NFL pundits claim this year's Dallas Cowboys' roster is Super Bowl quality. Time will tell. They've got to play the games. They're certainly throwing big dollars around. Time will tell.

I can't remember the last time I passed an entire week without talking with a business owner or CEO about constructing a better team. The people problem persists. Recruiting, training and retaining people who can help take the enterprise to new heights has always been a challenge. But too often we make it harder than it needs to be. Mostly because we neglect to give it the attention it deserves.

Over 25 years ago I went to hear Tom Peters. He used to come to the DFW area every few years. I'd go see him every time he came. I've always found him thought-provoking and my fondness likely stems from being a young man when In Search Of Excellence was published (1982). He resonated with me.

Well, during this presentation - which wasn't a speech as much as a presentation because people were seated around tables and Tom would walk amongst us while talking with a comprehensive slide deck serving to illustrate his points - he talked about how much effort the NFL puts into assembling a team. General Managers have teams of scouts and other people dedicated to studying film of college players. Countless man hours are applied to the team every season. Makes sense because that's their business, a team sport. It requires building the strongest team possible so you can compete. Tom made the analogy that our businesses aren't much different. People make the difference.

I instantly thought, "Yeah, I agree, but NFL teams have game film to watch, previous coaches to interview about the player, and a lot more data to consider than I ever have with prospective hires." But I didn't want to be completely dismissive of Tom's analogy. I knew I could give it greater effort. And I knew there had to be some strategies I could deploy so I could act with greater efficiency. I needed to be more intentional about it all.

Since then I've found almost every CEO or SMB owner suffers the same challenge. And I know why. We too often hire out of desperation. We have a pressing need, then we seek to fill it. That's the extent of the strategy. Immediate need.

I started to think about being more proactive because there were times early in my career when I'd done that instinctively. But along the way something happened. I didn't get smarter. I got stupider. I started chasing my tail. By the time I got to the mid-1980's I was figuring out how to stop chasing my tail so much. Fire fighting is part of the task and I rather enjoyed that part of it. What I hated was feeling forced to act out of desperation. So I began to think more strategic. To give greater effort to being prepared. To think ahead.

What would you do if THE key employee you most rely on suddenly resigned?

I often ask leaders this question and most have no answer other than, "I hope it doesn't happen." I'll press them. "But what if it does?"

Panic! That's what would happen.

I'm not saying that we're all prepared for such events, but we'd do well to think about it more. To pre-think it and prepare. To develop a plan.

So how would you build your ideal team?

Let's start by defining "ideal." I'm not talking about a perfect team. I'm talking about the team that would be ideally suited to achieve what you want. The team of people capable (and willing) to help you grow your enterprise.

Step 1 - Shore up the weakness that's killing you.

You likely have chronic weak areas. If you're like most of us, these areas have been problematic for too long.

Figure out why.

Don't accept shallow answers. Dig deep enough to really discover, maybe for the first time ever, why this area is THE ongoing problem.