9. The Law of Countability Teammates must be able to count on each other when it counts. Is your integrity unquestionable? Do you perform your work with excellence? Are you dedicated to team’s success? Can people depend on you? Do your actions bring team together or rip it apart?

10. The Law of Price Tag The team fails to reach its potential when it fails to pay price. Sacrifice, time commitment, personal development, and unselfishness are part of price we pay for team success.

11. The Law of Scoreboard The team can make adjustments when it knows where it stands. The scoreboard is essential to evaluating performance at any given time, and is vital to decision-making.

12. The Law of Bench Great teams have great depth. Any team that wants to excel must have good substitutes as well as starters. The key to making most of law of bench is to continually improve team.

13. The Law of Identity Shared values define team. The type of values you choose for team will attract type of members you need. Values give team a unique identity to its members, potential recruits, clients, and public. Values must be constantly stated and restated, practiced, and institutionalized.

14. The Law of Communication Interaction fuels action. Effective teams have teammates who are constantly talking, and listening to each other. From leader to teammates, teammates to leader, and among teammates, there should be consistency, clarity and courtesy. People should be able to disagree openly but with respect. Between team and public, responsiveness and openness is key.

15. The Law of Edge The difference between two equally talented teams is leadership. A good leader can bring a team to success, provided values, work ethic and vision are in place. The Myth of Head Table is belief that on a team, one person is always in charge in every situation. Understand that in particular situations, maybe another person would be best suited for leading team. The Myth of Round Table is belief that everyone is equal, which is not true. The person with greater skill, experience, and productivity in a given area is more important to team in that area. Compensate where it is due.

16. The Law of High Morale When you’re winning, nothing hurts. When a team has high morale, it can deal with whatever circumstances are thrown at it.

17. The Law of Dividends Investing in team compounds over time. Make decision to build a team, and decide who among team are worth developing. Gather best team possible, pay price to develop team, do things together, delegate responsibility and authority, and give credit for success.

By: Regine P. Azurin and Yvette Pantilla http://www.bizsum.com "A Lot Of Great Books....Too Little Time To Read" Free Book Summaries Of Latest Bestsellers for Busy Executives and Entrepreneurs Mailto: freearticle@bizsum.com

BusinessSummaries is a BusinessSummaries.com service. (c) Copyright 2001-2002, BusinessSummaries.com - Wisdom In A Nutshell

Document everything. Documentation will support you if you ever have to file a complaint. Keep detailed records about interactions with your boss, work you are doing, and anything else that may seem important. I once had a boss try to downgrade my appraisal for no other reason than his appraisal had been downgraded and he didn't want me to have a better rating than he. Because I had everything documented, I was able to fight downgrade and won.

Documenting what you do just makes good sense. It will also help you at end of year when you are trying to remember everything you did. Don't expect your boss to remember; even a great boss won't. They have way too much to do. It is up to you to keep detailed records of how you are contributing to organization.

Everyone is someone's difficult person. You may very well have a personality conflict with your boss. Ask yourself honestly how you are contributing to relationship with your boss. It does take two to dance. Ask yourself how you are making things worse. This can be hard to look at, but can also give you some insight into your own behavior and how you can remove yourself from drama. Sometimes, with or without realizing it, we are making situation worse. Step back and see how you might be doing that and stop. This isn't a matter of giving up or letting other person win. It is a matter of maintaining your sanity.

Find someone outside of your work environment to talk with. Do not talk with other people at work about what a jerk boss is. It will get back to her or him. Find someone who can give you an unbiased opinion and help you create a strategy to manage boss. This will help you to defuse some of your frustration and support you in creating healthy ways to handle situation.

And remember, you have power! Don't let anyone take it from you. Control your actions and attitudes. As long as you are in control, you are better able to manage situation and make best choices.