We’ve learned that great teams beat great players, leaders and competitors every time. We found that the most sabotaging influence to team cohesion and performance is ego and “headwind hogging.” Now let me identify the two most important ingredients for building high-performing teams.
TRUST
As Patrick Lencioni wrote in his excellent book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, the No. 1 dysfunction is an absence of trust. Interestingly, you don’t even need to like each other, but you do have to trust each other to form the cohesion and solidarity needed for high performance.
So what do you do to build more trust?
I’m a believer in always giving what you want first. If you want trust from your team, give trust first. Things that foster trust are transparency, honesty, vulnerability and complete integrity.
Brainstorm five ways you can demonstrate trust to your team.
Thought starters:
Open the Kimono: Open up your books. Share the good, the bad and the ugly of your financial statements. Become far more transparent with how information is shared and communicated.
Marionette No More: Drop the puppet strings. Give others more responsibility and decision-making power without micromanagement and approvals. Train, but then trust them. Let them lead.
Expose Your Chest: As my friend Waldo Waldman teaches about leadership, “expose your chest to daggers,” meaning, show your vulnerability first. Be more open and honest in the disclosure of your own fears, failures and shortcomings.
Remember, people relate and connect more with your struggles than your successes. What do you fear? When do you feel scared? When have you tried and failed? When does your confidence waver? Share that with your team and you will witness the veil of false posture lifted from your team.
Perform Pancreaticoduodenectomies: This is the surgery you need if you have pancreatic cancer—one of the most deadly of all cancers. Cancer in your team is gossip, negative talk, the “meeting after the meeting” and separate alliances or factions within the team. First, never do such things yourself. Second, stop others whenever they do them. Cancer cannot be tolerated; it has to be killed and surgically cut out before it becomes too widespread. Left too long it will destroy the whole body (team).
Be Worthy: To be trusted you first must be trustworthy. Demonstrate you are by doing what you say you will do and being where you say you will be precisely when you say you will be there. Deliver on your promises and be the example you want everyone else to follow. Simple, easy and pretty straightforward, right? Why do so many screw this one up, then? Baffles me.
Decide your five and start doing them this week.
APPRECIATION
“Perhaps no human need is more neglected in the workplace than to feel valued,” as written in The Way We Are Working Isn’t Working by Tony Schwartz.Feeling significant is as basic as food. This begins at birth and never goes away. The need for significance at work is a manifestation of our inborn hunger for meaning in our lives.
Here’s the trick, though: Just like in marriage, people have different “love languages,” and have different ways of feeling valued and appreciated. If you just do it as you would want it done, there’s a great chance you will be wrong and miss the mark completely. The answer is to ASK them (same goes for your spouse).
Do This: Pick five people on your team. Sit down with each of them and explain how much you appreciate them, but are unsure how to express that fully, correctly or in the manner which matters most to them. Ask them when in the past they have felt the most appreciated and what they would like to see from you.
Decide your five and start doing that this week.
There you have it—the formula for building fantastically successful teams. Do just 20 percent of what we talked about here and you will greatly improve the performance of your team. Diligently work on all of it and you and your team will be unstoppable in your industry. Go for unstoppable!
Julia Felton (aka The Business Wrangler) is the founder of Business HorsePower. Business leaders, entrepreneurs and executives hire her to accelerate their business performance by harnessing the energy of their people to work more collaboratively together. By aligning purpose with actions the team achieves exponential results as everyone starts pulling in the same direction.
Julia believes that business is a force for good and through designing purpose-driven businesses that leverage the laws of nature, and the herd, you can create businesses founded on the principles of connection, collaboration and community that make a significant impact in the world.
When a duck falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone. Left out of formation for too long it will eventually tire out and drop out completely.
We see this happen on sports teams when one player tries to showboat and carry the game. Eventually the headwind of trying to fly alone will wear him down and the opposition will prevail.
Some great examples of this were witnessed by the cycling team during the recent Olympic Games. The men’s British Pursuit team worked in harmony together so that they could retain their gold in the Velodrome. If each member had tried by themselves to win then certainly we would not have got gold. Another great example, although this time not as successful was the mens road cycling. It was widely thought that Mark Cavendish would win and so his team mates, including Bradley Wiggins stepped up to support him try and achieve gold. Although not successful the team worked just like the ducks to support each other to glory.
The Miami Heat Basketball team demonstrated a prime example of this sabotaging force when they faced The Dallas Mavericks for the 2011 NBA Championship. Many argued that never had more individual talent been assembled (and paid for) on a single team in the history of the NBA as was on the 2011 Miami Heat. They had the “three kings,” or whatever they called themselves (that had to be a clue).
Meanwhile the Dallas Mavericks, while they obviously had good players, didn’t have nearly the individual superstar/celebrity talent the Heat had. The championship should have been a blowout. And it was. Teamwork blew out talent 4 games to 2.
While the Miami Heat had more ‘eagles,’ let’s say, the Dallas Mavericks played as a unified flock, or team, and beat the Heat decisively. That is the power of teamwork and that is the detriment individual egos can be, sabotaging the greatness of a team.
The important team lesson here: No one member of your team can or should be taking the headwind all the time. Just like a duck, he or she has to have the humility and the ego strength to rotate to the back of the formation so another duck can take the lead position to keep the flock moving at top speed.
Think about it. How often, as leaders, do we not recognize how many other leaders we have behind us? Others who want to also be leaders and share in our burdens? Leaders that, if given the opportunity, may be able to take your group to a higher level not yet obtained?
Sometimes, true leadership is to know when to step aside to let someone else lead for awhile. Then, stand by that new leader and offer support and encouragement.
And therein lies another lesson from the duck. When in formation, the ducks quack from behind to encourage those up front.
How often do we encourage those who are leading us? We need to make sure that our “quacking” from behind is encouraging—not something less helpful or damaging.
How about this one: Did you know that when a duck gets sick or wounded, two ducks will drop out of formation and follow it down to help protect it? They stay with the wounded duck until it is either able to fly again or dies. Then, they launch out to join another formation or work together to catch up with the flock. Beautiful isn’t it?
Are we standing by the people around us when they are in need? Or do we turn a blind eye and say, “Oh that sucks for you, duck”? Being part of a team is being there in the good times and the bad.
Takeaway action items:
Are you hogging the leadership ball? Think of several people and several ways you can have others take the lead. Then be sure you are there to quack encouragement all along the way.
Are you taking care of the entire flock? Is there someone you need to be there for, helping them heal some personal hurts?
Want to find out more about potential sabotaging forces for your team. Then check out Talent Dynamics for Teams to see how we can help you.
Julia Felton (aka The Business Wrangler) is the founder of Business HorsePower. Business leaders, entrepreneurs and executives hire her to accelerate their business performance by harnessing the energy of their people to work more collaboratively together. By aligning purpose with actions the team achieves exponential results as everyone starts pulling in the same direction.
Julia believes that business is a force for good and through designing purpose-driven businesses that leverage the laws of nature, and the herd, you can create businesses founded on the principles of connection, collaboration and community that make a significant impact in the world.
Nature Gives Us Clues If you were going to pick a model from nature for how to create and operate as a great team, which animal would you pick?
How about lions, tigers, hippos or bears?
Those species are known to eat their young, or the new guy or gal on the team, in our analogy. That doesn’t make for good team building!
How about wolves or hyenas?
These animals are known to constantly have ego fights for dominance—definitely not good for trust and the morale of a team.
How about salmon?
Certainly their long struggle to swim upstream in dedication to duplicate (procreate) the team has to be a good role model, right? Yeah, well, the only problem is, once they have finally done the quiver (seriously, that’s what they do—they align themselves next to each other and “quiver” while they each do their part of the act), they die. That can’t be good if every time new people are brought into your team the leaders die. So salmon are out.
I know what you are thinking… eagles, right?
Eagles are good role models for soaring to individual heights, but they are poor team players. They are known to be territorial, pretty hostile toward one another and constantly stealing prey from one another. Get this… momma eagle usually lays two eggs and most often the bigger of the two siblings (which is usually the female, as they come out bigger) kills the other sibling while mom looking on (harsh, right?). No, you don’t want the new recruits killing each other or the leaders stealing sales and clients from each other. Eagles, team players? Not so much.
No, the animal species you want to learn from and emulate in working together as a team are…ducks.
Ducks, because they work together to accomplish feats that seem unimaginable and impossible for most any other animal.
Ducks fly distances of hundreds or even thousands of miles, a distance almost no other animal can travel and it’s possible only because they do it as a team.
As you know, ducks fly together in formation. As each duck flaps its wings, it creates uplift for the bird following and that is perpetuated throughout their V formation. Each duck takes its turn leading the flock in flight. When the lead duck gets tired, it fades from the front and is enveloped back into the fold of the flock and naturally another bird takes the lead. By working together, the whole flock adds 71% more flying range than if each bird flew alone.
Like ducks, people naturally gravitate toward organizations that will shelter and protect them and make their life easier than if they were left to fend for themselves. I have found that people want to belong; they want to be a part of a team. It gives them a sense of purpose, where they can be a part of something bigger than themselves.
I also find that most people perform to their greater potential when on a team than when on their own. They rise to meet the expectations of the team; if left alone to their own motivations, they wouldn’t push themselves nearly as hard.
I find that lots of people do more for the recognition of others than for their own satisfaction. Thus, team environments are a powerful force for drawing out the best within our individual potentials for achievement.
Amazing feats are created when the collective whole becomes greater than the sum of the individual parts. That occurs when teamwork is working well.
So in business, people who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier when they travel on the thrust of one another.
As leaders, it is our job to cast the vision and enroll others to share in that vision. As teams, we need to help one another and to offer encouragement and support as the success of the individual creates uplift for the rest of the flock… or team.
Over the next few posts I will reveal the single most sabotaging factor of why teams even made up of great people will fail, and the two most important ingredients for building great teams who perform way beyond their individual capabilities.
Do you perform better when supported and challenged by teammates? Why?
Want to better understand the dynamics of your team, then take a Talent Dynamics profile test and find out?
Julia Felton (aka The Business Wrangler) is the founder of Business HorsePower. Business leaders, entrepreneurs and executives hire her to accelerate their business performance by harnessing the energy of their people to work more collaboratively together. By aligning purpose with actions the team achieves exponential results as everyone starts pulling in the same direction.
Julia believes that business is a force for good and through designing purpose-driven businesses that leverage the laws of nature, and the herd, you can create businesses founded on the principles of connection, collaboration and community that make a significant impact in the world.
Julia Felton (aka The Business Wrangler) is the founder of Business HorsePower. Business leaders, entrepreneurs and executives hire her to accelerate their business performance by harnessing the energy of their people to work more collaboratively together. By aligning purpose with actions the team achieves exponential results as everyone starts pulling in the same direction.
Julia believes that business is a force for good and through designing purpose-driven businesses that leverage the laws of nature, and the herd, you can create businesses founded on the principles of connection, collaboration and community that make a significant impact in the world.
If you want to build a successful team for your business, you need to avoid the five causes of team dysfunction. Patrick Lencioni, a leadership expert and organizational consultant, shares the five team dysfunctions and what you should do about each.
Absence of trust. “Team members need to be able to admit their weaknesses and mistakes, to acknowledge the strengths of others, and to apologize when they do something wrong.”
Fear of conflict. “Great teams argue. Not in a mean-spirited or personal way, but they disagree when important decisions are made.” Avoiding conflict only leads to mediocrity.
Lack of commitment. “When team members openly share opinions on a decision, they don’t wonder whether anyone is holding back. When the leader has to step in and make a decision, team members will accept that decision because they know their ideas were heard and considered.”
Avoidance of accountability. “The best kind of accountability on a team is peer-to-peer. Peer pressure is more efficient and effective than going to the leader, anonymously complaining and having them stop what they are doing to intervene. Members of great teams confront each other when they see something that isn’t serving the team.”
Inattention to results. “Team members have to be focused on the collective good of the team. Too often, they focus their attention on their department, their budget, their career aspirations, their egos. Great teams put the tangible results of the team ahead of their individual needs.”
Julia Felton (aka The Business Wrangler) is the founder of Business HorsePower. Business leaders, entrepreneurs and executives hire her to accelerate their business performance by harnessing the energy of their people to work more collaboratively together. By aligning purpose with actions the team achieves exponential results as everyone starts pulling in the same direction.
Julia believes that business is a force for good and through designing purpose-driven businesses that leverage the laws of nature, and the herd, you can create businesses founded on the principles of connection, collaboration and community that make a significant impact in the world.
What does the Olympics have to do with you and your life? Few people relate psychologist Carl Jung with the Olympic symbol, yet he is the original designer – and the five rings symbolise the five strengths to live an Olympian Life.
When the founder of the modern Olympics, Pierre de Coubertin, was looking for a symbol for the games, he turned to his friend Carl Jung. Jung knew the circle was the symbol of potential and life in ancient cultures, and introduced the idea of the five interlocking circles as a reflection of five energies – the same five found in Chinese philosophy (Jung was the first to publish the I Ching in the West, and at the 2008 Beijing Olympics the Chinese returned to the initial concept with their five mascots representing water, wood, fire, earth and metal).
This year the symbol is 100 years old, and in 1912 when Coubertin introduced it he also introduced what he saw as the keystone Olympic event, the Modern Pentathalon. This had five disciplines that to him summed up the five key attributes every ‘Olympian’ individual should have. How do you square up in these five areas in your life and business?
1. SWIMMING (Element = Water / Spirit / Blue): This discipline is about rhythm. Rhythm keeps us breathing, above water, and moving forward at pace. What is the level of rhythm you have set in your life and business, and where is there stress and disharmony where rhythm has been lost and where you’re out of synch?
2. SHOW JUMPING (Element = Wood / Spring / Green): This discipline is about power. Not the power of the rider, but your ability to harness the power of the horse. How well are you harnessing the power of your business, your market, your industry? A clue: If you’re the one doing all the work, you’re not the rider. You’re the horse.
3. FENCING (Element = Fire / Summer / Red): This discipline is about flair. Your success is dependant on having an opponent to spar with and how well you dance with them. Who are you fencing with in a way that you both are upping your game? Who should you be fencing with? And are you doing it with honour?
4. CROSS COUNTRY RUN (Element = Earth / Autumn / Yellow): This discipline is about perseverance. Cross country is about running through the elements and adjusting with the terrain, slowing when you need to and speeding up where you can. Where should you be slowing down and speeding up to win your race?
5. SHOOTING (Element = Metal / Winter / Black): This discipline is about precision. As distinctly different to the other four as they are to each other, this is not about physical exertion, but the ability to quiet the mind, let the body disappear, and hit the target. How well are you hitting your targets by doing the opposite of working hard?
Today, winning an Olympic medal isn’t on many people’s to-do list. Mainly because – without the right skills and sacrifice an Olympic medal is simply out of reach. De Coubertin’s vision was not this. It was to make sport accessible to everyone, and to use the Olympics as a way to demonstrate how sport can highlight the skillsets we need to excel at an ‘Olympian’ level in life.
So to make the most of this year’s Olympics – Be inspired by the athletes competing in the London Olympics, but also bring these five disciplines into your own performance in life, and claim your own gold.
Want to learn more about the Secret Energy of Business and how to apply it, then contact me for a free, no obligation consultation.
Julia Felton (aka The Business Wrangler) is the founder of Business HorsePower. Business leaders, entrepreneurs and executives hire her to accelerate their business performance by harnessing the energy of their people to work more collaboratively together. By aligning purpose with actions the team achieves exponential results as everyone starts pulling in the same direction.
Julia believes that business is a force for good and through designing purpose-driven businesses that leverage the laws of nature, and the herd, you can create businesses founded on the principles of connection, collaboration and community that make a significant impact in the world.
Success comes in many shapes and colours. Regardless of what success looks like for you, it involves being and doing certain things in order to achieve it.
One of the most empowering concepts you can discover on your journey to entrepreneurial success is that self-responsibility – in all its forms – is the key to reaching your goals and enlightening your spirit.
Did you know that self-responsibility actually leads to more happiness, success, and yes, freedom?
Everyone has distinct memories, beliefs, and patterns of behavior around self-responsibility. Sometimes those patterns will trip you up and keep you stuck and frustrated in your business… until you identify them and consciously develop new thoughts and new ways of understanding what it means to be self-responsible.
To be clear, being self-responsible doesn’t mean feeling being the Lone Ranger or taking on the feelings of others. Self-responsibility is much more enlightening and empowering than that!
The key is to fully accept that your success depends on your willingness to do whatever it takesto achieve your goals, regardless of whatever else is going on around you.
Here are 3 essential ways that you can take charge of your business and your success:
#1 – Find Solutions Instead of Excuses
When things go wrong, admit your errors and then take action to correct them – without drama, guilt or lengthy discussion. And this includes making excuses to yourself! Excuses are a time-waster that drain you emotionally and physically.
Put your energy into creating and implementing solutions. Positive action creates positive momentum, which leads to more positive action. Within that framework, “mistakes” simply become learning opportunities, rather than roadblocks.
#2 – Stop Waiting for the “Perfect Moment”
Waiting for your life or your business to unfold in a specific way before you can take action is a guaranteed recipe for inaction. There will probably never be that exact combination of circumstances you’re imagining – life is ever-changing!
The concept of the perfect moment is actually a sneaky way the brain avoids responsibility because it makes you feel like you’re being “rational.” What’s really happening is the ego is trying to protect you from whatever it is you fear.
Use your intuition as a compass to guide you into taking action now, rather than waiting for some idealized scenario that you’ve constructed in your mind.
#3 – Own Your Divine Feminine Power
If you truly want success, you must step fully into your power – as a woman and a business owner. That means being the visionary leader and creator of all that happens within your business, without exception.
Too often, women give away their power to others – demanding clients, unresourceful team members, even holding back so they don’t make their friends and family feel less successful.
Playing small and denying your innate power is simply another way of avoiding responsibility. The result will be less satisfaction and less fulfillment. When you own your power and let yourself shine, being responsible actually re-energizes you!
It’s time to release the childhood notions that responsibility equals having to do something undesirable. The moment you shift your mindset around this concept, you can begin to see how taking full self-responsibility is the ultimate tool for success in business and in life.
Need help with discovering your path to success, then I highly recommend taking the Talent Dynamics test and find out
Julia Felton (aka The Business Wrangler) is the founder of Business HorsePower. Business leaders, entrepreneurs and executives hire her to accelerate their business performance by harnessing the energy of their people to work more collaboratively together. By aligning purpose with actions the team achieves exponential results as everyone starts pulling in the same direction.
Julia believes that business is a force for good and through designing purpose-driven businesses that leverage the laws of nature, and the herd, you can create businesses founded on the principles of connection, collaboration and community that make a significant impact in the world.
“There is one quality which one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it.”
–Napoleon Hill
Do you love what you do for a living?
Do you look forward to going to work every day or do you grudgingly show up in order to pay the bills?
Do you work past quitting time because it’s expected or because you’re “into it” and lost track of time?
Many people know their calling in life, their true purpose, and live “on purpose.”
Are you one of them?
Take this True or False Self-Quiz to determine whether you are operating from a place of purpose.
When I get up in the morning I look forward to the day ahead, whether it’s a work day or my day off?
I love the work I do — any external reward I receive I consider “the icing on the cake” ?
My work makes me feel rewarded and motivated rather than drained and exhausted ?
When I have spare time I participate in activities that I’m passionate about, and those activities reflect my purpose ?
I know what my greatest talents and strengths are, and I apply those attributes to my work in some capacity every day ?
I know I’m living my true purpose when others notice and compliment me on my abilities ?
My life, personal and professional, reflects and is in alignment with my core values ?
I consistently base my decisions on my beliefs, not on the expectations of others, and, overall, I’m happy with the outcomes ?
If money were not an issue I wouldn’t change much of what I do and how I do it ?
My work environment is supportive of my personality and talents and allows me to not only show up as my true self, but to perform at my optimal level ?
When my work environment fails to provide me with opportunities to utilize my unique abilities, I look to make a positive change ?
The good (and great days) at work far outweigh the occasional “bad” days ?
My work is enjoyable and often feels like play ?
By fulfilling my own dreams and desires, I am making a positive contribution to the world as a whole ?
Determining one’s life purpose can take a long time, but I’m confident that, even when I question what my purpose is, I know that I have one.
If you answered false to many of these, you may benefit from discovering how to live a life on purpose. Each month I open just 3 spots to coach with me personally – at my cost, my treat! for 30 minutes. It’s my 30 minute “Grab the Reins – Lead Your Life” Breakthrough Session”. So don’t delay submit your application now to be considered for this incredible gift breakthrough session.
Julia Felton (aka The Business Wrangler) is the founder of Business HorsePower. Business leaders, entrepreneurs and executives hire her to accelerate their business performance by harnessing the energy of their people to work more collaboratively together. By aligning purpose with actions the team achieves exponential results as everyone starts pulling in the same direction.
Julia believes that business is a force for good and through designing purpose-driven businesses that leverage the laws of nature, and the herd, you can create businesses founded on the principles of connection, collaboration and community that make a significant impact in the world.
The hardest thing to do is to be honest with yourself. We lie more to ourselves than to anyone else. You need to always tell the truth to yourself even when it hurts. Truth congruency comes from matching who you are on the inside with who you are on the outside. Only when this happens are we truly aligned and in flow.
Principle Two – Judging Yourself
In my experience we are our own harshest critic. Many of us talk to ourselves in a way that we would never tolerate from a stranger, a friend or a loved one. Why is this? Well for many of us it is our inner critic talking to us. They think their job is to keep us safe and yet time and time again all they actually do is to limit our opportunities. You need to stop the negative conversations you are having with yourself immediately. For one week carry around a notepad and jot down every time that you notice your inner critic talking to you and instilling negative thoughts. When the inner critic knows they are caught out they will curtail their activities. Better still give your inner critic or critics (17 archetypes have been identified by the Inner Mean Girl Reform School!) a name. Mine are called Sabotaging Susie, Comparison Claire and then my old favourite Chatterbox Charlie.
Principle Three – Stop Judging Others
It is hard to be joyful when you are judging others. Judging others creates a huge amount of stress in our lives. It affects all our relationships – personal and business. Judging is often an unconscious habit that has developed over time, so much so that often we don’t even realise that we are doing it. Let go of judgement and every time you find yourself judging others stop. Just making this small change can have a massive difference on your life and help keep you in flow.
Principle Four – Pursue Fun with a Vengeance
It’s okay to have fun. Children have fun all the time and yet as we become adults we somehow forget to have fun? Fun shouldn’t have to be squeezed into a few weeks of vacation a year, or indeed the last chapter of your life when supposedly you will have enough money to retire. Fun deserves to be part of your life right now. You need to prioritize fun into your life right now or else it will go missing and life is too short not to have fun.
If you want to find out how to discover when you are in flow and living life with passion and purpose then just think about a time when everything you did seem effortless. It was fun, you were motivated and super productive. Then think about a time when the task you had to undertake was boring, monotonous and seemed to take all day. Maybe you were even stressed. This is a time you were not in flow.
To find out what roles speak to your natural talents and keep you in flow I recommend that you take a Talent Dynamics Test and see how your life can shift from living in flow. Enjoy.
Julia Felton (aka The Business Wrangler) is the founder of Business HorsePower. Business leaders, entrepreneurs and executives hire her to accelerate their business performance by harnessing the energy of their people to work more collaboratively together. By aligning purpose with actions the team achieves exponential results as everyone starts pulling in the same direction.
Julia believes that business is a force for good and through designing purpose-driven businesses that leverage the laws of nature, and the herd, you can create businesses founded on the principles of connection, collaboration and community that make a significant impact in the world.
Last night I was watching DIY SOS hosted by Nick Knowles. The house in question was a two bedroom bungalow that the owner was trying to expand into a four bedroom home to accommodate his family. The three children were living in one bedroom and the roof leaked and part of the extension meant that the house was exposed to the elements. No wonder the family was challenged and the health of the family was suffering. My heart went out to the family and in particular the husband who with limited building skills was seeking to provide for his family the best he could in between his job as a teacher.
As I watched the programme Nick Knowles said something that so resonated with me. “Success in completing this home would never be possible by just one man, it takes a team of experts to make things work”. This made me think about my own business and that of other solopreneurs and small business owners. How often do we think that we need to do everything? How rarely do we ask for help? Yet what was apparent from last nights programme was that the team of helpers, all experts in different fields, in nine days were able to transform the entire house with over 3,000 hours work. It was estimated that the owner would have taken seven years to achieve the same thing.
This real example demonstrates so clearly the importance of team work to success, and yet how many business owners try to do everything themselves, never bringing in the support that they need. And yet if they did I wonder how much their business could sky rocket to the next level. The business owner could leverage their time doing the things they love and are best at, whilst others complete the other very necessary business activities that need to occur. So how do you know who to hire and what activities you should do and those you should delegate? One tool I have used that has been invaluable for me is Talent Dynamics.
This profiling tool helps you get to understand where your strengths lie and what activities you should be undertaking. Then armed with this information you can then hire people who are best suited to the other roles. So what I discovered from taking my Talent Dynamics test was that I was a Creator. I simply love writing blogs and articles, developing new products/services/businesses. Sure I can do my accounts but that is not the best use of my time as it takes me considerable effort to motivate myself to do my accounts, as well as hours to get the work done. I always find things to divert my attention and so the job takes much longer than it should. Think of all that wasted energy that I could use on growing my business if only I had a book-keeper in place to take care of the financial aspects of the business on a day-to-day basis for me.
For small businesses there is definitely a tipping point – the point at which you think you can’t afford any support but if you don’t invest in this support then your business will not grow. I realise that for many people taking on team members can be a daunting task but there are a plethora of ways that you can do this now, hiring people by the hour, project or on short-term contracts. The flexibility is amazing. And once you know your Talent Dynamics profile you will know which tasks that would be best for you to outsource. If you are interviewing for a full-time person you might even want to consider making the interviewees take a Talent Dynamics test. Then you would know if they were best suited for the role that you were recruiting for. You can take your Talent Dynamics Test here.
Please leave any comments on what activities you have decided to outsource in order to grow your business because as we always say “Success is a Team Sport”. Who is playing on your team?.
Julia Felton (aka The Business Wrangler) is the founder of Business HorsePower. Business leaders, entrepreneurs and executives hire her to accelerate their business performance by harnessing the energy of their people to work more collaboratively together. By aligning purpose with actions the team achieves exponential results as everyone starts pulling in the same direction.
Julia believes that business is a force for good and through designing purpose-driven businesses that leverage the laws of nature, and the herd, you can create businesses founded on the principles of connection, collaboration and community that make a significant impact in the world.
