Key Things an A-Team Needs

Yesterday, I was privileged to hear Jim Collins speak on how companies go from Great to Irrelevance. One of the key factors for building a world class organization and keeping it great is the people.

Jim shared his key insights into what an A-Team needs. This is from his upcoming book (coming out in May), "How the Mighty Fall" and he gave me permission to share it with you.

1. You know the person is a great fit for your team when they fit with your core values walking in the door. You can train for skills. You can't train for values.

2. They don't need to be tightly managed. The moment you feel the need to micromanage an employee, you know you've made a hiring mistake.

3. The right people understand that they don't have a job - they have responsibilities.

4. The right people do what they say they will do. They are accountable in every action.

5. The right people have window and mirror maturity. This means that when something goes wrong, they look in the mirror and say "I'm responsible. Here's what I will do to grow and change." When things are good, they point out the window and share the success and accolades with their team. They look outside of themselves to share the praise and recognition.

6. They think that what you do is really cool and believe it is a privilege to work for you.

Everything kept coming back to the people and the team you surround yourself with. Another nugget I really appreciated from his talk was this one. He ended his talk with something the great Peter Drucker told him: "Stop worrying about your survival, your success and start worrying about how to be useful."