End of Individualism Part-I

Bruce Piasecki talks on how teams can perform much better than the individuals.

 

A good news is companies can shatter the individualistic mindset wherever it occurs and guide employees to a better way to work—while tapping into and maximizing their raw talent.

 

But first, leaders must understand that managing teams, with their web of politics and the complex interplay of different personalities, is very different from managing individuals.

 

I’d like to share eight insights on teams:

 

Great teams are led by captains. It takes a special type of leader—a captain—to create not just a loose affiliation of individuals but a true team that’s founded on shared values and focused on a common goal. Captains are quick to recognize the key capabilities of their team members and to plan around their strengths and weaknesses.

 

Fierce individualism has no place in teams. A captain must not allow a most-valuable-player syndrome to define the team’s behavior, and be on the alert for the individual who might be losing sight of the team that gave him this MVP identity. It’s in these situations that workplace ills such as favoritism, sexism, and even criminal activity like embezzlement tend to flourish.

 

Seek to hire “coachable” individuals rather than individually-minded high performers. Do everything possible to promote and reward teamwork rather than individualism. Whether your efforts are centered on pay structure, group incentives, verbal recognition, or some other technique, send the signal that it’s strong teams (not strong individuals) that make up a strong company.

 

Teams hold the bar high for everyone, especially the superstars. In all teams there is an inherent desire to protect our superstars and keep them winning. (Never mind those whose contributions that are not lauded but are no less crucial.)

 

We are aware of situations when everyone seemed willing to go along with a wrong. We recall instances in recent history where politics and fear enabled the Nazis, and where embezzlement seemed the norm. Captains must be mindful of this tendency to look the other way, to give our victors the benefit of the doubt. We must be vigilant and alert to wrongdoing. We must be willing to ferret out corruption in the highest echelons, to bench the MVP, even to fire the superstar for the good of the team.

 

Teams must be willing to lose sometimes, or they will eventually self-destruct. When teams keep winning, team members can become addicted to victory—even feel entitled to it—and this is what drives them to illicit extremes. The lesson is clear: When we don’t learn to tolerate failure, we will do anything to keep the public adulation coming.

 

Teams become great because they keep things in perspective and understand the broader context of competition; namely, that there is always a larger league and a set of better players out there, no matter what you’ve achieved or what rung on a ladder you’ve just climbed. No one can always win. An inability to tolerate failure makes a team easy prey for “the dark side.”

 

Great teams revel in the pleasure of persistence and the sheer thrill of striving. Knowing that we will stumble and fall from time to time, yet get up and try again with some success, is at the heart of a great team.