Picking Your Team

I often try to emphasize to executives and managers at all levels that you are only as good as the team you surround yourself with. You can be brilliant, visionary and exceptionally innovative but if you surround yourself with a team that is below average and close to incompetent, you will not be an effective leader. On the other hand, you can be nothing more than average but if the team around you is exceptionally competent, you will get the results of a superstar.

The first question that comes to mind simply stated is; who picked your team? If you inherited the team that surrounds you, your first priority is to figure out both the pluses and the minuses of each individual team member. Additionally it is your responsibility to make sure that every one of your team members clearly understands your expectations.

How Do You Know if You Have the Right Team

If the team you surround yourself with has such a dramatic influence on your performance as a leader, I have to ask you; when was the last time you evaluated your team? If you have never done it formally, do it now. It would be very beneficial to evaluate your team performance and individual team members every three to four months.

A cohesive management team is the most important ingredient to your company’s success. The management team needs to function as a cohesive unit to maximize their accomplishments. Success of your management team can be defined by what they accomplish as a group. A synergy within the team that creates unity, clarity of direction with a common purpose that is in alignment with strategic initiatives.

Here are three simple yet direct questions to use to assess your team:

1. Do you have the right people on your team? High quality people; people who can do a number of tasks; people who support your skills and negate your weaknesses. If you aren’t absolutely certain about every single team member, the chances are you have some team members that need further evaluation or potentially you need to replace them. Individuals do not usually fail because of lack of education, experience, training, or skills. They fail because their personality and behavior is not compatible to the behavioral requirements of their particular position. If employees are not suitable for their position or if they do not achieve their potential, the organization can fail or never achieve its potential. It certainly will never maximize effectiveness.

How can I be sure I have identified those people I must replace? A person may be highly talented but may not be the right fit for your team, your company. It's time to be honest with yourself. If you hired this person and things just don’t click, admit your mistake and move on.

3. How do I help my team maximize their effectiveness and validate that I have them performing the right functions for the company. (To Quote Collins, Good to Great; are they in the right seat on the bus?).

You must match their talents to your company needs and your needs as their leader. When you have the right people in just the right seat they will flourish. Success breeds success.The quality of your team personnel is the single most factor that determines whether you and the company are going to be successful, whether it will realize a satisfactory return on its investment, and whether it will maximize profitability!

“If the wrong person is selected initially to be on your team, no training program or motivational system, no matter how well conceived and designed, is likely to compensate adequately or offset the original error made in hiring such a person!”
William J. Winslow

Don’t be Perplexed

If you're just a bit perplexed on how to evaluate your team, e-mail me, rick@ceostrategist.com and I will put you in touch with the Winslow Institute which provides the best tool for evaluating team members that I have ever come across. The Winslow Employee Development tool will provide valuable insight into why some employees are functioning successfully and why others are performing unsatisfactorily. The Reports this tool generates will enable employees to capitalize on their personality assets and control behaviors that are limiting or preventing success in their positions. They will significantly increase the probability that every employee will be successful and achieve their potential. The best part is that it doesn’t cost a lot and the value provided compared to what turnover costs today is phenomenal. Don’t make the mistake of cutting back on employee development and training because economic conditions are tough. It’s in times like these that it is even more important that we make sure we have the right people in the right seats and we do everything possible to enhance their opportunity to maximize the effectiveness of the organization which, more importantly, will maximize profitability and growth.

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