The American clergyman John Maxwell reputedly coined the expression “Team work makes the dream work”.  Importantly he added “but a vision becomes a nightmare when the leader has a big dream and a bad team”.

Anyone who has had the courage to start a company with their our own dream will be reluctant to admit they have a “bad team”.   I assume the good clergyman did not mean people with bad moral values.  For those of us whose business it is to help business owners plan for and execute their succession plan we know a bad team has a very different connotation.  
 

The mission must first be defined and the market in which you are operating understood.  The more competitive the market and the more ambitious your plans for growth and profit the more capable your team will need to be.   The end point, when the owner steps down form day to day control must also be set.

The team may work fine, even with dysfunctional relationships between two or more owners, whilst it is steady state or growing at a modest pace.  Add into the mix faster growth, customer pressure and changes in personnel and a good team can soon feel the strain.  Where one of those owners wants out and has a different agenda as to work life balance and the time to sell, a seemingly successful team can become very bad very quickly.

The team composition and dynamic must then be altered and fast if relationships are not to fracture irretrievably with an unhappy end for the team and the business.  Keeping all discussions grounded in facts and evidence and not allowing emotions to get in the way of good decision-making will be key.

External advisers have a problem here.  We are generally reliant on one person (perhaps two) to provide the information and facts on which decisions are to be made.  But we are all constrained by our limited knowledge and experience and we are remote from the day to day pressure and personal relationships.

Here is where the non executive Director (or someone fulfilling a similar role) can have a crucial role to play.  The right person will add not only a different mix of skills and experience, they will bring their personal insights and commercial judgement.  Crucially this will come from a deeper and more intimate knowledge of the key drivers of the business.
Building your high performance new team may require just a few modest changes with the right person to help you balance your team.

Here is where the non executive Director (or someone fulfilling a similar role) can have a crucial role to play.  The right person will add not only a different mix of skills and experience, they will bring their personal insights and commercial judgement.  Crucially this will come from a deeper and more intimate knowledge of the key drivers of the business.
Building your high performance new team may require just a few modest changes with the right person to help you balance your team.