Ever wondered what makes the one soccer or rugby team perform better than the other? Is it the quality of the coaching or the number of super-talented (and expensive!) star players or perhaps maybe the level of teamwork and tactics they employ?

No doubt these aspects play a part in the overall success of a team, but one thing is for sure – no team will be crowned a champion if they consistently play their players in the wrong positions. After all, how well will a soccer team perform if they play their most talented goalie as a striker or their best strikers as defenders? And how competitive will a rugby team be if they insist on playing their best wingers as props or their most gifted locks as centres or half-backs?

Yet this is exactly what we seem to be doing at the workplace. According to a recent analysis of Galup’s 2007 global client database, the majority of the people surveyed do not have ‘the opportunity to do what they do best every day’ in their current jobs. In countries such as the USA or Canada on average 70% of the leaders and workers are not employed in roles where they can utilise their natural strengths, and in countries such as the UK it is even higher (83%). Imagine the outcry if Pieter de Villiers or Pitso Mosimane were to insist on playing most of their players in the wrong positions!

Now how do we fix this – do we focus all our energy on improving our team member's weaknesses so they can perform better in the roles they are assigned to? Companies seem to be spending an awful amount of energy on identifying the ‘developmental needs’ of their workers so they can correct their ‘weaknesses’. That would be tantamount to trying to improve the physical strength and scrumming techniques of the winger who is playing prop, or the dribbling and goal kicking skills of the goalie that is being used as a striker.

Not that weaknesses should be ignored, particularly if they impact an individual’s performance. But focusing too much on their weaknesses may result in them losing their self-confidence – it is highly unlikely that they will become really good at something they are ill equipped to do.

Focusing instead on developing and maximising a team member’s personal talents and strengths will deliver much better results. It is far easier and more rewarding to get better at something that comes naturally and that you are already good at, than to try and ‘panel beat’ something that will just never turn out to be a natural area of strength.

Team members will perform much better if they are allowed to build their strengths by acquiring skills and knowledge that complement and strengthen their natural talents. One of the reasons for this is that they will be happier and more productive when their time is spent using their strengths – which, in turn, will help to bolster their self-confidence and level of engagement at the workplace.

A well balanced team should have team members that complement each other. Or to quote the famous US basketball coach John Wooden who once, when asked how he decides on who should play, reportedly responded: ‘I don’t select the best players and play them. I select the players who play best together.’

It is the combination of complementary strengths that will make a team really effective in executing its task. It is the team leader’s responsibility to get the team’s balance right by selecting team members that complement each other, and then to further develop and maximise the strengths of each individual team member – in short, to exploit their individual strengths for their own as well as the team’s good. Seems to me like good advice for Pieter and Pitso on their respective journeys towards world cup glory...

So there you go: Teamwork is all about exploitation.

Contact Johan Poolman here

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