To Build a Strong Team, Trade “Me” for “We”

By Jeff Wolf

Time to read: less than 1 minute

“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships,” basketball great Michael Jordan once said.

Each of us should embrace this profound bit of wisdom from the superstar who won five MVP awards over the span of his career, the man who was also named the greatest North American athlete of the twentieth century by ESPN.  You will face unnecessary challenges and certain defeats if you fail to build a strong team. Why, then, do so many leaders and managers flounder when they are charged with leading a team?

In many cases, leaders limit their focus to their own performance: how they will be judged by their CEOs or shareholders, whether completion of a certain task will garner the admiration of others, or how they will be compensated personally for their achievements. Just like toddlers, they want to be the center of attention at all times, and everyone else is supposed to orbit their sun.

Remember the old axiom about checking your ego at the door?  Adopt it as a mantra, to be repeated as you arrive at your office each day.  In its most basic form, team building requires you to trade me and my for we and our.  Great leaders understand their ultimate success depends on the combined forces of a highly skilled group.

Jeff Wolf is the author of the international best-seller Seven Disciplines of a Leader.

A dynamic speaker and highly requested executive coach he was named one of the country’s top 100 thought leaders for his accomplishments in leadership development and managerial effectiveness.

He may be reached at 858-638-8260 or [email protected]