I’m not an advocate for nepotism but many business leaders I talk to would prefer to cherry pick their own teams. But what if you could start from scratch and assemble your own all-star team, where money is no object?
Just as there are tens of thousands of sports players available for fantasy sports leagues, so I invite you to pick your team with a few reserves to cover the unexpected problems along the way. For the purposes of this blog, let’s assume that every player is free to transfer into your team, no concerns about relocation packages, and, if invited by you, cannot say “No”. Well this is fantasy, after all.
However, you can’t ignore regulatory employment laws and you must be true to the core values of the organisation you lead. Let’s assume that people want to work with you and for you, are willing to embrace and practise your organisation’s values, happy to be challenged by a progressive vision, and will join willingly and ably armed with extensive experience and expertise.
So, let’s get started.
You’ve got your dream team in place and they’re all eager to communicate effectively with each other, engaged and motivated to the core, and full of creative ideas to make your organisation league leaders. They want to be informed about their customers and their needs. They treat CSR seriously and all want to be as lean as possible in their areas of responsibility. Every team player to a person is focused on creating the ideal platform with products and services customers are dying to spend their time and money on. Everyone can create and market top-quality content, seek a global presence, and share their knowledge to build loyalty and great working experiences.
Just like all fantasy leagues I can’t hire the dream team because I’ve exceeded resources, even with money no object. I can’t get all I need into the places available, so I’ll have to bend the rules, cut corners or take risks.
What went wrong?
Last season, Leicester City were league champions and at 5000-1 the dream team no one expected. So, what’s gone wrong this season?
You need the right person at the top, the head coach with the ability to get to the top and stay there. You need the right CEO to challenge the organisation every day with getting the basics right and building the team not just to be one-season champions. You need to continually seek the best talent, cover succession planning and develop the current team to seek the good, then the great, and finally the greatest goals.
To be sustainable champions you need to work hard at developing each player as an investor of excellence in their individual position and role, working for each other and hitting the top of the wave of excellence together.