This is a brief extract from an article by Tom Rath and Barry Conchie that is adapted from the book “Strengths Based Leadership”

Individuals don’t have to be well-rounded, but teams should be
Gallup research based on study of thousands of executive teams has indicated that while members of a team may have their own unique strengths, the best teams had an overall grouping of certain strengths. In fact, it seems there are 4 principal domains of strength (arising as an aggregate of unique strengths of team members) that seem to exist in successful teams…

The research suggests that these 4 distinct domains of strength are:
    Executing
    Influencing
    Relationship Building
    Strategic Thinking

These broad domains therefore offer a practical insight for thinking about and assessing the composition of a team.

It would seem that it would be useful for a team to have a representation of strengths in each of these 4 domains. Instead of one dominant personality who tries to do everything or individuals who all have similar strengths, contributions from all four domains lead to a stronger and more cohesive team.

Although individuals need not be well-rounded, teams should be.

This doesn’t mean that each person on a team must have strengths only in a single category. In most cases, each team member will possess some strength in multiple domains but there will be in many cases a clear aptitude for one of the domains.  As you think about how you can contribute to a team and who you need to surround yourself with, this may be a good starting point.

Here’s a quick look at the 4 domains:

Executing

Those with dominant strength in the Executing domain know how to make things happen. When you need someone to implement a solution, these are the people who will work tirelessly to get it done. The attributes that come to mind as one thinks about the Executing domain are:

Achiever, consistent, disciplined, focused, responsible

Influencing

Those with strength in the Influencing domain help to propagate their team’s agenda to a wider audience. People with strength in this domain are always selling the team’s ideas inside and outside the organization. When you need someone to speak up, and make sure your group is heard, this is the team member you want.  The attributes that come to mind here are:

Communicator, self-assured, advocate

Relationship Building

Those with Relationship Building skills are the essential glue that holds a team together. These people make the team more than the sum of its parts and ensure that the team’s energy and enthusiasm is maintained. The attributes that come to mind here are:

Adaptable, mediator, empathetic, positive

Strategic Thinking

Team members with strategic thinking ability are the folks who keep everyone thinking about possibilities. They enable better information assessment and decision-making. The attributes that come to mind here are:

Analytical, futuristic, learner