Today, I want to talk to you about building your ideal team. In Jim Collins’ book Good to Great he uses the metaphor of “getting the right people on the bus” when talking about teams, and it’s a concept that really resonates with me. Think about it: When you’’ve got the right people on the bus, you know it. When you’ve got the wrong people on the bus, you know it. And most of the time, most of us lead teams that have a lot of great people on our bus and usually one or two people that we might need to move off of the bus. Sound familiar? 

In his research, Jim Collins found the companies in the world that were most successful were those that thought about their people first; they focussed on getting the right people around them. 

These were leaders who were not afraid to hire people better than them and stronger than them in certain areas, in order to build the right people on the bus.

So what does that look like for businesses like yours and mine? 

We want people on our bus who: 

• Willingly provide feedback

• Are happy to bounce ideas off of us

• Will tell us if they think we’re making a bad decision

• And will push us to justify our decisions when necessary

All of these qualities can seem annoying in the early days, but it’s so important to be able to enlist a group of people who have strengths in different areas to help you grow your business—which is ultimately what we want in the end.

Equally important to having the right people on the bus is knowing how to deal with those that don’t fit. In the early years of my business I was naive to this and stuck my head in the sand a lot when it came to conflict. Not only was this detrimental to me, it was unhelpful for my team and the culture and community I was trying to build in my organisation. 

When it comes to leadership, people are looking to you to have the brave conversations and to step up into that leadership role. If you have people in leadership roles within your organisation as well, people are looking to them to step up too, and it’s your job as their leader to be a good role model for that. And you can’t expect people to do what you won’t do yourself. 

When I talk about difficult conversations, I’m not necessarily saying that every conversation you have about HR matters is going to be difficult. 

• The more conversations you can have, the more you can communicate. 

• The more you can set expectations and boundaries, the easier it is going to be to follow up that feedback and follow up on performance.

I encourage you today to have a think about the team that you have and to think about the people you have on your bus. 

As the leader, I’m sure you know exactly where your bus is going. You have your vision and your mission, your values are strong, and you’re working towards your goals.

Now really have a think about the people that you have on the bus with you. 

Are those people serving you? 

Do those people reflect and practise your values when they are in the workplace? 

Do those people support each other and lift each other up?

Are they helping to build the culture that you’re also trying to build? Or, do you have people in there that are trying to sabotage the culture that you are building as well? 

If you know deep down that you have a team member who needs to get off of your bus, I want you to be brave and courageous and know you’re not alone. And I want you to know that as a business owner, this is part and parcel of what we do and how we do it.

It’s not going to be easy straight away, but it is always important; just as it’s always important that you are setting the right example for your team and standing up for the culture that you’re building within your organisation. 

So, think about who is on your bus and the importance of those people and their roles they’re going to play. 

Next week we’re going to be talking about the roles your team members are playing on the bus and whether or not you have the right people in the right seats.