You're Only as Good as Your Team

I grew up reading Charlie Brown. And quite honestly, just like Archie used to piss me off because he kept going for Veronica when Betty was clearly the better choice (which is a whole other blog), Charlie Brown used to drive me nuts because he never learned, and therefore, he never won.

I was thinking about Charlie Brown as I drove into work today - and a different perspective came to me. Poor Charlie Brown never won a baseball game, and yes, he was a bad player - but frankly, it was his leadership that beat him. Consider his team:

• A narcissistic, hack pseudo-psychologist who was convinced she was always right, couldn't care less about the team, and wouldn't do anything unless it benefited her
  
• A kid who's insecurity was so great that it manifested itself in some weird, Freudian obsession with a blanket
  
• Another kid who was so OCD that he'd bring his toy piano to a baseball game
  
• A dog

Maybe Charlie Brown should have stopped beating himself up (and letting others do it as well), and should have taken a good hard look at the people he had working with him. You see, there's a lesson in this, and it's reflected in almost all of the books that we read about being a good leader - the most successful leaders aren't the ones who are the best at what they're doing, they surround themselves with the best and let others take the glory. Perhaps Charlie Brown should have started making some cuts on his team, and found others who would actually be able to contribute to the entire groups' success. He may have liked them all, but at some point you have to put the team's objective first, and personal feelings second.

Look at what your objective is right now, and ask yourself if you're surrounding yourself with the right people - are they helping you, or hindering you in reaching your goal? Because if you've got a Lucy, Linus and Schroeder playing in the field, then you'll continue to stand on the pitcher's mound wondering why you're losing.

But if you've got a Snoopy, hang onto him. We can all use a Snoopy on our team.

~Guy