How To Build A Core Team That Last

This topic came up a few times this week during my working sessions with the startup community. I was glad to learn about the different situations they were in and I explored options and possibilities with the founders and co-founders based on my own startup experiences and wisdom like I always do.

So I’ve decided to write about this and expand on some of the views I’ve expressed during my working session. They are purely based on experiences of my own as well as some of my business associates.

In particular, I’m writing this articles according to the most frequently asked questions I received from my working session with the startup community. Since they found it useful, I believe more business owners could benefit from some of the information covered here.?

How do I find the right people for my core team and believe in my vision?

Well, before you, as founders and co-founders even go there, it would be more important for you to make sure the following three things are happening or will happen in the near future.

1. You are committed to continuous learning and development.
2. You are committed to become a human-first leader.
3. You are committed to embrace shared vision and mission.

It’s always easier to convince the potential team member to believe in a SHARED vision than your vision. Everyone is loyal to one universal radio station - WIIFM. In other words, everyone - including the selfless ones - is looking out for things that serves and works for them.

More so at this point in time than at any other previous times. This is because the pandemic has affected everyone in different ways. Some have suffered more than others. Some is coping better than others. And everyone would have changed in some ways compared to before the pandemic.?

As such, working adults are becoming very selective about which organisation they want to invest their future in. The Great Resignation is proof that many people no longer want to tolerate human-last practices.?

That’s why you must commit yourself to be a human-first leader in order to craft a human-first vision. If that is your future, then you are giving good reasons for others to buy into it. It would also be easier and convenient for some people who may not have their own vision to embrace a vision that resonates with them.

Finally, attracting the right people is no longer enough. You may have enough dry powder to employ them but money alone - being a hygiene factor - is never the reason to inspire them to give you their best.?

Just when you think you are taking a risk in investing in your core team’s future, they are also taking a risk in investing their future in your company. As such, they would want to see evidence that it’s worth their while to contribute their best abilities to make your company a success story.

When your vision is SHAREABLE and/or human-first, you will eventually attract the right people to want to be part of your pursuit. They, in turn, would gladly be your company’s ambassadors and cheerleaders. They would gladly tell the world how they’ve grown to be a better person through the work they accomplish in your company. They would publicly hail the leaders for becoming empowering role models.

You can only be such a leader when you commit yourself to continuous learning and development. As long as you are still breathing, you keep learning. As long as you keep learning effectively and efficiently, you’ will always be growing in different aspects of your life. Over time, you become the best version of yourself!

Take this moment to imagine an empowering role model that is the best version of him or herself. Don’t you want to work for such a leader? Don’t you want to be guided and learn from such a leader??

So go ahead and be that leader!

Then you don’t have worry about finding the right people to be your core team, they will find you!

You don’t have to convince them to buy into your vision because it is a vision that has taken their best interests at heart.

How do I assess the soft and hard attributes when it comes to team building?

There is important differences between team building, team bonding and team effectiveness.?

These are definitions based on my experiences in forming and managing teams in various businesses that I owned. I have conducted many experimentations to ensure that I have maximum team effectiveness to achieve business and project goals in various situations.?

A lot can be written about this topic. However, in this article I will just briefly explain the differences and suggest the best time to assess core team’s attributes.

Team building is about placing the right people in the right role in order to create the strongest synergy possible. To do that it’s crucial that I am aware of everyone’s strengths and weaknesses in my regular interactions with them. That is certainly not cast in stone. Their suitability in an assigned role - sometimes more than one - will be assessed and reviewed at set intervals. That’s why I make sure that every member of my team is multi-skilled.?

Once they’re in the right roles, the next step is to help them understand each other’s strengths, weaknesses and other differences so that they can truly work together. And the ability of working together is an art that deserve a separate cover on its own.?

I will encourage team members to prioritise in gaining wider understanding of each other’s temperance, behaviours and working styles. They learn how to professionally work with differences: be it in opinion, behaviours, beliefs, values and in thinking. They also diligently learn to communication honestly, transparently and respectfully when conflicts and disputes happen. That’s team bonding.?

Once operations begins, we look at team effectiveness to ensure that everyone is performing at his/her peak regardless of the changing situations. Everyone deal with stress in their own way. Everyone in my team also know that the fast the team can progress is determined by the weakest member of the team. So everyone will chip in to support the weakest team member in a given situation.?

Synergy is a fundamental component of team effectiveness. As their leader, it’s my priority to provide assistance, support in terms of resources to them so that they can focus on giving their best to accomplish their tasks and achieving the set objectives. In other words, I’m like a football coach.

So when do you think is the best time to assess the soft and hard attributes of your core team?

How do I motivate my team?

To me, there’s a very important difference between motivation and inspiration.

Motivation is activated as a result of an external cause - like money, status and privileges. It operates through a push factor, like a propellant. The effects are immediate and powerful surge ahead and quickly loses momentum when the fuel (motivation) runs out.

Inspiration is activated as a result of an internal cause - like life purpose, personal growth, meaningful work. It may take longer to build from within but once they ripe, the power is usually self-generating like an electric vehicle. It may not surge ahead like the effects of motivation, but it certainly can sustainably progress further.

So there are times when you want to motivate your team and there are times when you want to inspire your team. You need to clearly know when to do what.

If you want your team to achieve a short term goal or raise their level of productivity to cover additional grounds or handle a looming crisis, then motivation works best - temporarily.

If you want your team to naturally and proactively perform at the peak, uphold high standards of operation, takes the initiative to travel the extra miles to sustain high quality of work and stay motivated in the flow of work, then inspiration is what they need and want.?

How do I know if I’m not under-paying or over-paying my team members?

There are many salary surveys that are conducted annually for all major roles and industries by recruitment agencies and HR consultancies. Some surveys even have data on per country basis.?

Here’s my question to you.

How attractive is your organisation’s value proposition to your current and future?talent pool? Remember, it’s not merely about recruiting them. You want to recruit them and inspire them to give you their best even in the most challenging situations. You want them to speak about your organisation proudly and frequently!?

This is important because talents would go further in their research for their next employer by listening to what existing staff have to say about that organisation. ?

More and more talents are making their employment decisions that goes beyond the salary.?

One-third of workers who switched jobs during the pandemic took less pay in exchange for better work-life balance, according to a survey by Prudential. And about 20% of workers said they would take a 10% pay cut if it meant they could work for themselves or have better hours.?

Many workers also want job security and would trade higher pay to work for a company long-term. They sever found that 56% said they had or would consider prioritising stability over a bigger salary.

So instead of just looking at the pay alone, expand your optics to look at the total remuneration plus the complete work experience.?

Help your core team become Intrapreneurs

One of the most important roles and responsibilities as the company founder is to make sure that everyone understands everything about the business - from the business model to the customer behaviour.

More often than not, the person in charge of a certain business function is only interested or aware of things within that business function. That’s why misunderstanding happens. That’s why they claimed, “This is not my job or area of responsibility,”?Or “Why can’t they see the urgency of this matter?”

When everyone is trained to be an Intrapreneur, they would adopt a holistic view of the business. They would clearly see the interdependencies of every business function with each other. They will soon realise that each business function is like a limb on their body. They would then think and act like an in-house entrepreneur.