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The crazy Colombian has gone truly crazy! We are supposed to be on a blog about getting the life we want, and he wants to talk about team building?

Yes my dear readers, I want to talk about how to build a great team, and I will use the video above as a starting point. The two key points I want to explore today are

1. Why bother building a great team, and
2. How to go about it

And don’t worry; I am not going to suggest you go on some stupid team-building exercise that uses motivational techniques usually reserved for fit members of the army. Nor will I ask you to partake on goofy exercise that  require you to use ropes, nails, martial arts, paint, hot embers or a goldfish (and if you don’t know what I am talking about, you are obviously one of the few lucky ones who has never been sent on a company day off-site to be the victim of so-called team-building experts (in which case you will probably smile when  you watch with this video in Youtube)

But back to the topic: Why should you care about building a great team? And how do you go about it?

You should build a great team around you because you can’t go through life alone

Let’s first define team. There are 3 reasons why you should have a great team around you

1. Because there aren’t enough hours in the day for you to do everything yourself
2. Nor are there enough hours in your week to do everything you have on your plate right now
3. Bur most importantly because you don’t have enough hours in your life to learn every possible skill you will need to live the The life you were born to live.

But you already knew this, didn’t you? Otherwise, why do you have an accountant, paid cleaners, nannies /daycare, a doctor, or any of the other myriad of professionals you pay hard-earned money to provide services to you?

Most people fail to realise that there are a lot of teams around them. Almost everyone builds teams around them by accident, and fail to realise that it is entirely within their capacity to build, shape, and re-shape those teams. Work colleagues, families, professional organisations, companies we buy from; they are all part of your Life team. So don’t make the mistake everyone makes, and relinquish the power (and responsibility) to carefully construct the best possible team around you. When choosing a new team member (be it a friend, husband, or accountant), be very clear on why you want them to be a part of your team.

Follow this simple piece of advise, and you will be on the way to achieving unimagined levels of efficiency, effectiveness and happiness. And that is the reason why you should care about building a great team.

How to build a great team

There are 3 fundamental steps for building a great team:

1. Have a goal in mind. Stephen Covey has previously said that the first habit of highly effective peopleis to start with the end in mind. So figure out what type of life you want, and turn this desire into a SMART goal.
2. Identify the help you will need. Once you know where you want to go, find out what you can (and should) do by yourself, and what you should (or could) get help from professionals. Be creative in this step, and keep yourself honest; Continuously remind yourself that just because you can do something doesn’t mean that you should do it (Don’t believe me? Answer this question: can you drive your car off a cliff? Should you? There you go!)
3. Find the best person to help you. The last step is then to find new team members for each of the things you decided you need to get done, but you can’t (or will not) do yourself. It is critical in this step that you look for the best person for the job, given all of your constraints (time, money, location, etc). Remember that finding the best person for the job is a very different thing than finding  the perfect person for that job (Hint: Sometimes the price of excellence is accepting imperfection)

Parting thoughts on the video of this month

Before I go, I want to share with you a few quotes from the video above. I hope they will make you think:

• On what being part of a great team is all about:

If you want to settle old scores, you’re on the wrong team. We move forward, starting right now. We start becoming a great team, right now! … Skating, Flow, creativity, that’s what this team is all about, not old rivalries

• On perseverance under duress:

What the hell is wrong with you? Put your gear on. I said, put your gear on. ‘But the doctor told me I can’t play‘. Yeah, Yeah, you got a bad bruise. You know what? Put your street clothes on, because I have no time for quitters. ‘Come on Herb, nobody is quitting here‘

• On the importance of hard work (Einstein: Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration):

Do you want to win on talent alone? Gentlemen, you don’t have anough talent to win on talent alone. Try again!

• On having the courage to stand out and be uncommon:

Hey, where are you going? Back on the line. This can not be a team of common men, because common men go nowhere. You have to be uncommon.

• On the importance of clearly defining what’s the team you’re playing for:

I play for Massachusets.

Who do you play for?

I play for the United States of America

That’s all gentlemen

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