Hi there! I’m Dan Hogan. I have been in your shoes, wondering how in the world to lead teammates towards greater collaboration and team effectiveness.

In this book, you will find specific actions you can take to achieve better teamwork, or as we call it, Right-Minded Teamwork (RMT). Successful team leaders who consistently create and sustain teams that work as one integrate the essence of the nine, Right-Minded choices into their team, often through team-building workshops.

Because you are reading yet another book on leadership and teamwork, I am confident you have already worked hard to be a good leader. You have probably done so for many reasons. Still, I’m guessing the primary reason is that you’ve seen, firsthand, how gratifying it is when teammates come together as a collaborative, unified team. I also assume you know effective teamwork is not just for you and your teammates. It is really for your team’s customers.

Despite your efforts, experience, and the knowledge you’ve gained, I’m sure you’ve nevertheless experienced your fair share of resistant teammates, dysfunctional bureaucracy, and the like. It can be frustrating when these obstacles diminish your team-building efforts, so much so there were probably times you just wanted to give up and do something else.

But you didn’t give up. Something kept pulling you back. Do you know why you kept at it, refusing to give up? Do you know what that something is? It is your deep-seated desire to help others experience the joy of Right-Minded Teamwork. You know your teammates and team’s customers will be much better off when teammates understand and apply the principles behind these nine right choices. Moreover, you know that by extending Right-Minded Teamwork principles to teammates and your customers, you will have made it a win for everyone, including yourself.

You Taught Me These Choices. I started facilitating team-building workshops in 1986. Much has changed since then, but I worked with many talented leaders and teammates, quite like you, even in the early days. After my first few years, I began to notice these Right-Minded choices emerging in my awareness. I did not invent them. I learned them from people like you. Observing their effectiveness, I dedicated my career to promoting them and helping teams learn to apply these choices successfully. Today, so many years later, they are still self-evident, self-validating, and universal best practices.

When I published the first edition of this book in 2013, I gave copies to many of my team leader clients. Robin Hensley was one of those talented leaders, and, after reading it, she shared her review: [RMT’s 9 Right Choices is] a fast read that takes you straight to the root of team dysfunctions and gives you proven, step-by-step tools to improve team function and deliver results. I have paid thousands of dollars for team trainings and workshops that are better summarized here. I am glad to be reminded to choose Reason over Ego and stay in my right mind. Robin Hensley, VP IT, UPS

Robin’s was just one of many endorsements I received upon sharing this book. Her response, along with the comments, affirmations, and recommendations from others like her, spoke about the real-world value of these nine concepts and choices.

They affirmed what I had already seen through my years of team building and facilitation efforts: When you persistently include these choices into your team through team-building workshops, your team will improve.

You become a successful Right-Minded Teamwork leader and facilitator. Truly. With these choices in your mind, you no longer have to wonder what you should do. The answer is always, Do no harm, and work as one.