Build Your Best Teams

We had a departing teammate. They were – still are – pretty awesome! They were wise and mature. They had advanced degrees. They grew up all over the globe and their viewpoint was a benefit to the organization. They led a team well, and they spoke up when they saw a problem. They showed up to work on time, every day. They were positive. They demonstrated impeccable integrity. Nearly everyone thought highly of them.?

Exactly someone you would pick for a leadership team.?

During the exit interview they mentioned they had been struggling with their supervisor for a couple of years. In fact, their former supervisor refused to give them a well-deserved promotion.?

They never said anything.

Their former supervisor was already gone but the damage had been done. We didn’t get to retain this awesome person. And they had lots of life options, because great talent always does.

Their conversation with me, more than any other, emphasized building a team.?

Why does this matter to you? Because when you are a leader you need to build your best teams. Poets. Artists. Engineers. Scientists. Musicians. Men. Women. Different hair styles. Different skin colors. Different religions. They might love various people.

It’s not easy. Your best team might feel a little uncomfortable, because people feel most comfortable around people who look and talk like they do. But to have an exceptional team you need to bring different talents to the forefront.

You’ll also face some bureaucracy in molding your team. How are you going to get it done?

How about a couple of perspectives on promotion inside your subordinate teams.

First side of this argument: you should let your leadership teams promote as they feel appropriate.

Your leadership team should be able to promote inside their teams at their discretion. You trust your leadership team. After all, you meet with them regularly. You mentor them. You talk about the organization’s values and you feel like you are on the same page.?

You trust them because you demonstrate there is nothing, NOTHING, more important than developing your leadership team. You move together. You disagree (and you will accept feedback) on how to do something, but you rarely disagree on why to do something.

Because you trust your leadership team, you will prepare your leadership team with expectations for considering others for promotion. You will guide them to conduct a rigorous hiring process.

Then you will trust them to select who they feel is appropriate for promotion.

Seems like a pretty sound argument.

Second side of the argument: build your best teams to improve performance.

Your leadership team is probably going to pick people that look and speak like they do for promotions. Just statistically speaking – that’s a truth.?

Does that mean your subordinates pick the best candidates for promotion? Yes. Maybe. Sometimes. No. The answer is different every time.

Let’s rephrase the question, because we didn’t ask the important one yet. Here it is:

WILL THEY BUILD THE BEST TEAM??

This begs another question. What comprises the best team?

Isn’t the best team one that can solve problems quickly? One that arrives at multiple solutions for various problems instead of the same tired solutions? Teams that are curious. Teams that are relentless. Teams that have the best athletes but also the best role players. Teams that manage time well. Teams that have a human connection.

These people are going to be all different. Poets. Artists. Engineers. Scientists. Musicians. Tattoos. Beards. Scars. There are probably going to be some men. Some women. They will probably have different hair styles. Different skin colors. Different religions. They might love various people.

If it’s important to you that all of your teams function in a high-performing way, would you try and build your best teams??

Also seems like a pretty sound argument.

Third approach: the blended version.

You’re the leader in charge of all of these teams. Each of the teams has its own leader.?

The best team approach is important to you. You’ve seen them outperform other teams time and time again. Your subordinate leaders will share this opinion to varying degrees. Some of them will outright disagree with you.?

It’s also important to you to give authority to your subordinate leaders. You are preparing them to ultimately surpass you. You will continue to mentor them. You will continue to talk about the organization’s values. You will talk about the value of diversity.

You shouldn’t force a subordinate leader to promote someone they don’t support. That approach makes it miserable for both the subordinate leader and the person who earned the promotion.

So what do you do, leader of leaders? Some suggestions.

You will review who does and who doesn't get a promotion. You will talk with your leadership team members about the rationale for who they selected. This allows you the opportunity to further mentor your subordinate leader. It will allow you to do a sanity check. You trust your leadership team but everyone has biases that you need to work to minimize.

You will hire team leaders who value the best team approach.

You will figure out how to promote your high performers, no matter their background. Because great talent has lots of life options, and you want it to stay in-house.??

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