Teamwork Is An Individual Skill (Book)

 
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Do you share responsibility with others to get work done but don't have authority over them — yet their performance reflects on your performance?

Do you want to be a more successful team leader or member?

Do you want to feel more satisfied in you teams?

Then read Christopher Avery's Teamwork Is An Individual Skill: Getting Your Work Done When Sharing Responsibility. In it he shares what really builds teams – the same strategies Christopher teaches to the leaders and teams he coaches.

 

Countless coaches, trainers, and professors rely on it, and it continues to earn 5-Star reviews at Amazon

Knowing how to take, teach, and inspire personal and shared responsibility is critical, yet few leaders command the mastery of this subject that they could. Indeed nothing good happens — no performance, no learning, no honesty, no correction — until someone takes ownership. And no one communicates the dynamics and intricacies of personal and shared responsibility like Christopher.

Christopher Avery, PhD, is a recognized authority on how individual and shared responsibility works in the mind and an advisor to successful leaders worldwide. Learn more about mastering leadership or build a responsible team (or family) from Teamwork Is An Individual Skill and enjoy a more productive way to live and lead.

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What Critics and Readers Say…

"I purchased my first copy of this book a number of years ago after it was recommended to me by my MBA instructor. I found it so valuable that in the past 3 years I have purchased additional copies to give to key managers in my organization.

Of all the team-building books on my shelf, this one is the most tabbed, highlighted, dog-eared and appreciated. Well done Christopher! You have created a road map to building highly functioning and effective teams. Not just a theoretical volume- real, practical, valuable tools to both challenge yourself and the teams you belong to or lead.
It will shift your perspective and allow you to never fall victim to the "I'm on a bad team" blues again.

Buy this book- and buy extras for anyone who has struggled with team dynamics. They will thank you"

- Gillian Buergin, Huntsville, ON, Canada

Fortune magazine dubbed Christopher's classic Teamwork Is An Individual Skill: Getting Your Work Done When Sharing Responsibility the only book on teams worth reading.

Here is an excerpt: "Teamwork is an individual skill. That happens to be the title of a book. Christopher Avery writes, "Becoming skilled at doing more with others may be the single most important thing you can do" to increase your value — regardless of your level of authority. As work is increasingly broken down into team-sized increments, Avery's argument goes, blaming a "bad team" for one's difficulties is, by definition, a personal failure, since the very notion of teamwork implies a shared responsibility. You can't control other people's behavior, but you can control your own. Which means that there is an "I" in team after all."

"Thank you; thank you; thank you, Christopher. This book is GREAT -- indeed, masterful. Don't walk! Run to get this book!
This work adds to the knowledge on teamwork and does so in a way that is practical, easy to read, and easy to imagine applying. Avery has demonstrated his academic research skills, because even though the average reader may not see it, his work is based on knowledge of the latest research. He also demonstrates his long history as a consultant and facilitator in industries right close to home."

- Amanda Evans, Sunflower Press, Austin, TX

 

"I attended Christopher Avery's Knowledge Team Leadership [NOTE: Link to KTL page] course and came away very impressed with his grasp of Team Dynamics (note that I did not say "team building" with it's touchy feely connotations"). Teamwork Is An Individual Skill is another great tool for companies interested in organizational development.

Christopher takes a very practical approach. Just how does one get a group of already successful people who don't have formal authority over each other to come together as a productive team? In today's knowledge economy, time is a precious commodity. Agile, effective teams feel a sense of "shared responsibility" and urgency. If members of a team are not truly committed to a project, it is best to know that up front and adjust accordingly. Christopher shows us how to navigate these issues quickly. This book is well worth checking out."

- Chris John, CEO, United Benefit Advisors
 
 
michael-wix
"If I had to choose between my computer and Christopher's book when I travel to client engagements, I'd leave the laptop at home."
Michael Wix,
China's leading team
development practitioner, Beijing
mike-cohn
"I read your book on a flight home from Oslo. I loved it! I must have recommended it a dozen times in the last week."
Mike Cohn, best-selling author of User Stories Applied, Agile Estimating and Planning, and Succeeding With Agile
"I just wanted you to know how excited we are that we put your principles in action and it helped us win. We had the strongest teamwork possible at State Championships and received a perfect score at our teamwork presentation and project presentation."
Gail Vawter, parent of Mindstorm Troopers, First Lego League- 2 time State Champions and 2006 World Champions
"Teamwork is an Individual Skill has kindled a lot of analysis in my mind. Overall it is unique, excellent, and renders solutions or rather helps simplify the problems."
Raji Murugappa, Self-Employed, India
cottmeyer
"I am enjoying your book on teamwork and have already received permission from my kids to coach them on the Responsibility Process model. It is fun to tell my 9 year old, "hey, you are in denial, could you progress to blaming your older brother". We have had fun with it, but I am getting my point across on teaching responsibility."
Mike Cottmeyer, LeadingAgile.com
PGSmith

"While others dance around the teams landscape -- teamwork, cooperation, collaboration, etc. -- Christopher goes to the heart of the matter: how do I have to act differently? He backs this up with strong research and practical tools. Christopher's focus on the individual drives to the heart of team performance. He is my first suggestion if you need an exceptional team."

Preston Smith, best-selling author of Developing Products in Half the Time and Proactive Risk Management
"My husband, Anthony met you at Valtech Days in Dallas this past week. He brought me your Teamwork is an Individual Skill book, thinking it would help me in my job as Special Education Department head at Brazosport High School. A quick glance through the book tells me he is right. Thanks, and I look forward to placing the responsibility poster all over my campus!"
Lynn Akins, Brazosport ISD
"I enjoyed the book. Ron and I would meet weekly to discuss the principles presented in each chapter. We both kept commenting on how difficult it is to get through the book. It's a good kind of difficult, in that I found myself reading and then staring off trying to vision how to apply the concepts."
Ed Puckett, University of Houston, Clear Lake
"Am totally enjoying the Teamwork is an Individual Skill book and using it as a basis for development of a teambuilding skills course. Students will be using the book as a text!"
Maureen Ewing, British Columbia Institute of Technology, Canada
"Our Director of Marketing has taken us to a new level efficiency. He supplied us with your book last week and I know this will increase our productivity. Thanks for focusing my communications degree into real life solutions."
Cheryl Levitt, United Solar Ovonic