George W. Bush on How to Build a Strong Team

President George Walker Bush was born in New Haven, Connecticut, to Barbara Pierce Bush and George Herbert Walker Bush. President Bush served as the forty-third president of the United States.

President Bush’s path to the White House was not always obvious—he had stints in the military, business, and baseball before a sudden launch to national prominence in his late forties. In the space of a single decade, he won four major elections, including the governorship of Texas.

A strong team is one that fosters a positive company culture through mutual respect, patience, collaboration, and communication. Strong teams require a group of people who bring different skills to the table as well as great leaders who can help guide them to reach a common goal. A team’s success depends on the collective and not just individual team members. A successful business encompasses several good teams.

Building a strong and successful team takes hard work. Regardless of your leadership style or abilities, you must depend on others within the organization to implement a strategic vision. Here is how you build a high-performing team and set a good work environment, according to President Bush:

• Cultivate diverse opinions. Effective leaders surround themselves with people with different views. Cultivating diversity in all forms—race, gender, religion, life experience, skill sets, philosophy—is one way to mitigate your own shortcomings and often fosters productive debates among coworkers. “Any leader must want to have people around who don’t necessarily agree,” President Bush says. “If you surround yourself with people who only agree with you, it—in essence—says that you’re more important than the team. It says that, ‘I’m going to have a culture based upon me.’ Cultures based upon individuals tend to fail. When a leader has people around who don’t necessarily agree and are willing to express their opinion, it is a sign that the leader has got the right perspective.”
• Enhance your team. When you’re working toward becoming an impactful team leader, look for the strengths that each team member brings to the table. It’s imperative to find the gaps in strengths and hire people with complementary skills to fill them. “I knew what my shortcomings were,” he says. “I think we did a good job of finding people that could address those shortcomings. For example, in foreign policy, my only foreign policy experience was as a governor of Texas dealing with border governors from Mexico. Therefore, Condi Rice became an integral part of my campaign, but more importantly, my administrations. She knew a lot about foreign policy.”
• Give productive feedback. When you give feedback, do so constructively instead of diminishing your employee. President Bush says the question should always be, “What do I need to do to motivate this person to do better?” Some tips for giving productive feedback include being honest, specific, and clear; balancing your criticism with praise; and making it a two-way conversation (i.e., encouraging feedback from your employees in return). Learn how to give positive feedback.
• Handle departures graciously. When firing one of your employees is the only option you have, try to find a way to allow them to depart with grace. “Sometimes [firing] is a painful experience,” President Bush says. “But I did a fair amount of that during my time, [and I] tried to handle it as gently as I could and allow the person to leave with dignity.”
  
• Recognize the importance of culture. A great team culture is critical to an organization’s success. An effective team leader creates a culture that fosters employee satisfaction. “[It’s] really important for anybody in a managerial position to understand the importance of culture,” President Bush says. “That starts at the top but also with people who understand the culture you’re trying to set up.”

President Bush applied his principles of team building to some of his most important personnel selections:

• National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (2001–2009): Hailing from Alabama, Dr. Condoleezza Rice is a leading academic expert on foreign policy, which was what President Bush considered an ideal choice for “America’s face to the world.” She was the first African American woman to serve as the national security advisor, then the first African American woman to serve as secretary of state.
• Secretary of State Colin Powell (2001–2005): In tapping Powell—a retired four-star general in the United States Army who was widely admired across the political spectrum—to be the nation’s first Black American secretary of state, President Bush gained immediate credibility at home and abroad.
• Secretary of the Treasury Henry “Hank” Paulson (2006–2009): Recognizing the need for a treasury secretary with deep knowledge of Wall Street, President Bush recruited Hank Paulson—former CEO of the American investment banking company Goldman Sachs—to his administration in 2006. Two years later, when the financial crisis hit, Paulson was a critical figure in navigating a solution.
• Vice President Dick Cheney (2001–2009): President Bush’s first major personnel decision illustrated his determination to shore up his weaknesses. Hailing from the solidly Republican state of Wyoming, Cheney added little in terms of Electoral College votes. Still, his extensive background in Washington—as a former secretary of defense, Congress member, and White House chief of staff—brought some crucial experience to the equation that President Bush lacked.

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