An effective team is a cohesive unit composed of diverse individuals. To get the best results it is advisable to look at your team as your critical co-workers and also your customers and vendors. In each of these groups you must evaluate three considerations: diversity, cooperation and effectiveness.

There is a natural human tendency to "like" people that are the same as you are. An outgoing person enjoys other expressive people. On the other hand, a reserved person is more comfortable with a low-key person. If this tendency is taken to an extreme, it will potentially cause imbalance and weakness for a team.

The same principle applies to technical skills. A research department may focus on scientific knowledge yet people skills, namely persuasion, may be necessary to acquire funding from the finance department. The best team has a balance of styles, skills and talents. A good leader will evaluate the strengths of the whole team and hire or train people to supplement any weakness.

With diversity comes possible misunderstanding. It is important to ferret out and address problems on a timely basis. Keep communication lines open. Regular contact with customers, even when there are problems, will minimize the depth of problems. Frequent short discussions with coworkers are also necessary.

As you strive to build a diverse team, evaluate your members based on objective results. How much business do you do with each customer? Which vendors deliver on time? What is the actual sales volume of each sales person? Subjective measures like golf scores, friendships and image are comfortable but not appropriate for most business decisions.

In License to Lead by Ross Buchanan, he talks about the fact that research clearly shows that 60% of the North American work force said that they could "double" their contribution to their employers if there was "more in it for them." And what does "more in it for them" really mean? As managers, we typically interpret this statement to mean more money. But in fact, we couldn’t be more wrong.

Buchanan mentions the top three things that people are looking for from their managers are:

Inclusion – Inclusion rather than exclusion. It results in a strong sense of commitment.

Appreciation – Appreciation rather than being taken for granted.

Accountability – The accountability of themselves and their associates to perform to expectations.

With diversity you also need to make deliberate effort to have cooperation. There are two aspects that we will consider: willingness and ability. Both are necessary but they are achieved by different means.

Willingness is primarily an attitudinal factor. As a leader of a team you can influence the willingness of others, however, this is primarily the responsibility of each individual. You are responsible for your own attitude.

Abilities are something that can more easily be taught. Ability is usually related to "skills". With training, an individual usually can improve their ability. This will tend to improve their attitude by increasing their self-confidence.

The leader primarily controls the training element which will influence the attitude element. By observation and good listening you will be able to identify problems and determine whether the problems are related to willingness or ability.

"No man has a chance to enjoy permanent success until he begins to look in a mirror for the real cause of all his mistakes." -- Napoleon Hill

There are three specific areas in which it is easy to assess a person’s attitude: time, people and events. The way a person treats time shows how much they value it. This is also a reflection on how much they value themselves. If you have important goals to accomplish, you don’t have time to waste on trivia.

"If you are successful, remember that somewhere, sometime, someone gave you a lift or an idea that started you in the right direction. Remember, also, that you are indebted to life untilyou help some less fortunate person, just as you were helped." -- Unknown

If you have a great attitude and consistently do effective activities, you will develop the skills needed in you profession. Experience is a great teacher. Skills are important, but even more important is to have a "can do" attitude combined with the prerequisite skills. Many times we hire people because of their technical skills and have to terminate them because of their attitude or inability to get along with the team.

Skills can be improved by training. Develop a plan for formal and informal training. Include your team in a process of continual self-improvement. Not only will their skills improve by this process, it will also improve attitudes. They will be more productive when they realize you are willing to invest time and money in their future.

A leader of a team has the responsibility of providing the vision for the team. Organizational goals are more important than narrow departmental goals. Effective leaders push decisions down the organization and encourage individual initiative. They are able to organize chaotic situations using highly developed human relations skills.

An effective leader has a clear understanding of high payoff activities and does them and helps others identify their high payoff activities and to focus on them. The efficient individual does things very well. The effective individual does the ‘RIGHT’ things.

"Learn from the mistakes of others--you can never live long enough to make them all yourself."

Copyright © 1999 by David G. Rohlander. All rights reserved.

David Rohlander is an international speaker, consultant, author and executive coach. David works with leaders and management teams to enhance communication and produce increased bottom line results. Rohlander established DGR Communications (Orange, CA) in 1979 to train leaders to communicate. Nearly a decade with Merrill Lynch, personally developing commercial and residential real estate, owning a travel business and being a former combat fighter pilot gives David a unique perspective. Rohlander taught management, marketing and communications at six universities in the southwestern U.S. He has an MBA in Finance from California State University. For more information about David, his speaking, consulting or facilitating a program for you, call 800-921-1958, fax 714-771-1218 or e-mail David@dgrinfo.com or on the web at www.dgrinfo.com. *D,I,S,C refers to the four quadrant model of behavioral styles. Fax or e-mail David Rohlander for a free reference copy that explains the model and gives practical tools for dealing with people.