President Bill Clinton on What Makes a Successful Team

Born in 1946 in Hope, Arkansas, President Bill Clinton spent his earliest years at the home of his grandparents while his mother attended nursing school. When he was four years old, his mother remarried, and the family moved to the lively resort town of Hot Springs, Arkansas. As a teen, President Clinton excelled academically and displayed a passion for politics. Even at a young age, he aspired to become president one day.

After graduating from Yale University, President Clinton returned to Arkansas to launch his political career. He became the state’s attorney general in 1976 and its governor two years later. But he never took his eyes off of the United State of America’s highest office. He declared his candidacy for president in 1991 while he was still governor of Arkansas. He won the 1992 general election, having spurred a significant share of young voters to the polls by doing something no candidate had done before: answering questions on MTV, the teen-oriented cable network. Since leaving public office in 2001, President Clinton has worked as an author, public speaker, and philanthropist focused on improving global health, fighting climate change, and providing disaster relief.

Here are some of the characteristics of a great team:

1. 1. Adaptability: A strong team recognizes that even the best-laid plans need to change every now and then. A good team player is able to identify when to pivot, let another person lead, or rely on the strengths of another teammate.
2. 2. Commitment to team-building: Team-building fosters a sense of collaboration that trickles over into daily work life, making it easier for individual members to work together to complete specific work tasks and projects. Learn how to use team-building exercises to develop a strong team.
3. 3. Common goals: To achieve a high level of success, the entire team should focus on common goals. Although each individual member will bring something unique to the table, working toward the same team goals will ensure that everyone’s strengths and weaknesses align with the mission at hand.
4. 4. Diversity: “There are literally mountains of research,” President Clinton says, “that shows that diverse teams make better decisions than homogeneous teams or alone geniuses.” It’s important to have a wide range of skill sets, backgrounds, and personalities so team can come up with creative solutions to complex problems.
5. 5. Effective communication: For members of the team to work together, they must be able to communicate effectively, including active listening, showing mutual respect, and respecting one another’s boundaries.
6. 6. Metrics for success: Measurable and actionable goals are critical for a team’s success. Rather than vague goals, like good company culture, successful teams clearly outline what it would take to accomplish their goals and regularly check their progress. Many teams rely on project management tools for keeping track of tasks as well as team goals. Learn more about goal-setting.

“Once you’re committed to the same goal, then diversity becomes a priceless asset because it’s a way of inventorying the widest variety of experiences, the widest varieties of perceptions, the widest varieties of preferences. And if you’re putting all that together to pursue the same goal, it’s an unstoppable force.” — President Bill Clinton

There are several reasons why strong leaders should prioritize assembling an effective team:

• Successful teams are better at problem-solving. When facing a difficult challenge, assembling the right team ensures that brainstorming leads to better outcomes.
• Successful teams create a good company culture. Assembling a diverse team of highly skilled people will go a long way in creating an inclusive work environment.
• Teamwork helps team members avoid burnout. A high-performing team is capable of adapting their workflows to support their fellow teammates. Employees who feel that mutual respect is a key part of their team dynamic are less likely to feel stressed and reciprocate their teammate’s support by being a team player.

“I don’t like to micromanage people. I like to get smart, innovative people who take initiative and are committed to the goal and comfortable with a wide, diverse group of people in the room with them working towards the same goal, and then let them go get it.” — President Bill Clinton

President Bill Clinton outlines his four steps for assembling a successful team:

1. 1. Assess your own strengths and weaknesses. President Clinton goes out of his way to choose teams that know more than he does about the subjects at hand. But in order to assemble such rock-star groups, it helps to get a sense of your own strengths and weaknesses as a leader. Requesting feedback may seem scary, but the more often you do it, the less stressful it becomes.
2. 2. Define the mission. When teams that President Clinton put together weren’t as effective as he’d hoped, it was usually because he didn’t devote enough time to “clarify the mission, the responsibilities, and the priorities” of everyone involved. Consider this the biggest downfall of group management: Without a framework for achieving a clear goal, every other decision is bound to veer off target. A shared goal will “enable you to explain and act on all of the things happening in the world,” President Clinton says.
3. 3. Prioritize diversity. “It’s valuable to have a diverse set of opinions if you have a diverse set of challenges,” President Clinton says. Diverse teams also tend to process facts more carefully and are more innovative. When putting together a team, President Clinton recommends aiming for the widest variety of experiences, perceptions, and preferences.
4. 4. Look beyond the résumé. Finding the perfect person for a job can be a herculean task, and attempts to standardize the process are often doomed from the outset. President Clinton has learned that people are unpredictable: “Sometimes people with academic education seem to lack the street smarts, and then [they] surprise you with an amazing amount of toughness.” What’s important, he explains, is casting a wide net and considering a broad applicant pool—especially those who’ve been historically overlooked in your field.

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