Written by: Karolynn Hardy, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
You have probably heard some version of the advice “try to never be the smartest person in the room”. This is something great leaders have in common. They select great people around them, then empower them to do the work. Because great leaders know that “all boats rise with the tide”. Raise others up and you will rise with them. Leadership is not about having all the answers, but about being comfortable outside of your comfort zone.
Selecting a great team sounds obvious but it can be challenging to implement. Why?
Because a great team member is not always the smartest person in the room either. It is like a recipe. A great team member is a combination of three ingredients. These key ingredients lead to good selection.
Two of these ingredients align to the well-established model from Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard. Intended as a model to demonstrate how to adapt our leadership, the model also holds many clues for selection.
1. First, can this person do the job?
We want to short list people with the skills required for the team. This is the easy part. Establishing if someone has these skills and can do what you require, takes two questions:
Can this person share examples of their experiences and how they have implemented their skills?
Does this person show potential to continue growing, to apply their skills and knowledge to new situations?
2. Second, will this person do the job?
We all know of someone with a talent, but they do not apply themselves, never reaching their full potential. Establishing if someone has the will to be part of your team, takes two considerations:
Is this role you require of them aligned with their purpose?
Will this role provide alignment with their goals and aspirations?
Retention of talent is becoming even more difficult during the global phenomena being called the “Great Resignation”. Research shows that the typical tenure for younger generations is two years. For those who remain in roles longer, the drawcards remain development opportunities and alignment with their purpose.
So, what is the third ingredient in selection and why is it important?
3. “Team fit”.
Arguably, this is even more important than the first two ingredients because this is where, as a leader, you decide whether to build a team of stars or a star team.
Does this role enable this person to shine because it aligns with their strengths?
Does this person buy in to the vision and how this team will work together to collaborate and achieve?
Diversity, in all senses of this word, is desirable in any team. What creates “team fit” is not more of the same, but compatible differences. Two ways to drive compatible differences:
Complimentary skills, values, experiences, aspirations, and challenge enabling leaders to build a strong team, an aligned team and rather than a team of stars, a team stronger than the sum of its parts. Now, the leader is not the smartest person in the room, and no one team member can do it alone. Now, the team is stronger together.
A sense of fulfillment is created through collective achievement and how we, as leaders, adapt our ability to praise, recognise and reward our team members. Equality and equity are not the same thing in leadership.
Ready to elevate your leadership? In the words of Roselinde Torres, from What it takes to be a great leader, “if you want to be a king, put kings around you”. Do you have your team of kings or queens around you?
Karolynn Hardy, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Karolynn Hardy is a proud Robbins Results Coach. PCC & Master NLP qualified, Karolynn is known for her honest, passionate, and caring approach. She couples her expertise in mindset and brain health with tangible strategies. Her desire is to help clients apply these strategies through their heart and their mind to create their best life. Karolynn loves asking that key question to get to the heart of a matter. With a special interest in veteran PTSD, Karolynn pledges to be part of a solution to treating this widespread condition. Also, with an extensive career in corporate development, Karolynn understands leadership. She believes leadership comes in many forms and there is an inner leader in each of us. It is her mission to help each of her clients find their inner leader, their inside perspective, to become their best self.
