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Title: Designing a Superstar Team
Word Count: 1092
Author: Bea Fields and Corey Blake
Email: fivestarleader@yahoo.com
Category: Business – General
Article URL:
http://www.submityourarticle.com/articles/easypublish.php?art_id#16722
The article is preformatted to 60CPL.
Designing a Superstar Team
We’ve all been part of teams in one form or another.
You’ve probably had “team” experiences since you were very
young, whether on a sports-field, the debate team , with a
Girl or Boy Scout troupe, or with some volunteer
organization. You most likely enjoyed study or project
groups in college. In your professional life, you quickly
learned that despite your best solo efforts to change the
world-or at least your industry-doing the best job and
building a successful business meant surrounding yourself
with the best individuals.
You might consider it a given that as a business owner or
entrepreneur you want to surround yourself with the ideal
team. On the other hand, you may be a solo entrepreneur
who considers your helpers-accountant, webmaster, etc.-to
be merely a part of the peripheral landscape. Either way,
intentionally communicating your purpose, aligning your
team around it, and communicating your expectations and
your passion, can help you attract the people who want to
go there with you. Before you can do that, though, you
have be able to define what makes not just a team=85but a
Super Star Team.
First of all, a group is not necessarily a team, especially
in today’s virtual world, where people with varied skills
are dispersed and may be asked to collaborate from around
the globe. Second, teams rarely come together simply for
the sake of being a team; they come together united for a
common purpose=85one built on shared objectives. Super Star
teams are comprised of incredibly bright and talented
people who already have individual track records of
success. They come together with their collective talents
to achieve new, fresh and exciting things=85to achieve Super
Star objectives. The team creates a competitive advantage
and works together to achieve superior levels of
performance.
Before you conclude that this team building process sounds
like a walk in the park with everyone stepping in sync,
think again. By its very nature, the dynamics of working
with a group of brilliant, talented, focused people will
stretch every member and require them to tread on uncharted
territory. But what an exciting trek! In such an
environment, the work remains challenging and new.
How do you build a Super Star Team? Ask yourself these
questions:
1. Who is on your team?
It is important to realize and appreciate that beyond the
people you hire and the partners with whom you
interact-people who are actively engaged in maintaining and
growing your business on a daily basis-your team is really
anyone who is supportive of your accomplishments. Don’t
overlook the sphere of influence that your family and
friends are part of. Ultimately, it is your responsibility
to monitor who provides positive support and who extends
negative expectations. Surround yourself with people who
know you are shooting for the moon and who wholeheartedly
support and reflect your core values.
2. Where are you going and does your team know the
itinerary?
You probably realize the importance of keeping your
employees and your executive team up to speed on your
vision. But what about your family, friends, or the other
people whose influence you feel most in your daily life?
Have you clearly articulated to them where you are going
and how you plan to get there? If you don’t share your
business plan and your passion with the people who are
closest to you, how will they know how to best support you?
Don’t assume that comments you make in passing will drive
home the gravity of your message. Be specific. Sharing
your vision can create a dynamic whereby your core values
become more clearly defined in the give and take of
conversation. Make specific time with people to discuss
where you are going and how they can help you get there.
Express your passion respectfully and individually with the
people who matter most to you, and it will spread like
wildfire.
3. What qualities are most important in your team members?
Integrity? Passion? Tenacity? Knowing the qualities you
value most is only the half of the equation. It’s also
up to you to create the environments that allow and, in
fact, challenge your team to grow and nurture those
qualities. Creating such a platform will also encourage
people to admit when they fall short, take constructive
criticism, and make adjustments in their performance
because they are working within a supportive network of
well defined boundaries.
4. Are you tolerating people who don’t embody your key
values or qualities? If so, why?
Are you afraid of conflict? Do you like to play the
martyr? Do you want everyone to like you? Are you afraid
of being “wrong”? While any one or all of these may be
true at different times, the key to addressing this
question goes back to defining and adhering to your
must-haves, your core values. When you begin each day with
a commitment to them, you won’t have time or energy to
waste on anyone or anything that does not remain in
alignment with what matters most to you and your business.
Essentially, to build a Super Star Team, you must first be
a Super Star yourself. There are several keys to being the
kind of leader that attracts the best of the best.
1. Think big! Visionary thinkers create visionary
businesses.
2. Think fast! Stay on your toes and expect the same from
others. A Harvard degree doesn’t necessarily equate to
best and brightest. Whether a potential team member is
book smart or street smart, be sure the person is a quick
study with the intellectual and emotional capacity to
navigate your growing business.
3. Think now! Change is good. Be cutting edge and ride
the tides and you’ll attract people who feel empowered by
that kind of exciting energy.
4. Think fun! When you are having fun and doing what you
love, quality people with similar values will find you and
your business attractive. Once you have a Super Star Team
in place, fun is one of the things that will keep them
there.
A Super Star Team evolves out of the synergistic energy
that you put in motion. It begins and grows from being
absolutely intentional about your values and your vision.
When you have those two things defined, you’ll find
yourself working with people who constantly inspire and
challenge you=85and not by accident. You will have created a
purposeful dynamic in which you and the people who matter
most in your life will accomplish great things and touch
many lives.
About the Author:
Bea Fields and Corey Blake with Eva Silva are the
co-authors of Edge!:A Leadership Story
(http://Edge-Book.com). Fields is an Executive Coach and
the President of Five Star Leader Coaching and Training.
Blake is an author, screenplay writer and the President of
Writers of the Round Table Inc.
(Http://Writersoftheroundtable.com).