If you want to hire a star player to give your team the edge, there is a high chance that at some point, that star player will cause some problems for you and the team. To ensure you get the best of both worlds, a great team and a great player, here are my top three tips.
1. Team catch-ups
Have regular team catch-ups as a group and also catch-up with all the team one-to-one. This will ensure information flows and everyone is open and honest.
If someone is causing problems, nip it in the bud early with direct feedback explaining that certain behaviour is not acceptable. Be specific, for example: "Kevin, it’s not good to look out the window during team meetings".
2. No one is bigger than the team
Make sure no one is bigger than the team. Alex Ferguson excelled and took a team of star players and moulded them into an unstoppable force – everyone in the team understood that being part of a winning team was better than being an individual show pony.
Ferguson was clear – no ego was bigger than the team, as Beckham, Keane and van Nistelrooy found out to their cost.
3. Manage personalities
Big egos often need more personal attention, recognition and praise. If it’s what they need, you can give it to them - but on the condition they keep up the team ethos. Regardless of what you might think, everyone is replaceable and it's important to remember that fact when building up your team.
If you do the above, you should hopefully be able to build and sustain the type of the team that you want and need to help your business grow and flourish. Great people can make a big difference to helping you get to where you want to go, but they have to be right for you at that point in time.