Sallie Krawcheck

85 Broads...Past Head of Merrill Lynch and Smith Barney....Investor....Board Member...Crazed UNC Basketball Fan....Mom

The Secret to Putting Together an Insanely Successful Team

What are 13 of the most common words that keep companies from realizing their full performance potential? (Hint: They are 13 words that are very difficult to argue with.)
Those words are: “Hey, our goal is simply to put the best person in the job.” Can’t argue with that, can you? Who can be against putting the best person in the job??
Except……
Research has shown that the best performing teams are diverse teams. The power of diverse perspectives is such that diverse teams outperform non-diverse teams….and they outperform even more capable teams.
But humans are human. When left to our own devices, many of us prefer to spend time with like-minded individuals. I’ll admit it: I often do. Frankly, it’s just easier. And it’s also easier for me to picture how somebody who looks like me and sounds like me will get the job done; this is particularly true if it’s a difficult job or a stretch assignment, because I can imagine how I would do it.
So let’s take this to its logical conclusion....with a basketball example. In any random group of UNC basketball players from the past it could well be that Phil Ford, Jimmy Black, Raymond Felton, Ty Lawson and Kendall Marshall would be the best players. But would they be a national championship team? No way. And that’s because they're all point guards. While arguably possessing the most valuable skill set on a team, they will almost certainly be beaten by teams that have more diverse player skills.
When I have built business teams in the past, I've tried to round out the group by including a visionary, a doer, a skeptic, a client advocate and an “historian” as part of the team, to name a few. And I have also worked to include diverse backgrounds, whether acquired (time spent abroad, time spent at competitors) or innate (gender, ethnicity).
If we can change our mindset from “Hey, our goal is simply to put the best person in the job” to “Hey, our goal is simply to put the best team in place,” we will have accomplished a great deal on improving company performance. And we will have accomplished a great deal on increasing opportunity and diversity.
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Bea M.
Senior Information Support System Specialist at State of Maine
Excellent point the best team is better than just the best person for the job.
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8m
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Grímur K.
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Puting Dennis Rodman in the Cicago Bulls team is a classic exemple of how this works
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Raymond S.
Branch Manager, Medicare Advantage, CMS
Sorry Sallie, Great article, but Michael Jordan was UNC attendee and arguably the best player to play the game. Ever.
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1h
Likers Jeff M B.
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Bob S.
Director of Operations and Process Controls at Anybody Fitness
Good points about team diversity, but those members must also be engaged & empowered...
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Likers Cherie K.
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Myrian B.
Nurse Practitioner at Bermuda Hospitals Board
Diversity creates synnergy...and important component in propelling a team towards goals.
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Likers Lidia V.
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Strahinja V.
Treasury, Risk and Insurance Internship at Delhaize Group
Diversity yes, but not at all cost. There are plenty of projects where you need only a narrow circle of skills or personal attributes, where some of the mentioned profiles are simply not needed, and they hold back the ones you want to run the show. Still, most of the teams require diversity, and finding the right balance between creativity and productivity is essential.
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Likers Adora N., Marianna G., and Tone R.
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Darcie S.
The Game Gal at GamesandTeamBuilding.com
When I held management positions in the past, I rarely managed teams of people picked only by me. Good thing, too, or I would have missed many opportunities to let others contribute toward the common good of the team. I learned that every single personality had something to contribute. I didn't bring that to the table, the experience helped me learn that important lesson. So, yes, diversity is certainly the key to getting things done in teams.
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Likers Darcie S. and Alecia D.
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Tracy L.
Field Manager/Employee Development at Canada's Best Merchandising Services
a vision is the key, without this you have no place for the diversity to channel......
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Jim S.
Director of Finance at United Cardio Systems
Diversity is key to being able to succeed in business- especially in today's business world where the only CONSTANT is CHANGE. This is illustrated by the fact a large portion of jobs today involve products and services that didn't exist just 20 years ago.
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Rebecca F.
Founder and CEO at I Love to Write Copywriting Service LLC
Diversity of opinion is good but when it comes to making a final decision you have to go with the best answer that makes since for your business. That may involve some compromise--some may not get what they want--but that's the way it is in life and business. If you focus completely on pleasing everyone on your team by focusing all your energy on diversity instead of what is the best for your company nothing is going to get done and there goes your business!
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Likers Marianna G.
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Indranil S.
Consultant at TCS
Yes, I totally agree with the assessment. If a team is formed with diversified people in all respect, the team can able to handle different challanges very easily. At the same time, the team leader should be flexible enough to interact with different member of his team with different views and approaches and channelise it properly to align with the team goal. That is the key for the sucessful team.
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Likers Adora N.
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Noritaka T.
Faurecia Interior Systems, Deputy Head & Business Planning Director, Faurecia Japan
13 words for a successful team leader 1) a positive leader who is always energic, with positive energy 2) a visionary leader who communicates every day about the world waiting at the horizon. 3) a brave leader who takes the risks, takes on all responsibilities and never escapes. 4) a polite leader who respects social rules and common sense. 5) a fair leader who shares the credit of positive results to all team members, gives the credit to the contributors, but bares all responsibility for negative results. 6) a warm hearted leader who cares of all his people, regardless of their professional capabilities 7) an emotional leader who can create a critical atmosphere with tension when things are not happening, and celebrates with full of joy the fruitful results. 8) a working leader that takes actions by his/her own, where he/she deems necessary. 9) a transpearent leader who knows the importance of sharing information to his/her team. 10) a strategic leader who can see the whole picture from the universe, to trigger actions with the right priority, right timing, with the right level, and right people. 11) an international leader who understands diversities of different cultures & values between different nations, also different genders. 12) a professional leader who knows how to deal within the organization, with different level of people, and with different entities. 13) a strong leader who never gives up.
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Likers MiaoSheng P., Myrian B., Courtney C., Galene W., and Tom J.
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Bruce B.
Corporate PSM Engineer at CordenPharma Colorado
We as a society put way too much emphasis on "llok like me". I don't give any consideration to race, ethnicity or "gender". I want people who operate differently, oppose my views, if possible, someone who grew up in a completely different culture (not the other side of the country), and are passionate. Passionate and opinionated are most crucial. If we argue, as long as the argument is on-topic, That's who I want. Let's stop being politically correct! Then we get true diversity.
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Likers Camie L. and Darcie S.
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Pat T.
Owner, Tsutsumida Consulting
I wholly agree that the success of the team is in embracing diversity in all facets of team attributes. When recruiting for my business teams, one principle that I communicated to every candidate was "If you agree with everything that I say, you are no use to me." However, there is one comment I would like to add to the "hire the best person" adage and that the definition of the "best person" is totally dependent on the conditions and readiness of the hiring group to make that candidate successful. In addition to the diversity aspect, one must be cognizant of the hiring manager's ability (in terms of coaching time and resources) to make that candidate successful. Hence, different candidates may be the "best person for the job" depending on the organization's ability to provide the requisite training/orientation resources.
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Teresa R.
Business Analyst, SharePoint Power-User, Project and Program Manager, Process developer, Technical Liaison
Yes!
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Roneke G.
Region Marketing Manager at DLR Group
I agree whole heartedly with your assessment. If a team is made up of "Driver" personalities, things are consistently in chaos...too many cooks, but if you include Analytical, Amiable, Expressive, etc...you have a more rounded and in my experience successful team.
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Richard M.
Director of Business Development, Industry Relations and Technology Transfer at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
I fully agree with you. A strong team has capabilities that far exceed those of any individual on the team. Having team players that are champions, that are passionate and excited about their contribution and eager to learn from other members of the team, that communicate well, and that keep the focus on the team's vision, are invaluable. Hiring people that know things you do not know well is critical and expands the team's capability - the team leader is like the conductor of a symphony - helping the team play together, facilitating the inspirational moments and making sure everyone's strongest capabilities contribute to the vision.
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Likers Ballu C.
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Gregory E.
Infrastructure Coordinator Americas - Information Management at WorleyParsons
This is great. I've struggled to find the language to express this approach that I use myself; and now I can cite this in future discussions. Thank you for sharing.
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MiaoSheng P.
Assistant manager intern in Walmart
Very impressive! Thanks for sharing!
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Mike E.
Director at Primesites CC
How to get your new and diverse team to work together? When the vision is clear, decisions are easy. Give them a vision.
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