Avoid the Void

The Power of a Positive Team – Jon Gordon – (Wiley)

Have you ever been a part of a successful team?

How about a team that did not quite meet expectations or failed miserably?

Looking back at those experiences were you able to break things down and get to the bottom of what worked well, or where things went off the rails and failed miserably? It’s always a good idea to do that kind of postmortem break down to identify what works best.

In his latest book, The Power of a Positive Team bestselling, business and team guru Jon Gordon not only walks you through what the elements of a successful team are, and as the title suggests, how a positive team proves to be more successful. Now that may not sound like brain surgery, but as always, Gordon really offers some definitive insights, often based on scientific research about the mindsets that go into the chemistry of teams.

One of my go to stories when coaching teams or individuals, is about going to your favorite book store and asking for a book on how to be better at being negative, as I used in my review of Jon’s book, The Power of Positive Leadership. I spend a lot of time focusing on the impact of communication, good and bad, on businesses, and I love the chapter here that focuses on how communication impacts teams. Jon hits it out of the park when discussing how teams need to avoid the void; when there is a void in the process, more often than not, negativity will fill that void. He illustrates how effective communication within the team and its individual members can eliminate the void and cut down on negativity.

If you look at problem areas in most businesses, no matter what the business type or industry, communications are almost always at or near the top of the list. Gordon really drives home the point that while communication is “often the last thing you want to do” it is “the most important thing you must do.” He suggests a number of effective vehicles for communication among teams; it boils down to finding the method that works best for the team and the situation because it is not a once size fits all proposition.

Teams and team work comes in a multitude of varieties and Gordon offers great ideas and actionable steps the can help you keep those teams working in a positive fashion and with great results. This is a straight forward book, that you will want to keep handy so you can plug these steps into action.