This week’s blog is in 2 parts. Part 2 will be posted on Thursday so that you have time to digest the contents of Part 1 first.
Whenever I run leadership workshops or team building events, I have participants pulling me aside and asking me if teamwork really makes the dream work. They would then proceed to tell me of their past experiences with creating, managing and leading a team, often either with little success or total dismay. I would usually thank them for sharing the stories with me, and reaffirm with them that teamwork really does make the dream work. If it is a small dream, like owning your own car at the end of the year, then you may not need teamwork. However, when you are talking about owning a garage of performance super cars, then you may need to start looking for the team.
We all know that one can only go so far. There is always a limit to how much we can do, as like everyone else, we have only 24 hours. The question is not how much of the 24 hours can I put to put good use, but rather, can I influence someone else to loan me their 24 hours? As a leader, you will be endowed with the ability to cast visions. You will also understand that not everyone wants to be a leader, though. Some may prefer to be lead, to be followers of the vision. It is then your job to influence them to help you reach your mutual goals.
And I am reminded of my own team. Whenever I am out to set up a team or to expand my current one, there are a few things I would take into consideration.
- The Values of the Person – Whether we like it or not, each of us are governed by our personal values. And these values are diverse! It can be anything from responsibility to wealth. I would go on to say that the success of any relationship, be it working or social, depends on the compatibility of the person’s values. To illustrate how important knowing a person’s values are, I have even designed a product called Value-Elicitation Cards, which is generally a stack of cards with the common values of a person, and you can know and even rank your values just by involving yourself in the process.
- The Skills of the Person – To bring value to the team, the new team member must always bring something to the table. Be it a skill or talent that currently you do not have. You can also bring in someone with the similar skills as yours, that way you can delegate and free up your time for other more productive activities. On this note, always remember to bring someone to complement you, not to compete with you.
- The Potential of the Person – Sometimes you may not have any openings in the company, but along came an individual you are sure have in them great potential, and you can see in the near future, he or she can bring great value to the company. You will also know that if this person is not approached now, he may end up in another organization. In cases like this, the decision need go through the entire current team, and plans need to be in place so what the resources can be maximized.
- The Purpose of the Person – Like you, everyone would have their dreams. It would make sense to discover those dreams early in the relationship to avoid anything ending badly. Although life is in nature impermanent, and nothing last forever, it would be great is the same team that started at the starting line crosses that finish line together. The true essence of the team are hardly it’s achievements, but rather the chemistry among the team. People must come together not because they have to (or worst, force to). They must come because they love to.
There are of course other things to look into, but these I believe are the fundamentals. It would not make sense to go further if these 4 are not fulfilled. Realizing the dream is more like getting the right people on the bus, as Jim Collins would say. I could not agree more.
Do you have your Dream Team in place already? If you do, congratulations! If not, what are you going to do about it? Talk to us about building the better team and making your dreams work.
Visit www.BillyKueek.com for information about our team building and leadership programs.