Making A Well-Rounded Team

My editor is heading to New York City for a vacation, and I couldn’t help but reminisce about the time my in-laws took us and my girls there for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. My youngest, Leah, absolutely loved it; that was years ago and she talks about NYC to this day. She just seemed connected to the chaos and the bustle. My oldest, on the other hand — well, she enjoyed the trip, but not in the same way — and she doesn’t find herself longing for the city in the same way. She’s ready for the next adventure. These two sisters have very different values.

One of the most difficult challenges you’ll ever face, if you hope to start an organization or business, is how to connect to your members individually. It’s easy to resonate with the people who agree with you; but how do you meet the others where they’re at, giving them what they need to connect? The challenge is not to find an experience that serves everyone, but to find a way to connect individually with the things they value. Remember — individuals are not well rounded. Teams are well-rounded. So as leaders, we want the diversity of opinion and value on our team; the question is how do you harness its power?

I use an assessment called the Core Values Index, and all of my clients use it to see how their teams are balanced. Most teams really aren’t — they’re skewed in one way or another. But one of my teams is made up of an almost exactly equal balance of values, and it’s fascinating to watch how that changes their dynamic. They have a uniquely varied team perspective that brings a whole new set of tools to every challenge they face. It raises the bar because such diversity brings all perspectives to the table, along with passion and commitment. In the end, it’s a much higher quality problem to have, and it makes an incredible difference when it’s time to have the courageous conversations that need to be had.