Is Your Team Challenging Enough?

Mosaic 2011

Do you dare choose team members who challenge you? Do you dare build a team that is full of people who give you a hard time? 

When building your team, choosing people who are not easy to deal with, who truly challenge you is rewarding!

But why? Why should you make things harder on yourself? 

Allow me to tell you why…

When you have a diverse team, you…

Have to make a great effort to communicate your vision to different mind sets. You have to view your vision from every angle in order to make sense of it from every team member’s point of view. In addition, you have to make sure that everyone understands, comprehends, appreciates, and believes in your vision.

When you have a tough team, you…

Have to make the right decisions, and if you make a mistake you should hurry to admit it, then walk tall and strong! You have to really think before you speak! You have to make the rules even clearer! And you have to know that you should lead when there is a need. Although you have a tough team, you should not forget to celebrate their small successes and support them when in need.

When you have a vigorous team, you…

Consult, obtain, and integrate their suggestions and ideas into decision making. You invite your team members to share in choosing choices and in determining results. You also need to challenge them to perform work at the highest level of performance possible. You establish a high standard of excellence and expect them to seek continuous improvement. In addition, you need to show a high degree of confidence that your team members are capable of accomplishing challenging goals.

When you have a distinctive team, you…

Need to understand your team members’ characteristics. You’d need to change your leadership style according to the needs of your team members. You would support those who need affiliation. You would provide structure and clarity to members who are dogmatic and authoritarian. In addition, you should have the ability to jump from participative leadership to directive leadership with harmony while dealing with different circumstances.

When you're building a team, any team, to be effective, you need to help your team members by giving them what is missing from their environment and by helping them compensate for deficiencies in their abilities.

Why a challenging team? Because of their diversity, toughness, vigorousness, distinctiveness, and your unique leadership style you would reach the skies and above!

Do you dare?