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November 6, 2025 33 mins
Don't force teamwork, harness your team's superpowers Great teams don't need to be friends

Episode 280 (Mark is based in Georgia)

In this conversation with Mark Murphy, we explore:

  • why you don’t have to like your teammates to perform well together

  • how forced fun can kill real teamwork

  • the five essential roles that make up every high-performing team

  • how to diagnose what’s missing when your team is stuck

  • why adaptive leadership means the best person leads in each situation

  • how understanding others’ strengths makes collaboration easier

  • why leaders should stop trying to fill every role themselves

  • how team diversity creates synergy instead of friction

  • what new team leaders often get wrong

  • how real teamwork feels more like training for a marathon than going to a party

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About our guest, Mark Murphy:

Mark is a New York Times bestselling author with books, Hiring for Attitude, Hundred Percenters and his latest, Team Players: The Five Critical Roles Your Need to Build a Winning Team.

You can learn more about Mark, his books, reserch and programs at his website

https://www.leadershipiq.com/

Take the free quizs to clarify your leadership traits.

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Key Lessons from this conversation with Mark Murphy:

  • teams don’t need to be friends to be effective

  • fake team-building activities can actually hurt performance

  • high-performing teams rely on five critical roles: director, achiever, stabilizer, trailblazer, harmonizer

  • it’s okay not to like everyone on your team—focus on results, not relationships

  • leadership on great teams is adaptive—who leads changes based on the situation

  • knowing your strengths and appreciating others’ roles builds trust and efficiency

  • team balance matters more than team bonding

  • great leaders don’t try to play every role—they delegate and empower others

  • when teams stall, identify which missing role is causing the blockage

  • success is measured by outcomes, not by how much fun the team has

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Your Intended Message is the podcast about how you can boost your career and business success by honing your communication skills. We’ll examine the aspects of how we communicate one-to-one, one to few and one to many – plus that important conversation, one to self.

In these interviews we will explore presentation skills, public speaking, conversation, persuasion, negotiation, sales conversations, marketing, team meetings, social media, branding, self talk and more.

 

Your host is George Torok

George is a specialist in communication skills. Especially presentation. He’s fascinated by the links between communication and influencing behaviors. He delivers training and coaching programs to help leaders and promising professionals deliver the intended message for greater success.

 

Connect with George

www.SpeechCoachforExecutives.com

https://superiorpresentations.net/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgetorokpresentations/

https://www.youtube.com/user/presentationskills

 

Mark as Played

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