As a leader, I tend towards necessities over niceties: hire smart, be respectful, offer unwavering support, and get out of the way. Let your team do what it does best and it will thrive.

This is all well and good except that a team is not an "it."

There is a lot we can talk about when it comes to teams. For today, let's take a small bite and talk about connection.

Teams will not perform at their best if the team members are disconnected from each other. Connection doesn't just happen so leaders must create opportunities for team members to interact positively with each other.

Think communication.

Create opportunities for relaxed and natural communication for your team:

Have a 10 minute morning huddle that is short on business and high on interaction.
Incorporate peer-to-peer recognition into daily huddles, team meetings or activities.
Involve every member of the team in weekly updates and keep your agendas loose.

Think fun.

Create non-cheesy opportunities for your team to let their guard down and laugh.

Have a weekly riddle with a small prize for the first to guess the right answer.
Revise the break schedule so the team can take a break at the same time.
Break the routine. Get out of the office, the building or prescribed roles.

Do the ideas above seem simplistic? Think again. Actually, don't think again. This is not difficult, don't try to make it so. You don't have to do this on your own. Actually, you can't do this on your own - you need people to make this work.

Take your all employee survey scores seriously, ask questions, listen to the responses and take action. Let your team do what it does best and it will thrive.

You can do this.

Building Team Connection by Lisa Rosendahl first appeared on lisarosendahl.com

On July 19, 1910, the governor of the U.S. state of Washington proclaimed the nation’s first “Father’s Day.” However, it was not until 1972, 58 years after President Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day official, that the day became a nationwide holiday in the United States.

Whether we choose to have a day to recognize a mother, father, grandparent or any another influential relationship in a child's life, or not, children need adults in their lives who love and adore them - always.

Because it's Father's Day, let's talk about dads.

Dads are cool.

I remember reading early on in my pregnancy about the tremendous ability a father has to influence the lives of their daughters. As much as this mom wanted her daughter to be hers and hers alone, she can't deny that there is a special connection between a dad and his daughter.

Neither will ever fully understand what it's like to be the other but that doesn't stop them from connecting. Rather, it creates a wide open space for dads and daughters to create their own unique experiences.

I knew our daughter was going to be in good hands.

In between four-wheeler rides, tubing, sledding, fishing, canoe rides, maybe-not-so-appropriate movies, bad jokes, You-Tube animal videos, late morning sleep-ins, McDonald's meals and visits to the neighbors, this father provides his daughter with a calm steady presence, unconditional love, respect, encouragement and a voice of reason to my maybe-a-little-overprotective motherly emotion.

Raising a child is joyful, but not easy. This dad stepped up to the challenge. Our daughter is growing into a confident, independent, capable and strong teenager. She's kind, respectful and funny.

Above all, she loves her dad.

Happy Father's Day, Bill.

Four-Wheeler Bonds: A Day in the Life Sunday by Lisa Rosendahl first appeared on lisarosendahl.com

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Lisa Rosendahl