Quotes About Teamwork

talented employees who put their needs ahead of their colleagues and the company are dangerous.

and supply-chain experts, and get more space. Corey also knew that little things can mean a lot, and as a boss, you can earn credibility with your people by demonstrating that you will go to war for them every now and then—even over fairly trivial things.

The implication is that if you want to quell your inner jerk and avoid spreading (and catching) this form of asshole poisoning, use ideas and language that frame life in ways that will make you focus on cooperation.

The best bosses find the sweet spot between acting like spineless wimps who always do just as they are told (no matter how absurd) versus insubordinate rabble-rousers who challenge and ignore every order and standard operating procedure. Good bosses try to cooperate with superiors and do what is best for their organizations, but they realize that defiance can be required to protect their people and themselves – and sometimes is even ultimately appreciated by superiors.

Forgiveness is also important because, as a study of surgical errors found, "when a subordinate sees his technical errors are forgiven, he recognizes there is no incentive to hide them. He is less likely, therefore, to compound his problems by attempting to treat problems that are over his head for fear of superordinate reprisal.

My job is to hold the umbrella so the shit from above doesn't hit you. Your job is to keep me from having to use it.

Harry S. Truman said, "It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.

Great bosses avoid burdening their people. They invent, borrow, and implement ways to reduce the mental and emotional load they heap on followers.

In short, if you are a boss, ask yourself: 'Who have I anointed as stars?' Think of your workplace more broadly and ask, 'Do we anoint people who bolster or bring down others' performance and humanity?

This is our company—it's not theirs—it's ours.

The best bosses break down problems into bite-sized pieces and talk and act like each little task is something that people can complete without great difficulty.

As a boss, you need to establish a pecking order where people who know the most about a problem wield the greatest influence over what is done. You especially need to watch who talks the most (and least). Don't let your people fall prey to the blabbermouth theory of leadership. At least in Western countries, people who talk first and most frequently usually wield excessive influence over others – even when they spew out nonsense.

Hire newcomers that other people in your company will dislike." David

If you hire people who prompt discomfort in yourself and others, take extra care to listen to their ideas and insist that others do so as well.

Organizations that scale well are filled with people who talk and act as if they are in the middle of a manageable mess.

The fourth big lesson is that scaling starts and ends with individuals—success depends on the will and skill of people at every level of an organization.

A Lutheran pastor in Illinois writes: A great deal of the work in our church is done by non-paid individuals who, at times, hurt the feelings of fellow volunteers. Do you have any thoughts on what to do with mean people who volunteer their time?

Perry "puts all the bad apples in one barrel" so they don't wreck other teams. He then assigns a no-nonsense coach to lead the bad apples or does it himself—he is adept at dispensing tough love.

A 2012 study documented how such shit rolled downhill: abusive senior leaders were prone to selecting or breeding abusive team leaders, who in turn, ignited destructive conflict in their teams, which stifled team members' creativity.

Be warned, however, that when groups work mostly through e-mail or conference calls (rather than face-to-face), they tend to fight more and trust each other less.

La indecisión es una particularidad de los malos jefes.

In the 1970s, MIT professor Tom Allen showed that the closer people sat to one another, the more frequently they communicated—not just face-to-face communication, but via all media including telephone calls.

Most companies automatically search for fast learners, gregarious people with social graces, who are willing and able to bend to the wishes of others.

Refusal to accept blame, pointing fingers at others, and wimpy language can help bosses keep their jobs for a while, but it usually backfires in the long run. No matter what is said, bosses are seen as responsible for what their people do.