Book Summary – The ABC’s of Building a Business Team That Wins – Written by Blair Singer
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This book is part of the Rich Dad Advisor family. Being able to build a successful team is a sought after talent. Think about your favorite professional, college or Olympic sporting team. I bet hardcore football fans can tell you which teams won each Super bowl. Can they tell you who came in second, probably not because nobody cares? Building a great team is by far the hardest component of business. You are dealing with unique personalities, qualities and skill sets. So the question becomes, how do you do it? Blair answers this question in the book.
Why is this important to me?
I strive to not waste your time. You are either part of a losing team or winning team. That is it. If you were ever part of a winning team then you can still remember the connection, camaraderie and code. If you consider the most effective teams, they all operate under a strict code of honor. This is critical in keeping the team united. The best example of this is seen in the U.S. Marine Corp. These guys have to run under a code or they die. It is that simple. Semper Fi – “Always Faithful”. Blair’s book is concise and to the point. We will outline creating a Code of Honor for your team.
Why a code of honor? In the absence of rules, people make up their own rules. The best way to avoid upset, collisions and disharmony in any group is to make sure everyone is playing by the same rules. The code brings out the best in everyone who subscribes to it.
Mission-Team-Individual – That is the order of the code. When people agree then you have the foundation for a championship team. If you don’t believe in Mission-Team-Individual then just image if Individual or team was first. Bernie Madoff put individual first and Enron put their Executive Team first. Look what happened. If the Marine Corp put individuals first then we would not have our freedom today.
Drafting the right players for your team is crucial. The old adage that people are your greatest asset is NOT true. They have to be the right people. I can tell you that my biggest expense and losses in business have ALL been around hiring and recruiting the wrong people. I could have been on mini-retirements in my late 20’s if I would have gotten this skill right. I would wager to say that over the years, I have spent over seven figures on the wrong people. This does not include the heart ache, counseling and other crap that goes along with having the wrong people on your team. I implore you to learn this skill because it will save you years of heart ache. It is cheaper to burn stacks of $100 bills then it is to have the wrong people on your team. LEARN THIS SKILL NOW!
Question – How do we get the right players on the team?
1. What kind of energy do they have? The highest energy wins. If the person is low energy then don’t recruit them.
2. Do they have a desire to win? This is critical because if they don’t then they won’t have it for the team.
3. Are they willing to let somebody else win?
4. Are they personally responsible?
5. Are they willing to submit to the code?
6. Do they have unique talent or ability?
Don’t hire to fill space. This costs way too much. Blair discusses his Results model and focusing on results means it is too late. Focus on the chain that creates results and good things will happen. How do you create a code of honor? This is tackled in the book and I will outline a sample code here:
1. Never abandon a teammate in need.
2. Be willing to “call and be called” when the code is broken.
3. Celebrate wins.
4. Be on time.
5. Keep all agreements and clean up any broken agreements ASAP.
6. Deal direct.
7. Be responsible
8. Be resourceful
9. Never let personal stuff get in the way of your mission.
10. Be loyal to the team.
11. Commit to personal development
12. Don’t seek or ask for sympathy or acknowledgment
13. Everyone must sell!
One critical component of championship teams is calling out breaches to the code. This is the most difficult part of the whole process. Think about it – you create the code, hire the right people and then what… If the team does not enforce the code then the whole process crumbles. Everyone has to call out breaches to the code even if it is your boss who breaks the code.
I hope you have found this short summary useful. The key to any new idea is to work it into your daily routine until it becomes habit. Habits form in as little as 21 days. One thing you can take away from this book is the power of teams. It took me to lose a ton of time, energy and money to know the true power of teams. You can invest 15 minutes per day on leadership and influence and it will pay exponential dividends for you in the future.
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