Mix and match team members for business synergy

Business leaders need high levels of interpersonal skills to achieve top team performance in today's pressured operating environment. Learning and developing the skills of knowing when and how to shift ideas and views to ensure you get the best out of others and to drive results.

A leader's job is to use the power of employees to create value for the organisation, not only his own power. Most leaders have an egos and are not willing to listen to other's viewpoint.

The recipe for success is team work. Look at yourself first when things go wrong. Successful business leaders need to achieve top results from their teams.

Today, no individual can produce results in an organisational environment.

To get the best out of people, look at what you do with people who work, and how to improve what does not work. So it's about learning from success and failure for continuous improvement. When results are below expectations, resist the inner urge to blame others. Instead, recognise your part in the results they produced.

This could include things you did not do or did not do well enough to achieve the desired results. Imagine alternate approaches that might work better next time. For example, a colleague does not seem to listen to your comments. On reflection, you realise that you told them only what you wanted, not how they should go about doing it.

Cultural differences

The difference between individuals are much bigger than the apparent differences which you notice. Creating an organisational culture with a common vision, strategy, practices, values and ethics should take precedence over individual culture.

This is the biggest challenge business leaders have today with widening cultural gaps due to emerging sub-cultures that are complex in nature.

The real world vs. your own - consider three positions to understand people.

Often talk about the 'real world' and forget that each one of us live in our own world. Learn to see situations from other people's view point.

Typically you have three positions to base your decision; 1) Your own, 2) other's 3) A neutral or impartial observer position.

The third position is essentially, an outsider's view. This will help form a well-balanced perspective to base upon the best decision possible. When you are faced with difficulty, explore all three positions.

Choose a word to describe how you experience a colleague's behaviour as difficult, for example, 'lethargic'.

Think how they may see your behaviour as difficult. Choose another word to describe your behaviour. Imagine yourself in that situation and notice how you feel. You may be more frustrated than you realised.

Focus on the person's body language and imagine being in their position.

Notice any feeling they might have that you were not aware of, such as anxiety. Then, step back and ask yourself "what is the best way to handle this"?

Bringing personality traits together

Two people with different mental modes can find it hard to communicate, and this can be damaging in business. Learn to recognise different patterns of behaviour in your team members, and work with these differences to maximise performance.

Try to differentiate between people with different personalities in your own team.

Improve performance by ensuring that people's characteristics fit their job scope. Make sure people's natural personality preferences are well-matched to the tasks that they perform.