Can Your Team Execute? Here’s How to Find Out

Success is impossible if you don’t have a team than can cut it.

To help determine if a team can execute, I use a simple tool called a Skill & Will Assessment. At the heart of it is this question:

“Given the organization’s vision, the CEO’s interpretation of how to execute that vision, and the role the individual has been asked to play, how willing and able is the person to follow the CEO’s lead?”

For executive teams, I answer this question using a rather sophisticated and in-depth set of executive assessments. But anyone can do this with their teams right now: skill & will.

Once you have the answer, by the way, as a leader, you must—must—plan accordingly. If you have a player that is not able to execute in the job they have, your job is to get them into a position where they can be successful or move that person off your team. If you do nothing, then that person’s future failures are your fault, not his/hers.

Take a look at your team. Given your team’s charter, your interpretation of how to execute that charter, and the roles you’ve assigned, how willing and able are they to follow your lead?

Jason Seiden is Co-founder and CEO of Ajax Social Media, a training company that shows professionals how use social media to work more effectively.