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Building the Unstoppable TeamBy Lori Snider, The Lori Snider Company

If you have been lucky in your career, you have had the opportunity to work in an environment in which the leader made you, and your co-workers, feel invincible. You liked coming to work every day and you loved the people you worked with. You felt trusted, and valued. The synergy was energizing, and unrestricted in potential. Quite simply, you were fortunate enough to have a great leader orchestrating your team.

Now you’re the leader. You may find creating the unstoppable team to be a bit more complicated than you thought. The principles are simple, but human emotion, personalities and communication styles can make them difficult to execute.

So what’s a savvy manager to do?

It all starts with trust. Rudyard Kipling, in the Jungle Book, said, “The strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.” A leader can’t go it alone, and the more power managers give to employees, the more employees esteem their leaders.

Which brings you to your challenge. All of that requires trust. Trust the employee can be entrusted with power, and trust from the employee that initiative is of highest importance, and mistakes will be made…and considered a learning experience.

The first key in developing the unstoppable team is to find talent you can trust, because a smart hire results in increased productivity, a happier team and synergy that creates results.

Will They Fit?

In First, Break all the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently, Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman recommend three critical questions when considering a candidate for hire-

Will the candidate fit and buy into our company culture and the standards and expectations that create our unique vibe? Every company offers a unique culture that some individuals with thrive in…and others will not. Some cultures, for example, offer a great deal of consistency and predictability. They like doing things a certain way, and don’t deviate. Others offer a more fluid and creative approach. Ask yourself; will this person fit into our culture? Will they thrive in it? Is it “them”? If not, move on.

Will people find it easy to work with this candidate? This of course, applies to the team, but also to suppliers, and most important, the residents.

Will they like the job? Will the job duties draw on their unique talents? Will they enjoy the time spent working every day? Will they be good at it?

If you have trouble deciphering what it means to fit into the culture, ask yourself (and your team) what behaviors or skills reflect your company values and that you consistently employ. Then, jot down behaviors or skills that correlate to those values. For example, some company cultures

value individuals with the ability to push initiatives forward, indicating a need for a person with a very high energy level and demonstrated initiative. If your company values open communication, being a good listener is a skill that will reflect your company values.

Will they represent?

Keep in mind everyone, from maintenance to accounting, is a potential spokesperson for your business, and that all roads lead back to the customer experience.

Will they thrive?

Try not to be pigeonholed by traditional responsibility-based job descriptions. Rather, focus on finding the right fit. Don’t assume you can change someone and make them enjoy posting rent, when numbers and balances are not an innate talent. Conversely, if you focus too much on finding the “all-around” candidate, you will find yourself frustrated, as most people are not “all-arounds”. Rather, think of yourself as a Team Scout. What talents are you lacking on your current team? What do you need? Then focus on finding that component. Professional football players are usually not recruited because they can kick, pass, block and run. They are sought for their unique talent and what they can specifically contribute to total team strength.

Will They Prosper?

And finally, people want more than a salary. Provide a sense of contribution and purpose to add real meaning to their work. Help them understand the greater vision and how what they do impacts people’s lives.

To build the unstoppable team, focus on finding the right fit, and trust will follow.

Lori Snider is a national educator, marketing, service and sales expert. She can be reached at www.lorisnider.com.