One of my favorite things to do is build teams. That’s a good thing. People who know me well know that on my own, I’m rather ordinary. I can do several things with average results.
Thankfully, I’ve had opportunities over the last couple of decades in my leadership capacities to find highly-gifted people to join my team. I did that back in my city manager days. I did that in my church leadership roles. And now I get to do it again as I build the team at The Unstuck Group.
Let me share a bit about the people on my current team:
- Amanda is tenacious when it comes to getting things done. She takes the plan and puts it into action. She delivers results.
- Jason breathes systems. He has a unique gift of taking complex challenges and creating simple processes that can be replicated with efficiency and excellence.
- Paul has a sharp, strategic mind. Once there’s agreement on the future, he can build the teams and clarify the next steps. He makes vision become reality.
- Ryan is the analyst. He can mine the raw data and past outcomes and find patterns that point to action priorities.
- Sarah is a wizard when it comes to staffing and structure. Because of here experiences with the Kellogg Company, she helps facilitate organizational health.
- Tiffany is a storyteller. She understands the critical intersection between quality content and social engagement. She’s an evangelist for helping churches get unstuck.
- Troy is a creative genius. He creates experiences. He creates communications that motivate a response. He can also lead creatives, which is a highly unusual combination.
As I reflect on the gifted people on my current team, I reminded of a few key characteristics that define the strength of my team:
- The people on my team have gifts that I don’t have. If you don’t have people on your team that can outperform you in their areas of strength, you have the wrong people on your team.
- The people on my team teach me new things. If you don’t have people on your team from whom you can learn, you have the wrong people on your team.
- The people on my team challenge me to grow. If you don’t have people on your team who force you to become a better leader, you have the wrong people on your team.
Let’s not forget, though, that the people on the team are not the only key factor for determining the strength of the team. The other key reason is the health of the leader. If you are not empowering the people on your team to use their unique strengths, experiences and personalities, you have the wrong leader in place.
Photo Credit: MitchFleming via Compfight cc
