How to Build a Winning Team

Guest columnist Nikos Mourkogiannis says a group's success ultimately depends on its balance. He offers a simplified framework to get the right mix

by Nikos Mourkogiannis

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What does it take to put together a winning team in business?

Volumes of articles and books have been written on the topic over the years, offering advice on how to avoid the dysfunction that often renders teams ineffective. We have all been part of groups that failed, either because of hidden agendas or personalities that didn't quite mesh.

In my experience as an executive and a consultant, I've come to believe the personal style of team members has the greatest influence on a group's success. More important than any technical skill a team member brings is the ability to work closely together, free of backbiting and political maneuvering. The key is having the right mix on your team.

The Four Types of Employee

By and large, there are four archetypes of people in companies: magicians, warriors, sovereigns, and lovers. You can easily define them using the Jungian framework introduced by psychologist Robert Moore and mythologist Douglas Gillette.

• Magicians. They are the rational yet imaginative souls in your organization. They think a new idea or insight is the only thing that can move the world. In truth, they're obsessed by ideas. Their answer to feeding the troops is to pull a rabbit out of a hat. These types of people think a mere argument over an idea equals action.

• Lovers. For them, everything comes down to human relations. They're pragmatic but emotional. They focus on building the winning coalition. They are obsessed not by ideas but by feelings. They consider agreement an action.

• Sovereigns. They are the emotional and imaginative types. They focus on the big picture and judge everything on whether it leads to where they want to go. They redefine what people consider is possible. They are obsessed by beliefs. And they consider direction a form of action.

• Warriors. They are rational and pragmatic. They're focused on the next battle and can only see clearly what's directly in front of them. They hold people accountable to systems and the fairness of those systems. They're obsessed by facts. For them, action is finding the critical factor to get something immediately accomplished.

Apple's (AAPL) Steve Jobs is clearly a magician. Watching him introduce a new product on stage (BusinessWeek.com, 7/6/07) is like watching a master magician pull a rabbit out of a hat. Microsoft's (MSFT) Bill Gates, with all his competitive juice to dominate his industry, is a warrior. IBM's (IBM) Tom Watson, who plastered the walls of Big Blue with "Think" signs, was a magician. Could anyone think of GE's (GE) Jack Welch (BusinessWeek.com, 12/7/07) as anything other than a warrior? Indeed, one of the most fascinating campaigns in all of business is the attempt by Welch's successor to transform a warrior company like GE into a hothouse of ideas. Jeff Immelt, whose "imagination at work" vision for GE is an extreme departure from the Welch years, will have a hard time of it without more magicians on his senior team.

Maintaining the Balance

Obviously, this framework is a simplification, but there are logical implications for any leader assembling a team. The most effective teams maintain a balance by having a healthy variety of types in key roles because each type is good at doing different things. A mix of magicians, warriors, lovers, and sovereigns will get you the best team possible.