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Superteams: How to Take Your Team to the Top!

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In Superteams, Khoi Tu reveals the secrets to taking your team to the top.

When Disney shutdown production on Toy Story, how did Pixar save it?
What turned sworn rivals into a winning Ryder Cup team?
Why is the Stones' longevity down to Mick and Keith's rivalry?

These are the stories behind the world's greatest superteams. In seven fascinating case studies, Khoi Tu investigates why it is that some teams excel, endure, and overcome insuperable odds. How they deliver the impossible and remain loyal to one another in the very best - and worst - of circumstances.

From Ferarri Formula One to the Iranian Embassy Siege Team, from the Red Cross in Haiti to the Northern Ireland Peace Process negotiators, you'll learn the secrets of the superteams: how to build a team from scratch, work powerfully together, and perform at your peak. Go stellar with your own superteam.


'Buy this book - it's a game-changer' -Jamie Oliver

'Inspirational' -Sir Jackie Stewart

'Khoi Tu is the most visionary among visionaries' -Management Today


Khoi Tu is a teamwork consultant who has worked with teams at Coca-Cola, BP, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Tesco, LVMH and the British Red Cross. He has also advised some of the world's most influential individuals, including Jamie Oliver, leading entrepreneurs and Formula One world champions. He worked around the world for Shell before joining the pioneering web design company Razorfish during the early days of the dot com boom. He jointly founded a leadership advisory firm with Booz Allen Hamilton before starting his own company, Inverstar, in 2006. Khoi Tu will donate all his royalties from the sale of Superteams to the British Red Cross, which works both in the UK and overseas. www.superteams.org

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

19 people are currently reading
127 people want to read

About the author

Khoi Tu

3 books

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5 stars
19 (17%)
4 stars
41 (38%)
3 stars
36 (33%)
2 stars
8 (7%)
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3 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
Profile Image for Petras.
82 reviews66 followers
December 8, 2013
Quite a nice short book that gives some food for thought about what makes a great team.
Profile Image for Toni Tassani.
165 reviews16 followers
January 23, 2021
Through the description of 7 unusual teams, some of them in exceptional situations, the author describes characteristics that, in his opinion, great teams share. He uses each different "team" to describe a set of characteristics, but not all of these teams share them. Pixar (a company sharing a common purpose), the European Ryder Cup team (12 golf players with great leadership), SAS (military people with rigorous team selection), British Red Cross (an organisation with high mobility), the Rolling Stones (creativity, consistency, cohesion and trust), Northern Ireland Peace Process (enemies working together, mastering conflict) and Ferrari (learning to adapt).
Great stories, good reading.
Profile Image for Liam Hughes.
5 reviews2 followers
August 1, 2020
I enjoyed a number of the stories told.

I felt that there was a bit of a disconnect between the descriptive and prescriptive parts of the book.

There was also a distinct lack of growth mindset in the book. To paraphrase, "get excellent people to make an excellent team".
20 reviews6 followers
October 16, 2013
Super stories, super insights and super learnings from Khoi Tu. An easy read though quite thought provoking for anyone in a team, building a team, running a team or trying to fix a team.

Key takeaways for building superteams;

- a set of shared objectives (clear purpose) is the most potent force in attracting the right talent and in getting them to want to do great work, together.
- great teams are led by great adaptive leaders (there is no single style preference here) but moreover you have to lead by example and ultimately foster a team of leaders
- the best teams ensure they attract the best individuals for every role; people that know they aren't perfect, but pursue excellence and want to get better with other like minded people
- you have to get the small things/routines right to create the best environment for success (agenda, size, rules, roles, etc)
- individuals have to respect each others' skills/contributions and have to trust each other to thrive and stick together under pressure
- avoid comfortable harmony and groupthink; foster and harness conflict/abrasion to ensure sparks of creativity thrive
- you have to continuously improve; reflect, review, feedback and change ("this is how we do things here" - is a killer); always seek ideas for improvement from your team using both success and failure as lessons for learning.

Highly recommended.
Profile Image for Nikolaos.
126 reviews2 followers
May 18, 2015
The book lays the framework for successful teams through 7 case studies of teams in quite diverse contexts. The issue with the variability of teams (business, politics, charity, sports) is that only few readers, who find interest in one group, will enjoy all case studies. Some chapters were so boring that I ended up resorting to my secondary reading.

Nevertheless, the writing style and the layout of each chapter were enjoyable and the content easily digested. It is another "why not" book for non-fiction, business readers."Why not read it?" or "Why not read something else?", your choice.
Profile Image for Paulo.
301 reviews1 follower
April 6, 2018
Um livro que analisa sete times de sucesso.

Assemelha-se mais a um livro de administração com o estudo de casos (sete, no caso em tela).

Nada de fenomenal, sendo que, em princípio, bastaria ler o capítulo da conclusão que discorre a respeito de criar um objetivo claro, ter uma liderança, ..., enfrentar um grande desafio e superá-lo com o espírito de ... equipe (oh) ...

Acrescente-se ao final, sugestões de leitura.
Profile Image for Kaypea Ramsdale.
11 reviews
April 12, 2013
I got this book in three chapters. But even in the three chapters there was a lot of repeating itself. The author tried to break up the teams by different categories, but all of these successful teams actually exhibited all of the categories. I was reading this book and discussing it with a colleague. . . it was just sad after our third meeting. It had promise, but . . .meh
Profile Image for Venky.
1,047 reviews421 followers
August 3, 2020
From the Rolling Stones to the Red Cross; from the SAS to Steve Jobs's Pixar; and from Ferrari to the Ryder Cup, Khoi Tu draws analogies and artful prepcepts to demonstrate the clinical success of team work.
Profile Image for Sarah Carter.
69 reviews20 followers
April 16, 2018
DNF
I wanted to care, I really did but honestly there are other books about management & teamwork that are less like yomping through margarine. Jurgen Appelo's Managing for Happiness immediately springs to mind. Feels intrinsically "blokey" too. Not for me
Profile Image for Doc.
Author 3 books29 followers
February 2, 2013
If you work on or with teams you must read this book. It will either reinforce what you already do and believe, or open your eyes to what is possible. This is a must-read book.
22 reviews1 follower
August 27, 2014
This book has some of the most useful practical applications of concepts I'd previously learnt about. Easy to read and clear. I have recommended it to many colleagues already.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews

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