| | FEB - MAR 20258 | | JUNE-JULY - 20188If you're building a company -- not just a sole proprietorship -- you need a solid team. You want the people who surround you to be the best in their field. How do you identify those people? How do you attract them to your company? Once you get them onboard, how do you make them as effective as possible in the shortest period of time? What are some of the key components of leading and coaching a stellar team?Like many professionals, I like to use sports analogies for business situations. What is a team anyway? It's a group of people brought together to compete with the goal of winning a competition. This is the case in sport or in business.1. Everybody should be rowing in the samedirection.For a crew team, everyone is in the same boat, rowing in the same direction, except for the signal caller, who is looking forward. That person is the guide. He or she sets the direction and course-corrects, if necessary. If only all companies worked like this! I've seen some companies where people acted like they were in their own boats, doing their own thing, thinking about separate ideas. I've also seen people working very hard, but they didn't have a plan or a clear idea of where they were going. Rowing the wrong way can be as much of a problem with leadership as it can be with the team.2. The goal is to win.People on a team may play different roles, but they all have the same goal --to win. If everyone is doing their job and making sure they're covering for everyone else, then you have a better chance of winning. This goes for individuals, teams and companies. If you don't have a clearly set direction and aren't measuring progress along the way, there are a lot of mistakes that you can make. You can waste time and money. Worst case, you can fail as a business.3. You don't just play the game to play.If you have immense talent, but a poor work ethic, you will never be a champion. You see this in sports and in business. Hard work in a startup requires commitment to a vision and passion. Working hard doesn't mean that you can't have fun. In fact, sometimes when I've worked the hardest, it has been the most fun because my team was winning and accomplishing great things.4. Teammates talk to each other.The best teams have a collaborative approach. The coach or leader sets the direction, but relies on the team to execute. The coach talks to the team. Teammates talk to each other. A lot has been said about keeping roles very loose and flexible. In my experience, that doesn't work well in sports teams or companies. It doesn't mean you don't give people the autonomy to exercise outside of their role, but they have to fill their primary role first. In fact, once people understand Patrick HenryKeys to Building aWinning Startup TeamBy Patrick Henry, Founder & CEO: Strategic Advisory and Executive Coaching, QuestFusionOPINION
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