It’s all about the team

Even though, when I was doing the EMBA, professors and class mates were telling me that the team was important, the meaning of this phrase was never really clear to me. Of course, I knew I needed somebody who can write codes. Of course, I knew I needed somebody with a sound knowledge of hardware development. Of course, I knew that I needed a team handling day to day tasks, but I hadn’t actually understood that it is our team that is building our company and not us — the founders.

Build your team

If you’ve ever watched a basketball game you will have realized that there aren’t only players on the field. You will have noticed also some more on the bench. Because more important is the entourage that comes together with the team. You have a coach, a trainer, a strategist and many more. A sport team isn’t fighting alone.

Every team member has a very specific role. You’ll probably never see a coach trying to score. That’s not their function. Their function is to coach the team. They must pull the strings and manage the outcome of the game.

However, the work is on the players. The coach isn't the star, the coach isn't the one scoring goals. They are the ones who build the team and coach the players to win the season. The entire entourage of managers is fostering the team on the playground. They don’t play, they manage. Every NBA team functions as a company, but interestingly, they are called “team” by nature.

This is exactly how a company should function. You should be motivating, supporting and fostering managers who understand the overall picture, building up the best possible team and coaching them in order to reach ambitious goals. Remember, if you are a coach and you start to play yourself, your company will fail.

Do business — don’t play

When founding a company you and your founding partners must be very clear about your future roles from the very first moment — even though you have to do many things yourself in the beginning. If you want to be the man on the field, the scoring star, you have to live with the consequences of not being the driver of your own company. If you want to be the one who’s solving all the problems, you won’t be the coach. Rather be the coach. Your team needs managers who are leading them, overseeing the future and building a long-term strategy. So stop playing on the ground and think like a business person.

Furthermore, you have to know that there is always somebody out there who can actually get things done much better than you. I am an awarded designer. However, the first team investment I did was hiring a younger and more talented designer. It freed resources letting me focus on the next steps of the company. Also, the quality of the results is much better now. Firstly, because she focuses hundred percent of her time on the design, and secondly, she is simply better than me.

I focus my energy on tasks that are necessary for me to work on. I can concentrate on coaching and managing our team, building short-, middle- and long-term strategies, investor relations and partnerships. 
If I had been still trying to solve all tasks myself, we would have never been able to close our first investment round or find any client.

Hire talents — not stars

If you’ve already managed to convince Mark Cuban to invest into your NBA team full of stars you can skip this part because he will probably be constantly putting money into your company anyway. Otherwise, never focus on hiring stars in the early stage of your business. Building a team around a super star will lead to many problems. Stars are difficult to handle. Their expectations are hard to reach. If you want to make them stay you have to support them with all your team’s energy. If they feel frustrated they will start looking for an alternative, a better paid option or, at least, a team that fully supports their wishes.

If you have a star you build up your team around them and bind all the resources of the team to support them. The problem starts when you don’t have enough human or financial resources to back-up their dropout. It will throw you back several weeks and you most probably won’t have time or resources to survive the downtime. And the season goes on.

As Evertracker started to grow we’re betting on talents rather than on super stars. Talents have the same skill set but evolve and are willing to learn. They fight together with you because you have a common goal in which you all believe. They are committed. The frustration level of talents is much lower. They want to grow into positions and evolve in your company. They don’t feel undervalued if they have to do tasks that are below their level. They don’t expect to have clearly defined areas of responsibilities in place when they join the company. They are there to make things happen.

At Evertracker, we’re only looking for people who are willing to fight and share our vision. As the team is critical for our success we bet on rising stars who can grow into their positions. All our team members are highly talented individuals who take action when needed and have the guts to make us founders rethink and adapt if they believe it’s necessary.

Manage — don’t control

A coach of a basketball team doesn’t have control over the team while it’s playing. They can stand on the side and coach only during breaks. They cannot lead the game because they are not playing. However, they are not even keen to lead the game because their purpose is to oversee the full picture. Their goal is to win the game, and more importantly, to win the season. They must always have a plan for the next game and the future. They are needed to analyze their team, competitors and the market potential. They know about their resources and use them carefully.

So remember, if you’re a coach you shouldn’t have access to the game while your team is fighting. Manage your team and oversee the future. They know about their tasks much better than you do anyway. Prepare them for the next game and give them a clear goal.

If you want to control every single step, then do it yourself from the beginning, because otherwise you’re just wasting your time.

Coach — don’t dictate

A basketball coach knows every member of the team. They know how to use their players’ skills and how to motivate them. They can see each team member as an individual person having individual needs. They see their potentials and help them foster their talent and achieve personal progress. At the same time, they know how to put together and manage a team of different personalities. They know how to coach individuals and hold a squad together. A perfect team will work together towards a common goal. This is what we bring into Evertracker every day. We know how important our team is. Every person has an equally important role. Each individual has the freedom to evolve. Together, the team is fighting for the common good of Evertracker.

Foster your team and coach them whenever they need it. Create an environment in which each team member has a chance to grow and evolve. Make them feel comfortable and value their work. If you let them address their concerns and wishes you can react and take out the daily pressure of a work environment.