The Art of Building a Growth Focused Team

Larvell Davis, Director of Technology, VCU School of Dentistry

Larvell Davis, Director of Technology, VCU School of Dentistry

Have you worked for an organization that states things like “The customer is always right” or “The customer is the priority”? We all know customer satisfaction is essential, but what if I told you “The customer is always right” is actually wrong? Let me explain.

True value is created when you build winning teams. A team that is cohesive, motivated, empowered, and valued will be committed. The customer and the organization will immediately benefit from a team that is committed, which also creates value for the organization. To get this level of commitment, managers must recruit the right people with a focus on culture. Managers need a strategy that focuses on recruiting, aligning, and then retaining top talent in order to sustain performance and success over a period of time.

Building a winning team begins with recruitment. Exactly how do you build your team? The days of simply creating a job description and posting the position on Indeed are over. Recruitment involves directly “targeting” a candidate pool that is both diverse and skilled in the key aspects of the position. I mentioned both diverse and skilled for a reason. Diversity brings completely different skill sets to the table while fostering creativity. A team that looks and thinks the same strangles creativity. Having a team that looks and thinks differently brings different cultural aspects and ways of thinking, inspiring new ideas and strategies that ultimately benefits the customer and organization. Technology changes rapidly, and it is important to have a team of intelligent and creative minds to drive the change needed, which in turn, creates organizational value.

My favorite book on leadership is Good to Great by Jim Collins. Jim specifically talks about getting the right people on the bus, inferring that when hiring, hire the employee that can not only do the job but fit the culture you are trying to build. I will actually take it a step further. My strategy is not only focused on getting the right people on the bus, but once they are on, they need to be in the right seat. The worst thing any leader can do is hire someone or place an employee in the wrong position. This will lead to poor performance and, ultimately, poor service delivery. It is important to focus on skillsets when hiring and evaluating employee performance to ensure they are set up for success. I mentioned motivation earlier. An employee in the right seat will find instant gratification in what they do and ultimately achieve fulfillment. Motivation fuels fulfillment which in turn fuels performance. Employees that are given challenging projects that are in alignment with their interests and strengths will instantly be motivated to complete them, and once they are complete, fulfillment will surely follow. The customer and the organization will benefit instantly.

“Empower and challenge the team by creating and fostering a work environment that brings out their talents. Create a growth strategy focused on retention bringing out new employee strengths, and, ultimately, fulfillment.”

Now you have built a winning team. You have your team in the right seats on the bus. They are delivering exceptional service to the organization, and the organization is thriving. Technology and automation have increased efficiency and improved both the top and bottom lines. The question now becomes, how do you retain the all-star team you just built? We see it all of the time. A great team is built to achieve extraordinary levels of success, and then the team falls apart. Let us look at the New England Patriots organization. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady appeared in 9 Super Bowls in 18 seasons, but when key players like Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, and Julian Edleman departed, the success slowly diminished. The key, however, is that the Patriots have a winning formula similar to what we have discussed previously, and they will use this formula to rebuild their success. Great organizations do it all of the time. This is the challenge for every leader. Once a great team is built, you must put a framework in place for development and growth. Employees need to be challenged not just to obtain new skills but to apply them often. Help your employees see the value they are bringing to the organization. The ability to directly see the impact of their work creates passion which ultimately drives fulfillment.

Leadership is my passion. I have had the pleasure of working and learning from many leaders, some of whom share the same values and some that may think differently. One thing that has been consistent, however, is the success of an organization is strongly correlated with the success of the team. Get the right people on the team and place them in the right seats. Develop a culture of creative thinkers by hiring a diverse team. Empower and challenge the team by creating and fostering a work environment that brings out their talents. Create a growth strategy focused on retention bringing out new employee strengths, and, ultimately, fulfillment. Focus on this winning formula and watch the magic happen. Your customers will benefit, and your company will thank you.