Is it time to tinker with your team?

Published by

8 years ago

Singapore is reputed as one of the few countries that have witnessed real transformation. It is a country that has been able to make the transition from a third world country to a first world in just one generation. The country was able to achieve in three decades what took other countries over a century to accomplish. What is the big secret of this small country? What made this transformation, which only exists in the realm of dreams for many countries, a reality for this sparsely populated island?

No doubt the vision of Lee Kuan Yew, the first Prime Minister, who took over the mantle of leadership of the country in 1959, played a major role in the transformation witnessed by the country. But allied to that was his passion for surrounding himself with the best hands possible. He started this right from his own home. He got interested in his wife, Kwa Geok Choo, who was his classmate at Raffles College in Singapore, after she bested him in English and Economics to emerge the best student, thus giving Yew a stiff competition for the coveted Queen’s Scholarship. Her brilliance drew her to him and thus started their relationship. Not only did the woman effectively manage their home, she also managed their law firm profitably while her husband was involved in politics.

When Yew eventually became the Prime Minister, he surrounded himself with the best brains available in the country. This accelerated the transformation of the country from a British trading post that it was in 1959 to a global commerce, finance and transport hub that it is today.

Since Yew exited the prime position as the nation’s leader, the tradition of putting first class brains available in the country in charge of its affairs has been sustained. The current Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge University, as a senior wrangler in 1974. A senior wrangler is the top mathematics undergraduate at Cambridge University in England, a position which has been described as “the greatest intellectual achievement attainable in Britain.” Teo Chee Hean, the Deputy Prime Minister, graduated with a Bachelor of Science (First Class Honours) in Electrical Engineering and Management Science from the University of Manchester in 1976. He later bagged a Master of Science degree (with distinction) in Computing Science in 1977 at the Imperial College in London. Khaw Boon Wan, the Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure, graduated in 1977 with a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours Class I) and Bachelor of Commerce combined degree programme from the University of Newcastle in Australia. The list goes on.

So, the secret of the success recorded by Singapore is in the quality of the people that steer the ship of state. The fruit cannot be different from the tree. A great team will produce great results while an average team is consigned to a lifetime of ordinariness, unless there is a change.

Go for the best

A leader should be clear-headed about what he wants to accomplish at any point in time and must be resolute in getting those who can give him the result he desires. The leader picks his team but it is the team that makes the leader. A leader is only as strong and powerful as his team. If the team is competent, the leader is; and if the team is weak, so is the leader. Therefore, a good leader must set aside sentiments when it comes to selecting members of his team. It is the duty of the leader to identify those who are best suited to help with the actualization of his expectations.

Selecting a team is probably the most crucial of a leader’s assignments because if he makes a wrong choice the ship may capsize when faced with a gale. But if his choice is right, the ship will stay afloat irrespective of the storm. So, a forward looking leader will set aside every primordial consideration when it comes to picking his team. It is when he does this that he can have the peace of mind to provide the needed leadership for the organization or nation. If a leader does not pick the right person for a task, he will burden himself with extra work because he has to keep helping out that subordinate and that will slow down the organization’s pace of progress. Success in an enterprise becomes a given when the right team is assembled but it turns a mirage when the team is filled with wrongly suited persons. As observed by Jack Welch, “the team that puts the best people on the field and gets them to play together wins. It is that simple.”

Picking the right team

Certain factors come up for consideration when picking a team. Here are some of them.

Competence

The first thing that must be considered when picking a team is the competence of the individuals. Competence is the capacity to deliver on agreed terms. It is the ability to perform a task satisfactorily. Competence is having a skills set to effectively and efficiently do a job. At the outset, it is determined by what has been accomplished in other roles. On the job, it is determined by meeting pre-decided terms. A competent person adds value to the organization, solves problems, creates opportunities and raises the standards of the organization. But an incompetent person piles up problems for the organization because what he is asked to do is beyond his capacity. He cannot initiate new ideas; he is unable to take the unit, department or organization to a new realm. The consequence of appointing incompetent people is that the system first stagnates before the rot rolls in.

Therefore, it is important for a leader to take measured steps to surround himself with competent hands.

Passion

Passion is the fuel that keeps one going when all factors run in the negative. It is passion that births commitment. Those who are not passionate about a task hardly get committed to it. Passion is a consuming emotion that drives people to exceed their known or installed capacity. A passionate individual does not see obstacles, nor is he bothered by difficulties; he is only focused on the target he has in mind and channels all his energies in that direction.

A competent person may get discouraged when things do not go as planned but if he is passionate, he becomes unstoppable. He will be so consumed by the desire to get the task at hand done that every difficulty pales into insignificance.

So, a leader must look beyond competence and check the passion level of those he wants to bring on board. How passionate are they about the task. Will they see problems or prospects as they progress on the task? When things go awry will they be willing to trudge on or seek the next exit?

Thirst for growth

One other factor a leader must consider before selecting his team is the individual’s thirst for growth. A person’s capacity is determined by his knowledge level. Since circumstances and situations do not remain constant, it is important that a person must determine to grow beyond the capacity required for his role so that he will always be able to proffer solutions to problems when they arise. A person who does not develop his capacity will keep on applying obsolete solutions to new problems. He will stay behind when the world moves on. The rate at which the world changes now is mind-boggling. So, to be relevant in this age, an individual must ceaselessly update his knowledge.

Therefore, a leader must ensure that he identifies this trait in every member of his team. If he appoints anyone who is not keen on self development, the individual may start as a solution provider but he will eventually become a problem because when situations change and he is expected to show a new direction, he would be found wanting.

Team spirit

A team depends on every member to achieve corporate goals. No individual, no matter his level of competence or talent, can solely achieve the goal of a team. Therefore, the success of a team is linked with the ability of the members to work in unity. The leader must thus work hard to ensure that only those who share the vision of the group and are willing to work with others for its actualization are brought on board. While building a great team takes a lot of effort and time, destroying same does not take long. The easiest way to pull down a team is for the members to pull in different directions. Once that starts, saving the team becomes herculean.

To protect the sanctity of the team and keep its goal in focus, the leader must be careful not to appoint anyone who is unwilling to work with others.

Integrity

The glue that holds all other attributes together is integrity. Therefore, a leader must ensure that all the people he appoints to work with him in the actualization of corporate goals are people of strong character. Character flaws are a dangerous thing; they can destroy the efforts of a whole group beyond redemption. Organizations are brought down when people give in to pressure and act contrary to good conscience. It is for this reason that a leader must carefully pick his people to guard against anyone destroying what others have laboured to build with a stroke of misdeed.

Last line

One thing that stands between a leader and making a good team choice is sentiments. What marks out a great leader is the ability to play down personal sentiments for the good of the organization.