4 Must-Read Books on Team Building

By Michelle Thompson

Building a productive and efficient team is not an easy task. You can’t just throw a group of individuals together and expect them to get along immediately. You need to find a way to bring them together and turn them into a cohesive team.

To use a football analogy, it’s like how a quarterback cannot win the game on his own no matter how skilled he is. Everyone on the team has a role to play. The same is true in the business world. No matter how skilled you are at your profession, or how hard you work, you still need a team behind you that understands your vision and your goals.

So how can you motivate a group of people to work together effectively? The answer is team building.

Team building is crucial for success in business. As Henry Ford once said, “Coming together is beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” You need to find a way to get everyone on the same page so they can work efficiently as a unit, and they have to learn to rely on each other when times get tough.

So I’ve rounded up four books that can help you harness the power of teamwork and avoid the pitfalls that may prevent your team from working cohesively.

1. The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team - Patrick Lencioni

Written as a fable about an executive’s struggle to create a cohesive team, The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team explores the things that can prevent people from working together and it outlines the keys to overcoming them. The five dysfunctions suggested in the title of the book are:

1) Absence of trust

2) Fear of conflict

3) Lack of commitment

4) Avoidance of accountability

5) Inattention to results

2. The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork - John C. Maxwell

In The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork, Maxwell shares the principles that can help us build and maintain a successful team. Each of the 17 chapters in the book represents a different law that the author thinks every leader should have in mind, and each one can help you enhance the overall success of your team. The laws that stood out for me are:

1) The Law of the Niche – This law reminds the reader that each person has their areas of strength so you have to put them in the right position to make the most of their talent.

2) The Law of Mount Everest

– This emphasizes the value of teamwork. It stresses that if you have a dream, you need a team to accomplish it.

3) The Law of Countability – This explains that your employees must be able to depend on each other no matter what happens.

4) The Law of the Edge – No team can achieve greatness without leadership so you have to train yourself to become a great leader.

5) The Law of High Morale – Maxwell explains that keeping morale high in the workplace is vital if you want to keep a team performing at its best.

3. The Dichotomy of Leadership - Jocko Wilink and Leif Babin

Since whether a team succeeds or fails is up to the leader, The Dichotomy of Leadership is a must-read for anyone who wants to build a great team. The main takeaway of this book is that everything about leadership must be balanced. As a leader, you must find a balance between micromanagement and a hands-off leadership style, you must learn when to lead and when to follow, and you must take ownership of the mistakes that you make. These are just some of the things covered in The Dichotomy of Leadership.

It’s a really good book that offers a lot of insights on how to effectively manage teams.

4. Leaders Eat Last - Simon Sinek

In Leaders Eat Last, Sinek explains that creating a culture of trust is necessary if you want to build a work environment where your team can flourish. To do so requires you to put others before yourself. Sinek describes it as acting like a parent who has to make personal sacrifices for his family. You have to treat your employees as if they are family, and you have to create this circle of safety so every member of your team will feel safe in their role.

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