TEAM - together, it's said, we achieve more.

Here are five hallmarks of winning teams I coach that are easy to outline but harder to execute:

1. Shared commitment to a purpose-driven project that makes a big difference 
2. Assignment of team players to roles well-suited for their strengths, experience, and potential
3.  Agreement on a plan, organizational structure, and process to deliver desired results
4. Urgency for time-certain collaboration and problem solving to keep the project moving
5. Leaders
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What do you believe that may not be true?

There is a simple story told with variations in many cultures about four blind men and an elephant. I like to discuss this parable with leaders because it highlights the hazards of misperception and the challenge of decision-making based on incomplete or inaccurate information.

As the parable goes, four blind men encounter a large, strange object, and try to identify it by feel.

While one blind man grabs the elephant's tail, another man touches its tu...