“No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you’re playing a solo game, you’ll always lose out to a team.”
These wise words from the co-founder of LinkedIn, Reid Hoffman, perfectly encompass the power and need for businesses small and large to have good teamwork. While individual talent should always be sought out and recognized, it takes a team to be able to effectively tackle complex projects on tight deadlines.
Business goals are like sports, it’s a team effort. Take an NFL team for instance. While a good quarterback can throw the ball and scramble effectively, if their receivers can’t catch, or his offensive line doesn’t protect him, the team suffers. Every moving part can affect the entire organization, and the best teams are those who work together to make sure each of those parts are coordinating and moving smoothly as one. It’s like some say, ‘a team is only as strong as it’s weakest link.’
A weak team member can hold back projects, demoralize co-workers, and pretty much bring a whole group down. Regardless of the industry or size of the company, having the right team to complete the job is crucial, and often overlooked.
At Motoza, we’ve learned from experience. Though we pride ourselves on having a diverse team of talented individuals, nothing beats being able to trust and collaborate with each other (while at the same time having a good ol’ time!) This came from years of both working solo, and in teams of different sizes and people. Through years of balancing independence with accountability, structured roles with multi-disciplined positions, we’ve matured our philosophy to one that combines all these things. The secret ingredient? A clear set of values and great people.
So what’s that mean? Like any organization, a solid set of ‘values’ needs to be defined that sum up why the company does what it does, and how it acts accordingly. Whether management is making an internal hiring decision, or a new intern is deciding how to approach a problem, these values are designed to keep consistency across all things. Let’s take an example out of our own playbook. ‘We’re proactive & take initiative.’ Rather than simply complain about problems that we know will creep up and hurt us our a client’s campaign, we encourage everyone to always be seeking improvements to our process. If someone brings up a concern in the office, whether you’re a co-founder or newbie, bring up a set of ideas that the team can develop into solutions. It’s this kind of attitude we look for not only in our team but also in partners that we work with. Deciding who we work with, is crucial in following these values.
Values are not only designed by the leadership, but also by the team that makes up the company. While values should always define what type of person we hire onto the team, they should also reflect that nature of our personalities. It’s organic, constantly evolving while being controlled and defined as much as possible by leadership.
In my opinion, a good leader not only leads by example, but also empowers those around them. Every single person in your team should be able to bring value beyond their day-to-day responsibilities, and being able to see that and capitalize on that is a sign of great leadership. Having a clear definition of what our values are allows us to be able to place so much more trust on our team, knowing full well they’ll approach things in ways that any of us would. This kind of chemistry creates awesome results that translate to a happier team, better work, and more successful clients.
So whether you’re running a local hobby group, working on a project, or managing a company, take some time to look at your team. Reflect on how each team member compares to the way you would approach things. See how each team member compares to each other, and ask yourself, is there consistency? Do we all follow the values that would make this company great?
Here at Motoza, we’ve spent the past 6 years reflecting on this. From our experience, it’s a fundamental reason why our team rocks, our services work, and our clients think we’re cool 🙂
So what are some of your organization’s core values? Feel free to share with us!
