Jackie Shimshoni: Filling Team Roles

This week's readings revolved around teams, and it's interesting to think about ways to maximize on the team dynamic.  In particular, I found it interesting that the entrepreneur is separate from the other roles.  What if someone comes up with an idea but is really more of a marketer?  At that point, can the roles change--allowing someone else to become a boss, while the founder assumes a role more suited to their skill set?  Especially if the responsibility of each shareholder is equal, is it better to sacrifice one's role as "entrepreneur" in order to ensure that the business is maximizing on its potential?  One of the articles seemed to indicate this, but it seems such a sticky situation when ideas are at play--but again, I think we are all familiar with people who are more "idea" people than "action" people.

I think being honest with the role one plays best in a team is really important to making sure people are assuming the right role for them from the beginning.  Any type of personality can be a part of a successful team, but there need to be complementary personalities to ensure that the work that needs to be done is getting done.  This doesn't necessarily mean that people need to get along; just that the team has enough complementary skills to make sure the essential functions are getting done.

In particular, I am a really big fan of StrengthsFinder, and I think any member of a team (or potential team member) should take the quiz and that teams should objectively look at these elements to ensure that they have a well-balanced team.  What I love about StrengthsFinder is it doesn't tell you your "weakest" areas--rather, by looking at what you have, you can figure out what you need.

For example, my top 5 skills are: Woo, Futuristic, Strategic, Communication, and Activator.  That is, I love meeting and talking with new people, thinking about and sharing visions of the future, coming up with creative alternatives, conversation, and making things happen.  These traits are all idealistic and future-oriented, and speak to who I am as a person in addition to within a team.  Therefore it makes a lot of sense to me that in my own life, I gravitate toward people that are meticulous, grounded in the present and good at day-to-day--these are all elements that complement my personality well and allow me to function more successfully.

Many times over we have talked about the importance of knowing oneself and I think this is no more important than when building a team.  When building a team I think that admitting your own shortcomings is the best way to construct a group that can accomplish something really meaningful.  And I think in situations that Bonnie described, where we find ourselves in teams we do not select, it is even more important to understand what the team is lacking and that can allow for the next step--building partnerships and garnering mentors that can balance out those qualities.