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Selfish Characters on Teams, In Business

Teambuilding 2021-2024, Part 4

When discussing teambuilding, we can define two completely different directions: restructuring an existing team or building a team from scratch. Just like in sports, both of them are current topics in business life, and both were transformed by COVID. However, when and to what extent should we transform an existing team, and when should we decide to create a brand-new one? In RISE’s teambuilding workshop, this question was traced back to personality types.

Proactive team in business

When working together with a team – as we have discussed in the previous articles of this series – the basic direction is always to have the real goal of the organisation (company, association, president of a club, etc.) establishing the team. These goals determine the type of people needed to succeed. For example, if we have to enter a new market and sell a yet unknown product or service, our team needs to be dominated by Rulers and Individuals, as these personality types look for challenges and are ready to get down to unknown tasks; what is more, the fact that they can be trailblazers in the market even attracts them. Individuals can make connections at once with new, potential partners, and they do not wait too long to undertake challenges with the new product. Superficial knowledge is enough for them because they believe in their communication and persuasion skills. They do possess these skills, so no wonder they lean on them. Of course, they have to pay special attention that they see through the necessary information and professional background because they can easily descend to the level of “canvassers”, which does not work in a crisis. Rulers ask themselves only one question before they get down to the new challenge: “Does the image of the product and company fit my own?” If yes, they tend to make a slower, more conscious, and as a result, a more successful start in the new market. In the case of Individuals, we can expect a lot of leads because they do not really measure the clients’ potential; rather, they “talk their heads off”, so it can also happen that they spend time with connections that are absolutely irrelevant to the product or company. Nevertheless, thanks to the law of large numbers, they meet clients with great potential as well, and this is the gist of market entry. Rulers assess who they can contact more systematically. They have a strategy and methodology they follow. As a result, they can present fewer leads, but the proportion of businesses made from those leads is significantly higher than that of the Individuals. It is important to bear in mind that these personality types are driven by their personal interests, and they are interested in the company’s goals only if they are completely the same as their own. A team containing members with these personality types cannot really be called a “team” in the traditional sense. However, if we focus on the dynamism they produce and how they move forward together as an “army” if the team goals overlap with their own, the reinterpretation of the term “team” is worth it because together they are capable of achieving great things. In this case, keeping or “forcing” selfish team members together with motivational tools is really important; otherwise, as the saying goes, five of them will head in six directions. Team bonuses and extra income possibilities assigned to reaching team goals can work very well in this situation. Nevertheless, we should not make the competition between them tenser because that will constantly be in the atmosphere, and if we make it more severe, we can initiate serious fights within the team. In business, the period following COVID-19 unequivocally demands employing these two proactive, non-team-player personality types. Unfortunately, even though most company cultures keep advertising themselves to be accepting, they usually do not mean accepting selfishness or individualism. As a result, in most cases, these personality types have no other choice but to wear a mask and deliver a learned behaviour, so they waste their energy on role-playing and cannot assert their highly important characteristics in the 2021-2024 period. Solving this situation is a major challenge for companies, their leaders, and of course, HR professionals.


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Personality Types and Team… Cohesion