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How to Build Your Winning Team

Written by: Stefan Doering

Article Overview: Looking back at the hundreds of business relationships I’ve had in five companies over the last quarter century—employees, investors, partners, vendors/suppliers, subcontractors, consultants, board of advisors and directors, volunteers, bankers and many joint ventures—I can say with confidence that only a few ended up really bad. But then, only a few dozen were extraordinary. The vast majority were pretty much just “OK”. Not great, not terrible. And one would think that after all this time and experience I’d be getting better at my choices. And yet, I still hit and miss. Here is the distinction: I’ve learned to accelerate through my mistakes.

How to Build Your Winning Team

In late summer 2001 I was sitting in a board of directors meeting with one of my founding partners glaring at me from the other side of the table. Our relationship had gone from bad to worse and now we were in a struggle for control of our company.

What made it particularly awkward was my nemesis of a partner was forcing us to air our dirty laundry in front of our board members and investors, some of whom were billionaires, centi-millionaires, CEOs and chairmen of major corporations.

Kind of embarrassing and humiliating to have a partner telling a group like that how incompetent I was and how I should be removed from the company.

But as founder and CEO, and with a LOT of effort and most of our board and partners on my side, I was able to somewhat contain my nemesis from doing too much damage.

It was an odd way to end up with him because we started as friends and really excited about what we were building. I thought I had done my “due diligence” and background check on him and we spoke a lot about our roles and responsibilities before deciding to work together.

And while we all have read horror stories about partnerships or employee relationships that go completely haywire, until it happens to you personally, it doesn’t really equate to much of anything.

Looking back at the hundreds of business relationships I’ve had in five companies over the last quarter century—employees, investors, partners, vendors/suppliers, subcontractors, consultants, board of advisors and directors, volunteers, bankers and many joint ventures—I can say with confidence that only a few ended up really bad.

But then, only a few dozen were extraordinary. The vast majority were pretty much just “OK”. Not great, not terrible.

And one would think that after all this time and experience I’d be getting better at my choices. And yet, I still hit and miss. Here is the distinction: I’ve learned to accelerate through my mistakes.

And by exiting out much faster, less is left on the table to disagree over when completing a relationship.

Here are some tips on setting up a winning team:

* Identify the position—who you want and their roles and responsibilities.
* Put the word out—ask your trusted colleagues for referrals. Word of mouth is a big plus. Anyone can say or write whatever they want in an interview or on a resume.
* Interview at least three people—especially when you think you know you have a “winner”. It will keep you in check with your emotions.
* Articulate your expectations—make sure they understand what you want from them and by when.
* Identify an exit strategy—what happens if things don’t work out. How much time will you give them and what are their milestones they must hit along the way.
* Explain their ROI—their return on investment when they hit a home run for you.
* Get it in WRITING—in the beginning! Almost nothing worse than getting into a “he said, she said” discussion.
* Set up a trial period—with specific and measurable results. Use your milestones and have a clear understanding on what has to happen and by when.
* Communicate clearly at each milestone. What worked, what didn’t and what needs to be adjusted in order to get back on track (if necessary).
* Be your word—stick to your agreement. Have an outside person with no attachment to your success (or failure) hold you accountable to making sure stick to your plan.
* Keep the winners—don’t get lazy once they are on board. Replacing them can be a pain if they are not feeling like you are taking care of them.

Most important: be patient. Just know you will make mistakes, no matter how much due diligence you do beforehand. Simply accelerate through it all knowing it is part of getting your right team in place.



Action Steps for the Week:

Review your stakeholders plan. Remember, stakeholders are anyone who is involved in your business. Identify the key positions for your business.

Focus on the paid stakeholders like employees, partners, contractors, and venders. Set up agreements with them. Even if they’re already working with you. Just sit down with them and set something up.

When done correctly, both of you will feel more secure in your relationship.

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Article Tags: background check, board members, board of directors, business relationships, ceos, chairmen, corporations, dirty laundry, distinction, due diligence, employee relationships, founding partners, horror stories, joint ventures, last quarter, millionaires, nemesis, quarter century, roles and responsibilities, subcontractors



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