I was working with a group not too long ago on some team issues (ok, we were dealing with how to handle conflict successfully - because they weren't) and someone asked me if I could bottom line "this whole team-thing". I said sure, there's no "I" in team, but there are two in "idiot".

Now clearly I didn't mean that that person was an idiot, he's not.

What I mean is this: people like to talk "team" and then behave as individuals. If we say we want something and then consistently behave in the opposite manner, and then on top of that complain about the results, at some level we're idiots.

The key is to understand that the purpose of a team - any team you can think of - is to get a result, to get something done. It might be to build a business, create a community group, play rock music, build a church, attack another nation, have babies and build a family, build a sandcastle - whatever, the point is to get something done.

The challenge is that we typically enter a team with a fairly similar understanding of what has to happen, and after the 15 seconds of unconditional love everyone shares, we start to give people what they deserve. It requires a great deal of awareness, and a deliberate approach to make teams work.

I started my career on a small world class executive protection team where, if I screwed things up, everyone else might die - I "get" teams. I took that and built several successful businesses that were based on great teams. I just spent the last two years studying with arguably the best minds in the world on creating teams and relationships that work. Here's what I want you to know: teams are the most rewarding and the most challenging places to be because they call on us to be both fully ourselves, and to be larger than just ourselves at the same time.

Layer on top of this the role of authentic and mindful leadership, and you have challenges that can scare off even the toughest players (and we call this the "soft stuff" in business).

If it's time for your team to really perform and deliver the results they are capable of, not just what's happening today, it might be time for a chat.

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