other accountable, and rise together. Leadership isn’t something you do to a team. It’s something you build within a team.
From Compliance to Commitment
Early in my career, I thought effective leadership meant providing clear direction and managing performance. And to some degree, that’s still true. But lasting impact comes when you move beyond oversight and foster ownership.
Inspired in part by Keith Ferrazzi’s Never Lead Alone, I’ve embraced a philosophy where every member of the team becomes a leader in their own right. That means creating space for honest dialogue. It means inviting dissent, especially from voices that are often overlooked. And it means encouraging the kind of peer accountability that transforms culture from the inside out.
When teams are truly empowered, something shifts. You don’t have to micromanage. You don’t even have to motivate. The team becomes self-correcting, self-aware, and deeply invested in a shared mission.
Inclusion as a Performance Multiplier
As a woman in technology, I’ve experienced both the challenges of being underestimated and the power of being deeply supported. That’s why inclusive leadership is so central to how I build teams.
Inclusion isn’t just about representation. It’s about recognizing and elevating individual strengths, creating an environment where diverse perspectives are not only welcomed but essential. I’ve seen firsthand how culturally aware, cross-functional teams outperform homogenous ones — especially in global organizations like IBM, where success depends on collaboration across 140+ countries.
In my leadership roles, I’ve prioritized coaching over control. I’ve focused on creating an environment where ideas can surface freely, dialogue drives progress, and individuals are encouraged to bring their unique strengths to the table. My goal has always been to help high-potential talent grow by giving them the space and confidence to contribute meaningfully and take on stretch opportunities.
If you want to build high-performing teams, start by letting go. Let go of the idea that you must have all the answers. Let go of control as your default mode. Instead, build cultures of trust, autonomy, and shared responsibility.
True leadership isn’t about being the hero. It’s about making sure no one needs one.
When people feel seen, when they feel responsible to each other — not just to the person above them — transformation takes root. And when that happens, you don’t just lead change. You scale it.
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