What does “The Outlaw Josey Wales”, “NCIS” and “Burn Notice” all have in common?

Although one is a movie and the other two weekly TV shows, they do, among many other popular shows, hold at least one common denominator. And that is they all have a disparate, or dissimilar cast of misfits brought together and subsequently held together only by a dominant central character, who is able to hold the whole group together as one fully functioning and efficient unit.

I have seen this in real life situations too, where some people have the gift or talent to build a team of otherwise misfits into a well –functioning team, by their own abilities to both manage and bring out the best of others. Often too though, I have seen these same well functioning teams fall apart and disintegrate and totally disappear, when the dominant figure leaves and someone else (without those same gifts) come in and tries and take over.

So what about you and what position do you hold in your team? Does someone else hold you and other misfits together? Or are you that person who is holding everything together?

Or are you unfortunately, that person who has just taken over a well functioning team, only to see it fall apart in front of your very own eyes, despite your best efforts to change things and hold it all together? Maybe that is the problem? Maybe you are trying to change things too fast and not bringing the team with you? Maybe you are right and maybe the team does have to change, but the best change is that which the whole team accepts at the same pace so that all can move forward together.

Sadly what usually happens is that a team gets used to one way of doing things and may even have been built up along that very way of doing things, only to have someone come in and change things for no better reasons that they can and that is the way they always work. So what about you when you come into a new situation? Do you try and fit in with the current situation and them when you have earnt the right, start to make suggestions of change and bring everyone along with you? Or do expect total change straight away and then wonder why everyone is quitting and going elsewhere?

So like Josey, Gibbes & Michael, do you give your "underlings” certain freedoms whilst expecting top results? Or do you also expect them to do things in your way and your timing etc? And then wonder why you have such trouble keeping staff? Over to you for your thoughts on the subject.