Building a Team of Individuals

I was recently asked to interview a candidate for a sales role, with a view to giving my opinion on whether they could ‘do the job’ but also whether they would be a cultural fit for the organisation.

(I should probably caveat this article with the statement that, I have never ‘managed’ a team of sales people, so these are merely observations of working in some very strong teams both now and in the past.)

As with everything, I did a lot of research into how to find the best sales people, and it got me thinking about not just how that one person would function as a salesperson, but also how would they fit into the team they were joining.

I’ve recently been reading Ant Middleton’s (First Man In – available at all good book stores). Aside from being a fantastic read, it’s a real thought provoker. Without spoiling it for anyone, Ant was a real high performer in the forces and constantly leading from the front. He was so far ahead though, that it caused him some challenges, and once he realised it was more important to be a team player, his career flourished.

In a recent 360 review, one of my feedback comments was that I ‘begrudge the success of others’. I would have to say that that couldn’t be further from the truth. Yes, I am very competitive, and I want to always win, or at least be near the front, but I’d much rather everyone around me won, and I was the best, than winning at the expense of others. Strong people don’t put others down… They lift them up (Michael P Watson).

All this got me thinking. If you were going to build a sales team, or add someone into a sales team, you obviously want someone with a strong sales background, but more importantly, are they going to be a team player? Better still, is there something extra they could add to the team.

Back to Ant, and he eventually joined the special forces. Now these people are different class. The best of the best at what they do. But within their team, they all have ‘special skills’ to add to their base line skills, and it’s here that I believe we can draw comparisons to team building in the corporate world. Salespeople can be lone wolves. We all know that salesperson who is a high achiever that doesn’t play well with others. And if you can’t think of one, then it’s probably you. Maybe that person used to be me too.

Everyone knows I love an analogy. If we look at someone like Pep Guardiola and his football team Manchester City F.C. Currently they have the potential of being the first team to win all four competitions they’re in (both domestic and European), no mean feat. They’re in the position they’re in not just because Pep has filled the squad with all the best footballing individuals (they are all individually good – but arguably not necessarily the best in the world in each of their positions), he’s done it by gradually building a team around a common goal, and each time he’s added a squad member, they’ve brought something extra to the collective.

If we look at Formula 1. Many photos of the pit crew are shared when talking about building teams. Recently I was in a session where it was used to emphasise the need to grow the team past the individuals you currently work with on a day to day basis. A pretty good analogy. But (I love to challenge), if you look at that pit crew, they are all very clear on their individual jobs. They rehearse and run drills time and time again. Each member knows not only their own job, but those of the rest of the team. They understand both their value to the team and the pit crew’s value to the overall success of the F1 team. Nothing is left to chance, and there are no ‘hangers on’. If you are going to grow your team, there must be value in each member of that team to positively effect the overall outcome of the group goal.

I believe we could learn from all of this in business. Whether you are replacing someone or growing the team, we will certainly be asking ourselves whether the new candidate can do the job at hand, and whether they would be a ‘cultural fit’ for the organisation. But are we assessing whether their addition could add something to improve the team, and just as importantly, could the team add something to the individual?