Think of your outfit as a well-oiled team; all players have specific role

An old proverb says that if you have two left shoes, one of them is not necessary. Most people are very comfortable with people who are like them and truth be told, it is fun and comfortable to surround yourself with people who are like you. However, as comfortable as it might be, this does not augur well for business as it will produce a lopsided team.

In the book Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization by Dave Logan, John King and Halee Fischer-Wright, team composition is key to the success of any strategy or organisation for that matter.

They write that, “Companies that are run by people who all have the same background, temperament, personality, IQ, and learning style become easy targets for competitors because the leaders all share the same blind spots, no matter how smart of accomplished they are.”

Why this is so profound is that we often want people around us who think exactly and behave like us. This, however, may be detrimental to the performance of teams.

Why not think of your outfit as if it were a football team. Every football team has forwards who are strikers to score goals. Midfielders create the goal opportunities. Defenders protect the home turf from invasion, while the goalkeeper ensures the enemy will not get a chance to score.

In organisations, the Forwards include the sales, social media teams and any other outgoing team that to go out into enemy territory either physically or virtually to engage with the outside world and directly to score goals.

The Midfield is for functions like the human resources, charged with creating the right environment at home and ensuring the “players” are adequately trained and equipped to create the impetus for the strikers to score. Another is marketing who are charged with creating awareness and ensure that the brand is top of in the mind, thereby making it easier for strikers going out boldly.

Defenders ensure the enemy does not penetrate and adversely affect the game against their team. Defence must stop any potential attack. In organisations, this falls under strategic communications and public relations. No matter what shots are fired at the organisation, these functions must defend the brand. No matter how sustained the attack, they must ensure the brand image remains intact. And even find a way to turn attacks into advantages.

The goal keepers are for functions rarely seen in the public space our outside the organisation, much like the soccer goalkeeper has no business trying to dribble the ball in an attempt to score on the other side. That is not their job. But without them, the team is exposed.

In organisations, finance, administration, receptionists, security and other may never leave the premises, but without them, the outfit cannot win. The organisation will be a sitting target just waiting for anyone to attack.

So, we see the importance of each part of the team. None is more important than the other. Without any one of the functions, the team cannot win.

This pattern is replicated within each department/unit and in inter departmental interactions.

Failure to understand these formations may lead to serious communication issues within the organisation.

Wale Akinyemi is the chief transformation officer, PowerTalks