Big Red Car here. On Earth as it is in a 70F Texas, y’all! And why not?

So The Boss got into an interesting chat with a trio of brilliant young CEOs.

It was a dangerous chat because the subject was something that one of the CEOs was crushing it on, one of the CEOs was finding his way with difficulty and one of the CEOs was not cutting the mustard.

It was about the creation of effective teams. The chat wandered into organization charts, the first hires, the critical skills, business model canvases. It went on for a second latte.

One of the CEOs said something interesting — they had never played any team sport and didn’t understand the fundamentals of teams. One of the other CEOs provided some insights having played high school and college sports. It was an interesting chat.

After much to-ing and fro-ing, The Boss stepped in and said:

Teams are not groups of people who work together.
The most effective teams are groups of people who trust one another.

Later that day, The Boss received an email from each of the CEOs commenting on that utterance. Each asked The Boss — how do I tell if my team trusts each other?

The Boss said: “Ask them. And ask them if they trust you. It’s your team.”

This basic fundamental consideration is continually overlooked in the creation of companies and the teams that will ultimately run them.

If there is no trust, then you must endeavor to build it.

If there is mistrust or an obvious lack of trust, then you are in a very dangerous place.

But, hey, what the Hell do I really know anyway? I’m just a Big Red Car.