The new book, Team Players, by leadership expert and New York Times bestselling
author, Mark Murphy, explains why a team needs more than strong
leaders—it needs the right mix of five roles and talents to succeed.
In addition, Murphy
reveals that the secret to extraordinary teams isn’t making everyone the
same—it’s embracing and leveraging fundamental differences through those five
distinct team roles. No amount of teambuilding, trust, or cohesion can overcome
having the wrong mix of people in the room.
The five
essential roles and talents are:
The Director
assumes a leadership role within the team, guiding its direction and
making important, difficult, and even unpopular decisions.
The Achiever
immerses themselves in the details of accomplishing tasks and getting
things done, with a keen eye for delivering error-free work.
The Stabilizer
keeps the team on track with meticulous planning, processes and procedures,
clear timelines, and organization.
The Harmonizer
brings collaboration and camaraderie, builds relationships, and resolves
conflict.
The Trailblazer
brings innovation, creativity, and out-of-the box thinking, along with the
courage to challenge conventional wisdom.
“The five roles
framework celebrates distinctiveness and gives everyone—even team skeptics—a
vital part to play. Your best team is a delicate ecosystem where every role
matters.” explains Murphy. “Exceptional groups succeed by harnessing distinct
and diverse roles.” Also, says Murphy, great teams have all five roles filled
and can generally handle more Harmonizers and Achievers.
“The
conventional wisdom is wrong about how great teams are built. Effective leaders
worry less about cohesion and more about assembling the right group of people
with complementary talents and personalities,” says Murphy.
Finally, offers
Murphy, by reading the book you will:
- Learn
strategies for making better decisions by encouraging diverse perspectives and
reducing conformity bias.
- Explore the
science of great meetings, turning them into productive, goal-driven events.
- Discover how best
to select new team members, focusing on attitude and role fit.
With extensive research and examples across business, sports, and science, Team Players is a pivotal read for anyone exhausted by ineffective collaboration. While trust, psychological safety, and strong culture are important pieces of the puzzle, you need the right mix of people in the room in the first place.
___
Murphy is the
author of five books including the McGraw-Hill international bestsellers, Hundred
Percenters: Challenge Your People to Give It Their All and They’ll Give You
Even More and Hard Goals. His most recent book, Hiring for
Attitude, reflects the latest research and insight into how hiring
decisions can align with engagement goals and culture characteristics. Murphy
is also the Founder of Leadership IQ, research, and training firm. He also
leads one of the world’s largest studies on leadership and employee engagement.
Thank you to
the book’s publisher for sending me an advance copy of the book.
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