Dream Team Development

Almost every successful person I know has a team of people who stand behind and beside them ... and many cases, in front of them! These people are what I refer to as a Dream Team.  

A dream team is a loose collection of people you look to for advice and direction about how to accomplish things you want to do, how to live the type of life you want to life, and how to be the kind of leader you want to be; personally and professionally.  These are people you want to to turn to for their guidance and to learn from their experience.

Joelle K. Jay says, “Think of your dream team like Fantasy Football team. You never actually assemble these people; in this respect they aren’t a functioning “team.” However, like a real dream team, every member of this group has been hand-selected because together, they represent the best of everything you need to be the leader you aspire to be.”

To set up a dream team, you brainstorm all of the people who you think would be good members of a team whose sole purpose is to help you win at the “game” of achieving your vision. You take some time to analyze the different ways they might be able to help, make a plan for eliciting their support, and start meeting with them one by one to see what you can learn.

To create your Dream Team, use these six steps.

1. Choose the “game.” “Choose the game” means get clear on specifically why you want a dream team. What do you want to learn from meeting with your dream team members? As always, the answer should be tied to your vision. The focus of the game is learning. On your dream team you’re the rookie, if only in this one area of your life.

2. Pick the “players.” “Pick the players” means being thoughtful and strategic about who gets on the team. This is not the time to hang out with good buddies and old friends; it’s a time to branch out and build new relationships with people from whom you can truly learn. Among the group, it is helpful to have:

Advocates. Advocates champion you, encourage you, and contribute directly to your success, perhaps by introducing you to other helpful eople or making you a part of their team.

Experts. Experts have information and knowledge you need to be successful. Instead of learning it all the hard way, experts help you jump to new levels of awareness by sharing their experience.

Inspirations. Inspirations are people whose accomplishments make you want to be better yourself. As you watch a person who inspires you – whether that person is your most courageous colleague, a person who has risen to the top of her field, or just someone whose approach to life you admire – you are moved to a higher level of contribution and achievement.

These roles will often cross. In fact, people who can play more than one role on your team are often your strongest supporters.

3. Set the “rules.” The “rules” of your dream team game are how you want to play. If you don’t set up the process in a way you’ll enjoy it, you’ll be less likely to see it through. Do you want your team members to meet with you for informal conversation? Are you looking for a five minute meeting in person, a fifteen-minute phone call with another, a meeting over lunch? It’s a good idea to decide how you want the process to play out so you can put your best foot forward and figure out what you can bring to the table for them too!

4. Define a “win.” What is the best case scenario for this dream team? Are you hoping to develop long term relationships? Do you just want a lot of information fast? Do you want complex information and are willing to talk to as many people as it takes to get there?

This step is important, because it respects the time of the people whose advice you’re seeking while also meeting the goals that matter most to you. If what you want is concrete advice on how to do one specific thing, you can get it in a series of short, one-shot interviews. On the other hand, if you want to become steeped in the topic of inquiry, you’ll want to develop deeper, more substantial relationships with the people whose work you admire in that particular area of interest.

5. Get in the game! “Getting in the game” means approaching the people you admire to be on your team – asking them to meet with you, talking to them, and applying what you learn as you work toward your vision. If a meeting with one of your dream team members turns out to be beneficial, great. Ask them if they would mind meeting again. If not, fine. You’ve made a good connection. Some of these conversations will turn out to be a waste of time. Others will turn into the kinds of mentorships that last a lifetime. These are genuine, respectful conversations with people you admire to request the support you would be willing to give someone who asked it of you.

You’ll eventually find you can achieve more, and faster, when you are supported by a strong and experienced team.

For guidance on creating your Leadership Dream Team, use the free Dream Team Planning Guide. (Click here or go to www.TheInnerEdge.com, click on Worksheets & Audios, and scroll down to the 7th Practice for more free guides.)

Time Management & Perfect 10 Day Worksheet

How do you schedule your days?

DO you define your outcomes or get lost in a long to-do list?

Do you account for your time so you deliberately spend time doing the things you SAY you want to do, or do you lose hours in Escape mode?

Make sure that you give some thought, or take some action in all the important aspects of your life. Do something, ANYTHING, in each category because once you give it attention it will gain its own momentum! So what if you worked all day, give a friend a call to say hi, send a postcard a family member, give silent thanks to the world for being alive, do 10 stomach crunches. If you do something in each category, you get a point...for A Perfect 10 Day

Bonus categories are for you to pick a personal project you want to accomplish so you can give thought and action to it everyday. Print this Perfect 10 Day Worksheet, or write in the comment box if you want a customized sheet with your own Areas of Life Management.

Goal Setting

To start managing time effectively, you need to set goals. When you know where you're going, you can then figure out what exactly needs to be done, in what order. Without proper goal setting, you'll fritter your time away on a confusion of conflicting priorities.

People tend to neglect goal setting because it requires time and effort. What they fail to consider is that a little time and effort put in now saves an enormous amount of time, effort and frustration in the future. Mind Tools has two great articles on goal setting that are must-reads for everyone. If you are serious about time management, we suggest you start with Personal Goal Setting and The Golden Rules of Goal Setting . We also recommend Treasure Mapping .

Prioritization

Prioritizing what needs to be done is especially important. Without it, you may work very hard, but you won't be achieving the results you desire because what you are working on is not of strategic importance.

Most people have a "to-do" list of some sort. The problem with many of these lists is they are just a collection of things that need to get done. There is no rhyme or reason to the list and, because of this, the work they do is just as unstructured. So how do you work on To Do List tasks – top down, bottom up, easiest to hardest?

To work efficiently you need to work on the most important, highest value tasks. This way you won't get caught scrambling to get something critical done as the deadline approaches. For information on how to start prioritizing your tasks, see Activity Logs , Prioritized To Do Lists , Prioritization , The Action Priority Matrix , and Eisenhower's Urgent/Important Principle .

Managing Interruptions

Having a plan and knowing how to prioritize it is one thing. The next issue is knowing what to do to minimize the interruptions you face during your day. It is widely recognized that managers get very little uninterrupted time to work on their priority tasks. There are phone calls, information requests, questions from employees, and a whole host of events that crop up unexpectedly. Some do need to be dealt with immediately, but others need to be managed. Our article on Managing Interruptions discusses how you can minimize your interrupted time.

However, some jobs need you to be available for people when they need help – interruption is a natural and necessary part of life. Here, do what you sensibly can to minimize it, but make sure you don't scare people away from interrupting you when they should.

Procrastination

"I'll get to it later" has led to the downfall of many good intentions and goals. After too many "laters" the work piles up so high that any task seems insurmountable. Procrastination is as tempting as it is deadly. The best way to beat it is to recognize that you do indeed procrastinate. Then you need to figure out why. Perhaps you are afraid of failing? (And some people are actually afraid of success!)

Once you know why you procrastinate then you can plan to get out of the habit. Reward yourself for getting jobs done, and remind yourself regularly of the horrible consequences of not doing those boring tasks! For more help on recognizing and overcoming procrastination see our guide to Beating Procrastination .

Scheduling

Much of time management comes down to effective scheduling of your time. When you know what your goals and priorities are, you then need to know how to go about creating a schedule that keeps you on track, and protects you from stress.

This means understanding the factors that affect the time you have available for work. You not only have to schedule priority tasks, you have to leave room for interruptions, and contingency time for those unexpected events that otherwise wreak chaos with your schedule. By creating a robust schedule that reflects your priorities and well as supports your personal goals, you have a winning combination: One that will allow you to control your time and keep your life in balance. To learn specific scheduling skills, see our articles on Pickle Jar Theory and Scheduling Skills .



Three To Thrive Worksheet

Now that you have a better understanding of the values and needs that drive your desires, it is time to look at your Areas of Life Management from one more perspective before you TAKE ACTION!

One of my favorite practices is one that Tony Robbins describes as the development of an OPA Plan: Outcome - Purpose - Action. When you worked on your Life Wheel, the 100% you envisioned is your desired OUTCOME. Before you start listing the things you think you need to do, print out the Outcome-Purpose Worksheet and write a summary of why you want to achieve that 100%; What will making improvements in that particular area do for you? How will you feel? Why is it important? This is your PURPOSE!

Now it is time to list your ACTION ITEMS! The Three to Thrive Worksheet is a tool you will want to use weekly. Here you will start to take steps that will bring you closer to your 100%. There may be many things you think you have to do to reach your outcome, however, it is important to take your time in building a strong foundation. If you want to brainstorm a list of all the things you think you could to do to make progress toward your outcome, access the Google Doc or build your own...but each week pick only 1-3 things in a couple of the areas of management that need work.

Trying to do too much can be overwhelming and counterproductive. Take action items one at a time; simply take the next right step! Write down one person you can contact to ask for advice or support from. What is one appointment that you need to schedule? Do you need to set your morning alarm to wake up 15 minutes earlier so you can start the day with some exercise, meditation, or a healthy breakfast? Do you want to have a more organized personal space? Then what drawer or closet will you clean out this week?

You probably have many things you know will help you reach your desired outcome, and now that you know WHY you want it, you might find it easier to take action based on your overall purpose for that outcome!

What are your Three to Thrive Actions Items this week? As with other links, Right click on these worksheets and save them on your computer, or request access to the original Google Doc that you can have continuous access to!

Needs Inventory and quick recap of LIB tools!

A few exercises back, you identified things that make you happy, excited, and proud, as well as what you are grateful for, who loves you and who you love. Please go back to this list weekly and add new things to your list, and watch that list grow! Once you start seeing these things in your life, they seem to multiply. We call this the Shifting Focus exercise, because when you are in need of a reminder that your life has more awesomeness than challenges, this list does the trick!

The Areas of Management exercise was the fist step in breaking down an overwhelming view of your life into manageable chunks. You will also being referring to that tool on a weekly basis as you complete Three-To-Thrive worksheet being introduced in this session....BUT FIRST... let's take one more assessment to discover more clues as to WHY you want what you want in each area of life! This will turn "TO-DO's" into WANT TO's! This is another step on the way to make taking action something that you become excited about!

The Values Assessment gave you insight into things that might play a big role in guiding your behavior. Some of these values are unconsciously influencing you behind your conscious awareness. Values are things you learned as a child, concepts that others and your social environment instilled in you that have become part of what influences your thought patterns, decisions and actions.

Also included in last week's post was Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs; basic needs that drive most human beings. Now we will look at what you think you NEED. For those of you who are lucky to consider food and shelter as a given instead of a current need, CONGRATULATIONS! You are ahead of almost 35% of the world's population, and should write that down on your lists of what you are grateful for, proud of and happy about!

Now, print the Needs Worksheet below and put a check mark by each need that you feel strongly about under each heading. As with the other assessment, don't overthink it; if the word that describes the need makes you say to yourself, "Yes, this is important to me." then check it.
After you have checked all the needs that are important to you, tally the number of check marks under each heading and write the total number in the line next to that particular group heading. The headings with the highest numbers are the needs that are most important to you.

Next print the Needs Summary Worksheet, and fill it out; List your top  5-7 values and needs then fill in the worksheet with the needs and values that correspond with each Area of Management. This will give you even more insight as to why you want, or think you need, what you say your 100% looks like in each area of your life.

You are ready for your first glimpse at the Weekly Three-To-Thrive Worksheet... go now to the next post! (Helpful Hint: Right click on the image and save it to a file on your computer so you can print it; or ask for access to the Google Doc so you can use it over and over!)

Tap into your DESIRE. Identify the WHY behind the WANT!



Tune into the WHY’s of your to-do’s and your desires! It can make taking action a much more rewarding experience!

Whether we consciously know it or not, our behavior is driven by needs and values. Some of these are innate, like the need for food, water, shelter, air. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is good snapshot of needs that drive humans, and it is easy to see how most people need to achieve good results progressively in these stages. For instance, someone who is living on the street looking for food and shelter, may not be so concerned about finding the perfect career or creative outlet. This is a good example of how important a strong foundation can create personal peak potential!

Values are learned, sometimes unconsciously inherited from your social environment. One person might value loyalty because they come from a big family who offered consistent support and they cannot imagine living without it. Another person might value loyalty because they have not enjoyed the support from loyal relationships and they have an intense desire to experience it.

Now that you have looked at your life in chunks of areas that you can manage [Areas of Life Management], identified where you are and where you want to be [Life Wheel], and have identified things already in your life that you are happy and excited about, proud of and looking forward to [Shifting Focus Worksheet] – it is a good time to slow it down and see WHY you want these things before you rush in to get it all done!

This is also a good time to let you know an important fact, “You will never get it all done!” but you cannot do “it” wrong as long as you are taking steps in the right direction, and focus on feeling good. I have adopted this concept from Abraham and Ester Hicks. If you feel so inclined, Google “Abraham Hicks 5 Steps of Allowing” – It just might resonate with you too.

So this week’s exercises includes one of two assessments on needs and values. Look at these as an objective exploration of what drives you. This is not to compare yourself to others and no one will be judging you on your answers. Being honest in your answers will give insight as to what may be consciously and unconsciously driving your thoughts and behaviors. If you are completely truthful, the results might clarify why some of the things that make up 100% in your Areas of Life Management mean so much to you.

Knowing WHY you want something, tuning into your desires, can bring a new awareness to taking action. For example, my 100% in Physical Health and Well-Being includes dancing at my 111th Birthday Bash. Watching loved ones not take care of their health and die sooner than they wanted to, inspires me to get fit now so I can successfully dance into my later years – which makes going to the gym today something I want to do rather than a chore.

So go right to the next post and take the Life Values Inventory Assessment, and you will be on your way to becoming more aware of what drives you!

Life Values Inventory: Assessment 1

Life Values Inventory: An Assessment of Values that Guide Behavior and Decision making

Values are beliefs that influence people’s behavior and decision-making. For example, if people believe that telling the truth is very important, they will try to be truthful when they deal with other people. On the following pages is a list of beliefs that guides people’s behavior and helps them make important decisions. Read each one and then choose the response (1-5) that best describes how often the belief guides your behavior.

1. Almost Never Guides My Behavior
2.                  
3. Sometimes Guides My Behavior
5. Almost Always Guides My Behavior

For example, If a belief in being healthy almost never guides your behavior, circle 1. If being healthy almost always guides your behavior, circle 5. If the best answer for you is between 1 and 5, circle the number 2,3, or 4 that most accurately describes how this belief guides your behavior.

1. Now you are ready to begin. Print pages 2 & 3 below. Read each item carefully and circle only one response. Usually your first idea is the best indicator of how you feel. Answer every item. There are no right or wrong answers. Your choices should describe your own values, not the values of others or values you THINK you should have.

2. SCORING SUMMARY Add up the ratings for each question. Record the total scores for each letter in the chart below. If you circled a 4 in question #1, a 3 in question #15 and a 5 i question # 29 - your score for A = 12.

A: (Questions 1 + 15 + 29) ____+_____+_____ = _____

B: (Questions 2 + 16 + 30) ____+_____+_____ = _____

C: (Questions 3 + 17 + 31) ____+_____+_____ = _____

D: (Questions 4 + 18 + 32) ____+_____+_____ = _____

E: (Questions 5 + 19 + 33) ____+_____+_____ = _____

F: (Questions 6 + 20 + 34) ____+_____+_____ = _____

G: (Questions 7 + 21 + 35) ____+_____+_____ = _____

H: (Questions 8 + 22 + 36) ____+_____+_____ = _____

I: (Questions 9 + 23 + 37) ____+_____+_____ = _____

J: (Questions 10 + 24 + 38) ____+_____+_____ = _____

K: (Questions 11 + 25 + 39) ____+_____+_____ = _____

L: (Questions 12 + 26 + 40) ____+_____+_____ = _____

M: (Questions 13 + 27 + 41) ____+_____+_____ = _____

N: (Questions 14 + 28 + 42) ____+_____+_____ = _____

3. Now enter the results from step two above in the corresponding SCORES section on page B (also attached below) . This will give you your scores for the 15 major life values identified by this inventory.

You will most likely have a tie in your highest scoring values, as well as lower scoring ones. Make a list of the groups, for example: if your highest score is a 13 and you have that score for 3 different values listed, then make that your #1 Group.

Continue until you have all the values listed in various groupings from most important to not important. You should have at least 3-4 groups:

1. The top scoring values - these are the ones that currently drive your behavior. Do you like what came up? Was it surprising that one of the ones you thought would be high on your list had a lower score? This is not time for self judgment; resist the urge to go back and redo your answers to come up with what you think the answers should be. Be willing to sit with these answers and consider their value and the insights they bring.

2. The group of scores that show they are important aspects of your decision making, but not as intensely as the values in the high-score group above. One thing to consider is that these have become unconscious, routine or habit. For instance I consider Concern for Others, and Creativity really important values in my life, however they were not my high-scoring values. This awareness makes me want to concentrate on these two values as I interact with others and go about my life, to make sure that I am addressing them in my daily activities.

3. The last group may contain 3 or more with the lowest scores. Sometimes this is as valuable to consider as the ones that you are aware of that drive you. Although I consider myself a loyal person, I saw that loyalty to a group does not drive me. I realize have work to do on trusting that others can be counted on and will be loyal - this says something about my thought process and perhaps some illusory old stories I need to release!