Flexible & friendly beats smart

Wharton@Work asked members in its December 2007 poll, "What are the most important qualities you look for in team members?" They answered:

• Flexibility/adaptability - 40 percent
• Interpersonal skills - 29 percent
• Specific functional skills - 15 percent
• Intelligence - 12 percent
• Loyalty - 4 percent

Turns out that most of what you really need to know, you DID learn in kindergarten.

As parents, many of us know that one of the competencies expected before children progress in school is the ability to transition smoothly from activity to activity on agendas set by circumstances. And getting along with others is, of course, essential at all ages. What's interesting here is how unimportant intelligence and loyalty are. Once you think about it, though, it makes perfect sense. We've all known people who were incredibly bright, but very difficult to work with. Stanford-Binet intelligence tests don't measure emotional intelligence, which is far more important in teamwork than spatial manipulation ability in most cases. Personal loyalty, too, can be problematic, if it prompts people to cover up unproductive behaviors, support faulty premises, or avoid challenging things which may cause problems later.

Teams drive work

Why should you keep those important team characteristics in mind? Because they are the driving force behind work, according to Wharton's January poll. When asked if leaders or teams primarily drove their work, 52 percent of members said teams, 34 percent said a balance of the two, and only 14 percent said their work was driven by leaders.

Smart is as smart does, my mother used to say. Smart leaders put their money on teamwork.

Warning Signs

To succeed in business at any level, but particularly at the executive level, having a finely tuned radar for who can and who cannot be trusted is critical. Beef up your radar with the following. According to author Mark McCormack in Staying Street Smart in the Internet Age (Viking/Penguin), be especially cautious of those who:

• Rarely do what they say they will.
• Push their work onto you.
• Do not apologize for being late.
• Tell you, "I'm too busy."
• Reject your ideas out-of-hand.
• Won't let you off the hook when you're in a jam.

All the above are indications that a person is concerned only with their own needs, and unwilling or unable to consider other points of view. That rigidity and lack of empathy can indicate a lack of what we would all call, simply, "character," so be on the lookout.