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Thoughts on choosing good business teams
By Jerry | November 17, 2010
Not all our blog posts will be about business. Sometimes a topic resonates with a person and results in an article.
And of course I bring it back to business…
I was complimented by an associate today at a speaking engagement we both participated in. Since I don’t remember the exact words, I’ll paraphrase her remarks,
“Jerry, you always seem to look for the best in a person.”
“I’ve seen you speak highly of some of the most miserable personalities in this industry. You can work with anybody can’t you?”
“You’re so positive in your outlook, and your business is growing when others are closing up. How can that be?”
First off, I’m fighting for a spot in Heaven, and have marks against me that at the gate, St. Peter will surely look above his glasses with that ‘you did that?’ look.
But I think the most powerful gift we have been given is – Choice.
We choose how we react to situations, people, etc. We choose to be devastated by negative comments or let them roll off. We choose who we associate with. We choose how we react to nature and acts of God.
We choose how we interact with people.
Yes, I choose to find the good in most people. I’d rather build up the good about a person, instead of concentrating on the bad.
Talk about the good in a person and it perpetuates the good in them and about them. Talk about the bad and it perpetuates the bad.
I choose the good.
Now that doesn’t mean I ignore the bad. Heck, I have turned down working with potential miserable personalities because I want to be able to still speak of their good qualities.
But sometimes what makes a person miserable to be around, is also what makes that person an excellent team member to have. I worked for a company that had a programmer nobody wanted to deal with. He was so nitpicky and had no tolerance for people discussing alternatives. He felt there was one best solution, and by gosh, let’s just do it the one way.
Nobody wanted this guy on their project.
I did.
That nitpicky person could complete a rock solid project when you let him have at it. You just had to keep him out of the meetings where possible solutions were discussed. Bring the one solution to him and he would bang it out, with few errors because of his attention to detail.
I learned early in grade school, that group projects were easiest when you chose people who could excel in different aspects. Most kids chose their friends, which meant they generally all thought alike. They all loved to do the same tasks and hated to do other tasks. So if no one liked to write the report, it barely was completed and it had all kinds of errors.
I tried to choose different kids. One who liked to build – he would make the model. One who liked to draw, she would make the posters. One who liked to research – I would do that. One who liked to write – and they would write our notes up into the report.
To choose that type of team meant you had to recognize what people were good at. Then you built them up for that talent, and they would run with it in the group.
Once you had a good team, the project went well and usually had good results. The same happens in life and business. Find and promote the good in people, and you can work with most anyone. Your projects and goals will have a much higher success rate.
And your business will increase.
People like to work with pleasant successful people. Helping, promoting, building people up will make you succeed in most any project or business.
It doesn’t mean every person you meet will be pleasant to work with. It also doesn’t mean you’ll hate everybody and have to find the good. But if you can find the good, you can – choose – to associate with them and have a successful project/business relationship. Or you can choose to avoid them and that may be the best solution too.
So thank-you for the compliment today. It’s nothing special I do, but it made me think about why it works.
Topics: Team building | No Comments »