Steve Lear

While several versions of the TRIP decision-making process are available on this site (see the short Outline or complete Manual), we’re also spotlighting the content as individual chapters, making it easier for readers to get a step-by-step understanding of TRIP’s benefits. Let’s keep planning a TRIP!

Creating Teams for your TRIP journey is a two-step process. Chapter Four described Part One: establishing decision-making groups.  Chapter Five identifies the next step: finding the right people for these roles. Read Creating Teams, Part Two, to discover the critical qualities to look for in your team members.

Identifying the Right People (Attributes)

I’ve discussed the types of people needed on your TRIP; now, let’s find the right people for the journey—people who possess self-awareness, integrity, and values that align with the organization.

Self-Awareness

I advise leadership teams to focus on finding people who are “self-aware.” These are travelers who know their character, feelings, desires, and motives. They understand the way they like to communicate and solve problems. I recommend the following tools to identify and develop self aware people: (To see the pages listed below, download TRIP at the link shown at the end of this article.)

• Kolbe Wisdom™ ⁴ (see Appendix 1, page 27)
• Values Cards Exercise ⁵ (see Appendix 2, page 28)
• Communication Builder™ ⁶ (see Appendix 3, pages 29-30)
• Team Success Profile™ (see Appendix 4, pages 31-32) Each Traveler will receive a Team Success Profile™ that includes their results from the above self-awareness exercises, along with a Kolbe Wisdom™ interpretation.

For the entire process to succeed, leadership, too, must be self-aware.

Integrity

The second essential quality to have is integrity—people who tell the truth, stand up for what’s right, and keep their promises. Someone with integrity will also do the following:

• Take responsibility for personal choices.
• Admit mistakes and failures.
• Embrace the responsibility of serving others.
• Care about others.
• Be forgiving, letting go of their own and others’ mistakes.

Values

Values are principles or standards of behavior that guide us when making decisions. The more our ideal values align with our real behavior, the greater our sense of well-being. Misaligned values are a major cause of frustration and dysfunction. One tool used to identify values is the Values Cards Exercise™. For a TRIP to be successful, people’s values need to be aligned.

Leadership will put together teams of Dreamers, Thinkers, and Doers. All three types are needed to get the job done. However, exactly where to put them on your TRIP requires some skill.

The leadership team must answer the following questions when considering who is going to occupy their vehicles ⁷:

• Is there an expert on the subject who can influence the decision and the action plan? An expert may bring positive or negative energy to the team. To determine whether your expert(s) will bring value to the process, use the Self-Awareness Tools (listed above) and answer the interview questions below.
• Do any teammates have conflicts of interest? If so, excuse them from the process.
• Do you need to defuse any dominant team members?

It’s important to interview candidates to fill your Vehicles. Your interview questions (written or verbal) will include the following:

• What do you know about our organization, and what is your impression of it?
  Once a decision’s been made and implemented, what’s your interest in what it will accomplish?
• Have you been involved with this type of situation in the past?
• Three years from now, what needs to happen for you to be proud that you participated in this process?
• What unique abilities do you bring to this process?
• Would others consider you a gracious loser—someone who might lose a battle but still fight the war?
  (If applicable) Where do you score in each of the Kolbe Wisdom™ Action Modes®? (This score reveals someone’s natural way of getting something done. If your organization has utilized Kolbe Wisdom™, see Appendix 1 for an explanation of how to integrate Kolbe into your TRIP process. If you’re not familiar with Kolbe, see the Appendix to learn about its benefits.)

The answers to these questions allow leadership to make informed decisions. Such information can be particularly useful for nonprofits when vetting volunteers to serve on their boards and committees. TRIP can improve the selection process and may even help attract volunteers interested in community work.

Remember, Travelers in your Vehicles do not need to like each other; however, they do need to understand, respect, and appreciate each other. They also don’t need to agree—and almost always, they do not.

As a friend once said to me, “You’re not close to anybody unless you’ve had a fight. And I’m really close to my wife.”

DOWNLOAD TRIP

^4. Kathy Kolbe, “Kolbe Wisdom,” Kolbe Corp, accessed December 23, 2019. http://www.kolbe.com/Kolbe-wisdom.

^5. “The Original Values Card Deck,” think2perform, accessed January 9, 2020. http://www.think2perform.com/tool-shop/tools/original-values-cards-deck.

^6. The Communication Builder was inspired by Shannon Waller, The Team Success Handbook (Ontario: The Strategic Coach, Inc., 2013).

^7. Doug Lennick and Fred Kiel, Ph.D., Moral Intelligence: Enhancing Business Performance and Leadership Success (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2005). In addition, “The Original Values Card Deck,” think2perform.