What Makes Teams Work?

A long-term team must have a way for new people to join in successfully. To survive, new players have to buy into the team's culture. However, your current team members can't be afraid of new talent or new ideas.

The natural inclination is to protect what you have and not allow a new star to rise to the top. Team members have to fight against that. The bottom line is that new talent can force everyone to play at a higher level.

One time, Michelle Akers was telling someone what happens when a new player joins the team. She said, "Tony wants us to be real nice to her. And we are. But then the next day we kick the shit out of her on the field. We want to show her what we're made of."

When I retired, I told the team, "First, never forget how it felt in the final against China last summer when you regained your world-champion status. Second, never forget how it felt in 1996 when the Olympic Gold Medal was placed around your neck. Third, never forget hearing the final whistle blow in Sweden in 1995, when you knew you had been beaten by Norway. Remember all three situations, because each offers incredible motivation."

Tony DiCicco (tonysoc@aol.com) is the former head coach of the U.S. Women's World Cup Champion Soccer Team and of the gold-medal winning 1996 U.S. Women's Olympic Soccer Team. His international record is 103 - 8 - 8. Now he is acting commissioner for the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA).

Janine Bay

Director of vehicle personalization for automotive consumer-services group
Ford Motor Co.
Dearborn, Michigan

A team should be made up of people who have different opinions about things, people who approach their work in different ways. Diversity is one of the keys to a successful team. But I'm sure that on every good team, a member has gone home at the end of a day thinking, "This isn't going to work."

So my advice is this: Bring in a facilitator. Someone from the outside -- an unbiased third party -- may have insights about what's working, what's not, and why you are just too close to the project to see clearly. A facilitator may be just what team members need to make the most of their diversity, and to help them overcome any personal agendas or conflicts.

At Ford, we always have team-effectiveness coaches on hand. It's an unusual skill set for Ford, but the coaches are available and invaluable. I'd recommend that you get some.

Janine Bay (jbay@ford.com) is the director of vehicle personalization for automotive consumer-services group at the Ford Motor Co. (www.ford.com). She also chairs the professional-women's network within the company. She was the leader of the Ford Mustang team for 10 years.

Thomas C. Leppert

Chairman and CEO
Turner Corp.
Dallas, Texas

A successful team boils down to two things: mutual respect among team members and a common vision about where the team is going.

At Turner, we are completely dependent on teams -- not only on teams that exist within the organization, but also on teams that are made up of all sorts of people from the outside, such as architects, designers, and suppliers.

We put teams together to build stadiums and commercial high-rises. Sometimes those teams are easier to manage because there's a clear sense of what the outcome should be. But we also put internal teams together to work on smaller-scale projects, such as figuring out what our new operating system should look like. Those sorts of teams can be more difficult to create and sustain, because the expected results aren't as clear. But in the end, it boils down to those two elements. Respect. A common vision. That's what you need.

Thomas C. Leppert (tleppert@tcco.com) is chairman and CEO of the Turner Corp., which is based in Dallas. The Turner Corp. is a holding company for Turner Construction (which was founded in 1902) and other subsidiaries. Last year, the Turner Corp. completed more than $4.8 billion worth of construction. Among its many projects, Turner is working on the new Broncos Stadium in Denver, the Bear Stearns building in New York, and several assignments at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.