Build Your Dream Team: Leadership Based on a Passion for People

It's Monday morning and you have a knot in your stomach as you think of going to work. You recently started a new job as a team leader. You were very excited in the beginning, but it has been a tough week. Your team members don't seem too happy with you, people have been skipping meetings, you've been drowning in emails and requests, two of your team members are not even talking to each other and your new boss wants you to present your team's plans for the year when you have barely a plan for next week. You are realizing you actually have no clue how to be a team leader. Sure, you're great at what you do, and you've been a great team player. But nothing in your professional training taught you how to do this. "This" being putting together a team. Actually, putting together an amazing team. How do you bring together disparate characters and create something bigger and better than the sum of the parts? How do you achieve the goals you’ve promised to the organization and to yourself, goals which can only be accomplished through teamwork? What do you do when conflict explodes? How do you ensure that managing your team’s request doesn’t eat up all your time? Unless you actually studied for a career in management or business administration, chances are you were never taught anything about team leadership and managing people. This book is for you if: a.You have just started as a team leader (at work, in a sport or a hobby, or when volunteering) but have never learned about leadership and management in your career. b.You have been a leader for a while but are currently facing a crisis period and feel you don’t have the tools to resolve it or if you want to learn new ways to strengthen your team, get better results, and build a better work environment. This book is a practical guide to accompany you through the process of becoming a great leader and putting together a dream team. It will show you how to: •Identify the leadership skills you already possess and build on them. •Successfully transition from team member to team leader. •Get rid of overwhelm and learn to manage your time. •Achieve your team goals through smart planning and follow-up strategies. •Manage the team formation process to create a strong, cohesive team. •Maintain smooth communication by establishing solid systems. •Help your team members avoid or overcome demotivation and burnout. •Resolve conflict constructively. This book focuses both on developing the mindset that can help you become a great team leader, and on building the strategies that will help you reach your goals, maintain team spirit and communication, and prevent conflict. This is the book I wish I had when I started as a team leader years ago. I’ve put together all the best strategies I researched and tested through my own journey as a leader. After reading this book and testing the practical ideas in it, within weeks you’ll see positive changes in how your team relates to you and to each other. You’ll feel empowered. You’ll have a clear vision of who you want to be as a leader and what you want your dream team to look like, and most importantly, the tools and the plan that will make that vision a reality. My goal with this book is that you will find simple, easily-implementable solutions to the problems that now seem insurmountable. That tomorrow, instead of dreading your team meetings, you’ll start looking forward to interacting with your team.That in a few weeks from now, the grey cloud of dread, boredom, and stress hanging over you every Monday morning when you have to hit the office will disappear and the sky will look bright blue as you go re-join that dream team of yours for another week of astounding successes. The journey starts here. It’s a fun one.

Candela Iglesias Chiesa, a researcher and public health specialist by training, has worked as a team leader and project coordinator within academic institutions, hospitals, and not-for-profit organizations.

She relishes the challenges of leading multidisciplinary teams and bringing together highly skilled professionals with different personalities and backgrounds. She is also passionate about using research and evidence to improve programmes. You can learn more about her work at candela-iglesias.com.
 
Candela carried out her PhD research at the Pasteur Institute in Paris and has a Master in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

She has lived and worked in Mexico, South Africa, France, and Norway. She's an avid hiker and enjoys obstacle-course racing and scuba diving.