Did you eat your veggies today?  Did the strengths of everyone on your team get utilized and treated with respect? Just like your diet needs a full array of vegetables, your team needs to be fortified with different strengths.  Each food group and team member has a different personality that may or may not be liked; however, each possesses key ingredients that contribute to the overall health and success of all.

While it is easier to get along with people who are similar to you, teams with different members are most effective because more talents and skills are utilized. If you want to eliminate the "us versus them" negative attitude, make the time to get your team members on the same page. Respecting and utilizing a variety of strengths will help you build a healthy, high-performance team that gets results. It's time to get healthy!

Four Areas to Measure

Corn: How do you respond to change and conflict?

Carrots: How do you respond to rules and how accurate is your work?

Watch Nancy Dish Out Respect with Her Oven-Roasted Veggies

Life in Nancy's Kitchen-Dishin' Respect Roasted Veggies Episode 16

A well-balanced, high-performance team empowers and develops all four areas.  If each area is not developed, teams will not excel and frustration, mistakes and turnover will increase organizational costs.  Everyone has the potential to grow in each area if they are willing to learn new skills and are held accountable with rewards and consequences.  Growing requires changing patterns of thought and behavior, which are evolved with effective goal setting, feedback and training. Embracing differences and empowering teams to become more collaborative, as well as self-directed is critical for today's doing more with less way of work. Help your teams reach their performance and happiness potential. Take the lead, and eat your veggies!