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Teams Built for Success
A Trail Map to Create Trust and Connection for Authentic Collaboration
Authors Shawn Creswell and Katy Sue Traicoff use the Team Trail Map to guide educators as they establish true, authentic connection and belonging. Their reflective exercises help teams in defining a shared vision and building effective teams that drive lasting school success.
Building connections for high-performing collaborative teams
Strong teams are intentionally built through trust, connection, and a shared vision. Authors Shawn Creswell and Katy Sue Traicoff use the Team Trail Map to move educators from compliance to true investment. Through reflection and proven strategies, build collaborative teams and strengthen relationships, fostering collective commitments. Use this step-by-step guide to create cohesive, effective teams in which every member feels valued.
K–12 teachers and administrators can use this book to:
- Build strong working relationships that embrace unique values, experiences, and skills
- Engage in authentic, productive conversations that promote trust and collaboration
- Create a team vision based on all members’ input and shared interests
- Develop action plans and establish expected team practices, norms, roles, and contributions
- Monitor and reflect on ongoing progress to attain goals and sustain team growth
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Additional Information
“Teams Built for Success is an invaluable workbook for collaborative teams seeking to build trust, connection, and high-performing collaboration. Through the innovative Team Trail Map, it guides educators to create a shared vision and establish collective commitments, norms, and productive communication practices, helping schools move beyond reactive fixes to proactive, unified teamwork that strengthens culture, reduces conflict, and drives success.”
“One of the most overlooked elements of effective teams is the intentional time taken to slow down, build relationships, and discover shared values that unite us. Teams Built for Success provides a thoughtful and practical foundation for cultivating trust within teams, while offering meaningful opportunities to pause, reflect, and check in along the way. It serves as a valuable guide for navigating our shared responsibility to align around common goals—ultimately strengthening our ability to support all students at the highest level.”
“Teams Built for Success is a powerful, practical guide for teams seeking to build trust, strengthen relationships, and create highly effective collaboration. Through intentional reflection activities and structured check-ins, it equips teams to grow together, celebrate progress, and stay focused on shared goals, levering individuals’ unique strengths to collectively accomplish far more together than they ever could achieve alone.”
“I love the format of this Teams Built for Success because it provides an easy, step-by-step guide with tools and templates that helps teams move beyond simply meeting together and become truly collaborative. I plan to use it with my guiding coalition to support our teams in taking the next steps toward greatness. Even teams that have worked together for years will benefit from the reflective tools and practical tips included throughout the book. I especially appreciated reading Creswell’s perspective as a principal alongside Traicoff’s teacher perspective—it speaks to the realities of school teams and will help educators achieve collaborative success.”
“As an elementary instructional coach, I've seen firsthand how the ‘it’ factor can transform a grade-level team from a group of independent practitioners into a powerhouse of collective efficacy. Teams Built for Success provides the essential trail map for making that transformation a reality. By moving beyond compliance and focusing on the deep, relational work of trust and shared vision, this book empowers educators to cultivate a healthy team culture in which adults and students thrive. It is an indispensable resource to help guide teams toward authentic collaboration.”
“If you are hoping to transform a group of independently operating educators into an interdependent, high-functioning team, then Teams Built for Success is an essential read. With their Team Trail Map, the authors offer an engaging approach that takes your team on a collaborative journey, packing a shared backpack to reach a common summit. The book is full of actionable activities to build the kind of teams that create environments where students can truly learn and thrive. I especially enjoyed the shared vision board concept, which encourages everyone to help paint the picture of where the team is headed rather than just following a map they receive. This book is a must-read for any educator ready to reach new heights with their team!”
