I’ll be honest: this note came to me while watching an episode of my favorite show Criminal Minds. I really like this TV series because it features a team of FBI agents who apprehend criminals thanks to their different personalities and their ability to work together.
Hotch, Reid, Morgan, JJ, Prentiss, Rossi, and Garcia they are my favorite configuration of profilers; each have diverse abilities and personalities, making them an effective team.
Criminal Minds and their lessons for building an effective team
It seems to me that there are some lessons that can be learned from the characters in Criminal Minds to create a diverse team and harness the talents of its members.
A good leader values diversity
Aaron Hotchner He is the head of the profile analyst team. Although personally he is very serious, he knows how to value individual strengths and recognizes that each person has something unique to contribute to the team. He never turns off Garcia’s spark or Reid’s ramblings because he knows those traits are what make them effective.
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Lesson for Entrepreneurs: When building a diverse team, it’s important to value differences and understand that diversity of experiences and perspectives can strengthen team performance.
Have a member help open communication
JJ is not only the ally with the press, she also makes friends with everyone in the team and tries to keep in communication with all the members at every step. The agent Jennifer Jareau Shares information, ideas, and insights effectively, enabling peers to solve difficult cases.
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Lesson for Entrepreneurs: Fostering an open communication environment in a diverse team is essential to harnessing individual talents and promoting collaboration.
Promotes continuous learning
My favorite character Spencer Reid He’s a born genius, but he’s constantly learning and improving. Not only that, he always shares information on profiling techniques, investigative tactics, and new discoveries in the field of criminal behavior with his colleagues.
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Lesson for Entrepreneurs: Fostering a culture of continuous learning in a diverse team allows members to share knowledge and benefit from each other’s experiences and skills.
Make sure there is always respect and empathy
penelope garcia she’s basically the mom of the team Criminal Minds. While it’s true that she has a strange relationship with Morgan, she’s always within the limits they’ve both set. On the other hand, and despite the fact that she loves technology above all things, she respects that Reid’s Asperger’s makes it difficult for her to work with tablets and computers, so she always makes sure that the agent has analog options.
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Lesson for Entrepreneurs: Understand that each member of your team has their own personal history and circumstances, and that this influences how they interact with others. When building a diverse team, it is essential to foster mutual respect and empathy, which facilitates collaboration and teamwork.
Have flexibility, resilience and adaptability
Derek Morgan It is the one that, in my opinion, is the most mature in the series. He starts off being very stern and then becomes more understanding. Later we discover that he is a survivor of a violent past, but that is not a weakness, it makes him one of the best agents to relate to the victims.
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Lesson for Entrepreneurs: The ability to adapt and be flexible is crucial to your success. When building a diverse team, it’s important to encourage flexibility and adaptability, as members can bring different approaches and solutions to problems.
Recognize and take advantage of individual strengths
Emily Prentiss he is probably the most cult character in the series (after Reid). He knows how to speak different languages and has lived in many countries. In fact, it is her life experience that makes her one of the specialists in Criminal Minds more sagacious when solving a mystery.
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Lesson for Entrepreneurs: Each member of your team brings a unique perspective based on their background and experiences. Take advantage of this diversity of skills, as it allows your collaborators to solve complex problems from different angles.
Cultivating interpersonal relationships is not a crime
Sometimes we think that making friends at work is unprofessional. However, it is impossible to work in isolation because we spend most of our lives working. In Criminal Mindsthe agent David Rossi he is the most experienced and knows that emotional resilience is essential to face dark cases every day. So he takes it upon himself to mentor the team and organize meetings at his house outside of work hours to bolster the team and keep it sane.
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Lesson for Entrepreneurs: Cultivating positive interpersonal relationships within the team can build trust and camaraderie, which in turn improves collaboration and communication.
In summary, to create a diverse team that takes advantage of the talents of its members, it is essential to value diversity, encourage open communication, recognize and take advantage of individual strengths, promote continuous learning, show respect and empathy, and be flexible and adaptable. By applying these lessons from the characters of Criminal Mindsyou can build a strong and effective team that capitalizes on diversity and achieves successful results.
March Violante Martha Elena Violante (March Violante) is editor-in-chief and co-founder of Emprendedor.com and has a 10+ year career in digital journalism. She has interviewed figures such as Randi Zuckerberg, Daniele Lamarre, Zoe Saldana, among others. She has worked in media such as Entrepreneur in Spanish and English, Alto Nivel, Cine PREMIERE, México Desconocido, among others. “We are entrepreneur.com”