Truth 40
Your Team Is Key to Your Success, So Vet Them Well

We've all seen coaches drive their players during difficult games—running along the sidelines, waving their arms, or standing still and tense, chewing their knuckles. You can sense their desire to run on and fix the situation!

Organizational leaders share that frustration. As your teams go about their work, you see many things that could or should be done differently or faster. However, no matter how good you are, you can't do everything yourself. A great team is essential to the accomplishment of your goals, and it's your job to make that team great, freeing you up to lead.

Your core team consists of all the folks who report to you. When starting a leadership position, you put the best possible team in place by combining inherited members with strategic new hires. This team-building should be a slow, considered process. Your first act should be to carefully check or vet team members to determine whether you have the right people in the right jobs. Don't change anything until you have a sense of how the current members work on their own and together.

This initial period gives you the chance, as you develop your vision and goals, to think about the skills and knowledge required from your team. You also gain a sense of whether members either already have these or can acquire them. Whenever possible, it works best to nurture existing team members into new responsibilities rather than fire and hire.

Here are some ways to vet your team:

1. Talking with others. Informally interview as many people as possible—bosses, peers, associates, and clients—about your team's abilities to gain a variety of perspectives. Be aware that we see each other based on our own skills and needs, so don't take anyone's views at face value, and weigh the implications of their opinions. Tell your team what you're doing, explaining that you are getting a sense of everyone's strengths so that you can organize them in the best way.
2. Observing your team. Keep a careful eye out for how team members handle themselves under stress, work with others, and support the work you're doing. Don't jump to conclusions based on one incident; you never know what has affected them in a given situation, so build up a gradual picture.
   

   Whenever possible, it
   works best to nurture
   existing team
   members into new
   responsibilities rather
   than fire and hire.

3. Testing your team. Set team assignments that allow them to showcase their skills and abilities. For example, have each team member show how well he or she can draw information from other departments to determine what the organization wants from a possible initiative or change. Then ask for their recommendations for what should happen next.
4. Coaching your team. Offer team members insights into their performance, and then note their capacity to change and grow in response. Remember, behaviors and motivation may change, but innate ability doesn't, so try to gain a sense of whether they are bright enough to learn from their own experiences, including mistakes and bad decisions.

After three months or so, you'll have a sense of how your team works, how individuals respond to your leadership, and how they learn from feedback. These criteria are key if you are to make decisions about who to keep and who to lose. Then, after about six months, it's time to make changes, letting go of team members who are no longer right for the job. This must be done sensitively, in close consultation with your legal and human resources experts.

You want excellent execution from your team. This requires great skills and experience, the ability to show grace under pressure, and a willingness to play ball. Last, but not least, they need to respect their coach: you!