The Leading Edge:
A Different Kind of Dream Team

By: Amy Barg

Ask people to name their favorite team and the majority of folks default to …. sports. It’s a slam-dunk response. And many can rattle off the statistics and stars of their dream team with rapid-fire precision. Back in the glory days of Michael Jordan even I could hold my own in conversations of that ilk.

But the reality of life is that, while sports teams are fun to watch and cheer, very few of us participate in those kinds of teams much past college years.

We find ourselves instead, knee-deep (or dare I say, neck-deep) on teams that too often inspire milk-toast “rah, rah” rather than high-fiving high achievement.

At least part of the reason?

Teams are made up of people, and people…. are messy.

But once in awhile you come across a “work team” that is performing, producing, retaining their employees, AND truly enjoying each other.

I had the privilege of meeting the leader of one such team recently and was intrigued with what I learned. So much so, that it was too good to keep to myself.

This company was started in a couple’s home office…on a lark and a whim. Their unexpected success came quickly and thrust them headlong into decisions about hiring and culture.

Initially, they hired for skill set. That proved to be a big mistake, and it took a year to “reverse that ship.”

It was during that back-to-the-drawing-board stage that the husband and wife team made the decision to create a company that was one where they would want to work.

That sounds so basic, even simplistic. And yet, we all know that what is common sense, often, isn’t common practice.

Here’s what they discovered.

Hiring is the single most important thing you do when you’re building a team.

It’s less about what a person can do and more about who a person is that makes them a great team member.

One of the aspects of her job that the co-founder, Angie, enjoys most is mentoring younger employees. She described it as “having the ability to change someone’s life for the better and leave them better than they were when they came to work here.”

A clear vision keeps a team focused on company success.

These young, idealistic co-founders also realized that having a clear vision (no pun intended, since they sell eyeglasses) that team members could not only read about but live out…mattered. And for them, that too was focused on people–their employees and their customers.

Making sure that everyone on the team understands that “customer happiness” is the driving force behind all they do means it drives decisions, details, delegating…everything.

Create a winning culture.

What intrigued me the most about this bright, articulate, school psychologist turned super successful business owner was the culture that has been created for the business’s 82 employees (full-time, part-time, seasonal, and intern workers).

The culture is one that permeates. In fact, her words put a big smile on my face when she said, “People think culture is having a ping-pong table. But if people don’t enjoy their work, that doesn’t matter. They need a culture where they feel comfortable.”

In fact, they believe everyone who works there “owns” the culture.  They know not only the “why” but the “who” and the “how,” and it makes sense. Whether through their giving back program that allows employees two paid days a year where they can volunteer in their community or the freedom to take smart risks to find creative solutions to big problems, the goal is always to seize every opportunity to exceed the expectations of their team members. The team sees it and believes it. And that impacts their customers.

These founders are literally “living out” John Maxwell’s Law of Magnetism–Who You Are Is Who You Attract– as found in The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. And they’re reaping rewards.

How, exactly???

Well, they’ve been rated one of the top places to work in the state of Indiana for four consecutive years and have been named one of the fastest-growing ecommerce businesses in the Midwest.

So, where does that leave everyone out there who is wanting and working for better team dynamics?

In my opinion…it’s the simple and hard truth.

Simple, because you really can boil it all down to creating an environment where YOU would want to work. With every decision, ask, “Would I want to be on the receiving end of this (whatever this is)?”

But…hard, because we all know the biggest gap in life is the one between knowing and doing.

Consistently implementing the necessary actions that ensure quality people are hired who know, embrace, and live out a vision in a culture that exceeds expectations so employees and customers are satisfied and happy is NOT a task for those who are weak in the knees.

It takes championship leadership.

Not surprisingly, everything (and maybe especially creating that kind of dream team) rises and falls on leadership!

Amy describes herself as a “growth environment specialist” and believes everyone is either stepping forward into growth or… backward into safety. For more than 25 years Amy served in the fields of education, communications and marketing, leadership and the not-for-profit sector. Now an executive director and certified speaker, trainer and coach with the John Maxwell Team, she serves the team as a member of the President’s Advisory Council.  Her passion is helping people raise their level of awareness about the importance of their own personal growth and leadership journeys. Whether delivering an interactive workshop for creating a growth environment, speaking to inspire others to take insanely practical action or listening to learn so she can ask thought-provoking questions, Amy defines success as having people walk away from spending time with her feeling they’ve been seen, heard and had value added.

The author of, Seeing Blind Spots: Leadership Lessons from Real Life, Amy writes a weekly blog and is a DISC Certified Human Behavior Consultant.

A mom of three and grandmother of four, she and her husband, Sam, live in Carmel, Indiana. Favorite pastimes include singing, gardening, health and fitness and performing in Community Theater.

You can learn more about Amy at http://www.johncmaxwellgroup.com/amybarg