When you’re the only star (part 2)

(part 2 of 2)

You’re a star performer. The other members of your team aren’t. What do you do? Last time we looked at a few things that don’t work — whether you’re the best basketball player in the world, a popular and accomplished baseball player, or an all-star technical writer on a team that isn’t getting the job done.

Now here are some things that do work.

What does work: Have faith in the team

Remember: while you might think you’re the only star on the team, the team members probably don’t share your view.

Here’s something else to remember: no one on your team is trying to fail. Nor are they incompetents, unable to do the job.

Somebody hired them, thinking they had the necessary skills. Surely, then, you won’t need to look very hard to see the qualities that can turn your teammates into capable performers, even if they’re struggling with the current project.

Your vision can guide your teammates to taking their first steps along the yellow brick road to the goal

So try a dose of humility.

When you’re the only star

(Part 1 of 2)

You’re a star performer. The other members of your team aren’t. What do you do?

In the business world, almost everything is a team sport. As a technical writer, for example, you might be an all-star. But you succeed only when the other members of the team — writers, editors, artists, publishers, SMEs, managers — do their jobs effectively.

So what do you do when they’re not effective? Here are a few things that don’t work.

What doesn’t work: Carry the whole load

What were you THINKING??

You’ve probably seen this photo of LeBron James, by all accounts the best basketball player in the world. He’s confronting teammate J.R. Smith after Smith’s mental blunder in the first game in this year’s NBA Finals.

James’s Cleveland Cavaliers went on to lose that series — but not because he didn’t give it his all.

He spent more time on the court (by a wide margin) than his next busiest teammate. He attempted more shots. He accounted for nearly half of his team’s assists.

In sports we often admire the guy who “carries the team on his shoulders.” But when a team needs to be carried, when it relies too much on one person’s contributions, that’s not a good thing.

Getting the team to play together

Gettin’ good players is easy. Gettin’ ’em to play together is the hard part.
– Casey Stengel, manager of 7 World Series winning teams

Our work group had gathered for a morning of team building: a role-playing game in which we’d need to work together to solve a series of puzzles. At precisely the appointed starting time, the facilitator burst in and announced that he’d locked the door from outside and the game would begin.

“But one of our people isn’t here,” someone said. (In fact, the missing member had been delayed by a work-related call and had let us know that she was about 5 minutes away.)

“It doesn’t matter,” the facilitator said dismissively. “The rules are clear. We begin on time.”

“No,” our manager replied. “We wait for her.”

No one else said a word. But it was clear that everyone in the room — except the badly outnumbered facilitator — stood in complete agreement.

If team building was what we’d come for, then mission accomplished.

The facilitator muttered something about deducting 5 minutes from the time of the game, which elicited a collective shrug, turned on his heel, and huffed out of the room.

Soon the last member arrived and the game proceeded. Each of us learned about our interaction styles and about how we function together. But for me the most meaningful team building occurred at the moment we all agreed, with no words passing between us, that we wouldn’t leave a member behind.

That shared experience affirmed what all of us, I think, already knew: we have a strong team. From long experience, I know that strong teams don’t just happen.

What can you, as a manager or as a team member, do to build strong teams?