Teams of People, Not Robots
I want to give you a straight-forward, cookie cutter approach to building successful teams. I want to, but I can’t.
The problem is the number of variables that come into play. Building team skills into an Executive Team that has worked together for years (but perhaps not well) is different than pulling together a set of people who barely know each other – if at all – for a short-term project. A large organization with many players to choose from to form their team has different issues than the small organization that doesn’t really have options for who will be on the team. And the variables go much deeper than that since the organization’s culture impacts everything. Continue reading Building Teams That Succeed
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It’s a good thing for a leader to be liked. People are motivated to do their best for someone they like. But good leaders know that warm & fuzzy feelings can’t be the most important thing. Like a doctor, good leaders even need to be willing to inflict some pain when appropriate. 
I suspect change would come much easier if I was leading robots. Replace some hardware, upgrade the software, and presto! Change complete. But then again, for change to be that easy I would have to be a robot, too.
So rather than feeling under-appreciated when you’re given assignments that fit the next position up the ladder, consider it a sign of leadership’s confidence in your potential. 
That’s sound advice, but it raises the question, “What are the first things and what are the second things?” As free-thinking individuals, we get to choose what our first and second things are going to be. But our choices have consequences and to make the choice is to accept the consequences of that choice.
Our guest blogger, Andrew, is currently serving as an intern at enLumen Leadership Services. Andrew wrote this article about his older brother, Timothy, who continually inspires Andrew toward excellence as he pursues his career in the music industry.