Book Summary: The 17 Indisputable Laws Of Teamwork

To achieve great things, you need a team. Building a winning team requires understanding of these principles. Whatever your goal or project, you need to add value and invest in your team so the end product benefits from more ideas, energy, resources, and perspectives.

1. The Law of Significance

People try to achieve great things by themselves mainly because of the size of their ego, their level of insecurity, or simple naiveté and temperament. One is too small a number to achieve greatness.

2.The Law of the Big Picture

The goal is more important than the role. Members must be willing to subordinate their roles and personal agendas to support the team vision. By seeing the big picture, effectively communicating the vision to the team, providing the needed resources, and hiring the right players, leaders can create a more unified team.

3. The Law of the Niche

All players have a place where they add the most value. Essentially, when the right team member is in the right place, everyone benefits. To be able to put people in their proper places and fully utilize their talents and maximize potential, you need to know your players and the team situation. Evaluate each person's skills, discipline, strengths, emotions, and potential.

4. The Law of Mount Everest

As the challenge escalates, the need for teamwork elevates. Focus on the team and the dream should take care of itself. The type of challenge determines the type of team you require: A new challenge requires a creative team. An ever-changing challenge requires a fast, flexible team. An Everest-sized challenge requires an experienced team. See who needs direction, support, coaching, or more responsibility. Add members, change leaders to suit the challenge of the moment, and remove ineffective members.

5. The Law of the Chain

The strength of the team is impacted by its weakest link. When a weak link remains on the team the stronger members identify the weak one, end up having to help him, come to resent him, become less effective, and ultimately question their leader's ability.

6. The Law of the Catalyst

Winning teams have players who make things happen. These are the catalysts, or the get-it-done-and-then-some people who are naturally intuitive, communicative, passionate, talented, creative people who take the initiative, are responsible, generous, and influential.

7. The Law of the Compass

A team that embraces a vision becomes focused, energized, and confident. It knows where it's headed and why it's going there. A team should examine its Moral, Intuitive, Historical, Directional, Strategic, and Visionary Compasses. Does the business practice with integrity? Do members stay? Does the team make positive use of anything contributed by previous teams in the organization? Does the strategy serve the vision? Is there a long-range vision to keep the team from being frustrated by short-range failures?

8. The Law of The Bad Apple

Rotten attitudes ruin a team. The first place to start is with your self. Do you think the team wouldn't be able to get along without you? Do you secretly believe that recent team successes are attributable to your personal efforts, not the work of the whole team? Do you keep score when it comes to the praise and perks handed out to other team members? Do you have ahard time admitting you made a mistake? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you need to keep your attitude in check.

9. The Law of Countability

Teammates must be able to count on each other when it counts. Is your integrity unquestionable? Do you perform your work with excellence? Are you dedicated to the team's success? Can people depend on you? Do your actions bring the team together or rip it apart?

10. The Law of the Price Tag

The team fails to reach its potential when it fails to pay the price. Sacrifice, time commitment, personal development, and unselfishness are part of the price we pay for team success.

11. The Law of the Scoreboard

The team can make adjustments when it knows where it stands. The scoreboard is essential to evaluating performance at any given time, and is vital to decision-making.

12. The Law of the Bench

Great teams have great depth. Any team that wants to excel must have good substitutes as well as starters. The key to making the most of the law of the bench is to continually mprove the team.

13. The Law of Identity

Shared values define the team. The type of values you choose for the team will attract the type of members you need. Values give the team a unique identity to its members, potential recruits, clients, and the public. Values must be constantly stated and restated, practiced, and institutionalized.

14. The Law of Communication

Interaction fuels action. Effective teams have teammates who are constantly talking, and listening to each other. From leader to teammates, teammates to leader, and among teammates, there should be consistency, clarity and courtesy. People should be able to disagree openly but with respect. Between the team and the public, responsiveness and openness is key.

15. The Law of the Edge

The difference between two equally talented teams is leadership. A good leader can bring a team to success, provided values, work ethic and vision are in place. The Myth of the Head Table is the belief that on a team, one person is always in charge in every situation. Understand that in particular situations, maybe another person would be best suited for leading the team. The Myth of the Round Table is the belief that everyone is equal, which is not true. The person with greater skill, experience, and productivity in a given area is more important to the team in that area. Compensate where it is due.

16. The Law of High Morale

When you're winning, nothing hurts. When a team has high morale, it can deal with whatever circumstances are throw at it.

17. The Law of Dividends

Investing in the team compounds over time. Make the decision to build a team, and decide who among the team are worth developing. Gather the best team possible, pay the price to develop the team, do things together, delegate responsibility and authority, and give credit for success.

By: Regine P. Azurin and Yvette Pantilla http://www.bizsum.com "A Lot Of Great Books....Too Little Time To Read" Free Book Summaries Of Latest Bestsellers and More!

mailto:freenewsletter@bizsum.com BusinessSummaries is a BusinessSummaries.com service.

(c) Copyright 2001-2005, BusinessSummaries.com

Regine Azurin is the President of a company that provides business book summaries of the latest bestsellers for busy executives and entrepreneurs.

---

Book Summary: How To Work With Just About Anyone

"I just can't seem to get along with this person!"Every... Read More

Unspoken Dreams - Book Review

"Carol Bennett writes a stunning mystery-thriller. Her chilling entrance is... Read More

How Would You Move Mount Fuji? - AchieveMax® Top Ten Book Review

For a number of reasons, today's hiring managers from Wall... Read More

Stewie Griffin Depicts the Winter of Spenglers Discontent

Oswald Spengler predicted a protracted winter in The Decline of... Read More

Alison?s Journey: Book Review

"The dedication in this book is a work of poetry... Read More

Fun Works - AchieveMax® Top Ten Book Review

Fun Works: Creating Places Where People Love to Work by... Read More

Mathew and the Highland Rescue - Book Review

"A stimulating adventure! Sabine Muir has written a wonderful children's... Read More

Shattered Memories, Scattered Emotion - Review

Betty Woodrum released her first book of poetry entitled Shattered... Read More

The World is Flat - This Book by Thomas L Friedman has Taken the Online Entrepreneurs by Storm

The New York Times' columnist visits India often. I read... Read More

Nice Girls Don?t Get the Corner Office 101 - A Book Summary

Dr. Frankel clearly identifies the common mistakes ?101 in all-that... Read More

Entrepreneurs Reach Record Income Levels Using New EBook on Adsense and Adword Techniques

The "Rich Jerk" has created quite a stir on the... Read More

Albany, NY Family History Reference Now Available Thanks To Author Joseph Yakel

"Personal research references, especially for families who once lived in... Read More

Product Review: Affiliate Mistakes Special Report

In his ebook "Affiliate Mistakes Special Report," Chuck McCullough teaches... Read More

Book Summary: The E-Myth Revisited

Ever wonder why most small businesses-- no matter how huge... Read More

Sound Bodies through Sound Therapy - Book Review

"Dorinne Davis has written many books that concentrate on the... Read More

Blues Clues for Success - AchieveMax® Top Ten Book Review

Blue's Clues for Success: The 8 Secrets Behind A Phenomenal... Read More

Star - Book Review

Tom Peters crafted a moving, educational animal adventure story in... Read More

The Oz Principle - A Book Summary

In The Oz Principle, Connors, Smith, and Hickman brilliantly use... Read More

Practice What You Preach - AchieveMax® Top Ten Book Review

Practice What You Preach: What Managers Must Do to Create... Read More

Book Summary: The 17 Indisputable Laws Of Teamwork

To achieve great things, you need a team. Building a... Read More

Book Summary: What Is The Emperor Wearing?

This article is based on the following book:What Is The... Read More

Book Excerpt: Give Me a Home Where the Dairy Cows Roam

When I reached the top of the driveway after getting... Read More

FISH! Tales - AchieveMax® Top Ten Book Review

FISH! Tales: Real-Life Stories to Help You Transform Your Workplace... Read More

Bob the Dragon Slayer - Book Review

This very fun, exciting, fast-paced, warm novella - Bob the... Read More

Story Structure - Three Heroes

Three Heroes Story Structure follows the Hero's Journey mould but... Read More

Why Malta? A Mystery-Thriller Author Tells Why

"Why Malta?" my new Maltese friends kept asking me when... Read More

Book Review: Money Without Matrimony

MONEY WITHOUT MATRIMONY: The Unmarried Couples Guide to Financial Security,... Read More

Call Me Mommy - Book Review

Retired police captain, Marshall Frank, has written another excellent read... Read More

Lethal Option - Book Review

"This has to be one of the best detective novels... Read More

Free Ebook Offer: The Story of America: Discovery - Article 3

Quite a lot happened in Europe between 1002AD, when the... Read More

Book Review for The Margaret Ellen, A Karen Cobia Mystery by RC Burdick

I've discovered a new favorite author, and his name is... Read More

Book Summary: Good To Great

Explore what goes into a company's transformation from mediocre to... Read More

Kashmir: Behind the Vale

Kashmir has been a reason for at least three wars... Read More