151 Quick Ideas to Deal With Difficult People

40Audit Teams for Hot Spots

Talent matters on a team. But in many respects, teamwork matters more. Former Los Angeles Lakers teammates Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal illustrate famously how talent minus teamwork equals a losing team. While the two superstars feuded, the team failed to win an NBA final. Once coach Phil Jackson put an end to the fighting, the pair led the Lakers to three championships. “Teams do only as well as the team leader,” says Joanne Sujansky, president of the Key Group, a Pittsburgh workplace-consulting group. When team members’ work falters, the leader should take responsibility for making them perform better, Sujansky says. The leader should motivate, set standards and offer coaching. Most importantly the leader should ...