I live in New England, so I know about unbeatable teams. We have the Patriots. The players change, but the team wins, week after week. We also have the Red Sox who called themselves "Idiots." They forgot that, down three games to zero, it is impossible to win four straight from the Yankees. Then they won another four straight to collar the Cardinals. (I don't want to talk about the Celtics or the Bruins!)

How did these franchises create unbeatable teams? From where I sit, the answer is easy. They assembled talent and managed it.

It is wonderful to contemplate this recent success. Getting there was wicked hard. The Patriots were mostly disappointing before Parcels, Kraft and Belichick. The Red Sox Curse endured for 86 years, with another magnificent failure in 2003, before the miracle breakthrough this fall.

For those who manage businesses, the goal isn't as dramatic or as visible as the Super Bowl or World Series, but it is momentous to those involved. The trophy is sustained growth in revenue and profits, and an organization that does the right things without needing the owner's direct intervention. In other words, the Super Bowl or World Series for a private company is an organization and employees who know what to do and continually do it.

My colleague Dr. Bruce Katcher writes the monthly newsletter "Improving the Workplace". His firm, Discovery Surveys, Inc., conducts employee surveys to help companies learn how their employees really feel about them. (Subscribe to his newsletter at http://www.discoverysurveys.com/newsletter.htm). On average, the results of his employee surveys are not pleasant. This is what he has learned.

• Employees don't trust their management.

• Internal communications are poor.

• Employees believe they understand their responsibilities and are confident that their employers would benefit if they delegated more decision-making authority.

• There is no link between job performance and pay. Performance reviews aren't useful.

• Poor performers are tolerated.

• Training opportunities are limited.

• Although cooperation within departments is good, cooperation between departments is very weak.

• Employees are very open to opportunities elsewhere.

Does any of this sound like the Red Sox or Patriots in past seasons? Do you remember when top stars like Roger Clemens and Mo Vaughn wanted to leave the Red Sox because they didn't trust management?

Both teams had great talent in earlier eras. But they didn't quite make it over the top. They faltered in execution.

In this column I often talk about recruiting well to assemble good teams. Recruitment is just the first step. I also help companies build effective, winning teams. You have to get your top talent "on the bus" to build great teams. Yet, advice about recruiting is mostly tactical - it consists of guidelines or instruction on how to conduct better selection interviews and implement superior recruiting strategies.

There is no "How To Manual" on building unbeatable teams. However, we do know that it isn't simply technique. Great organizations start with values and beliefs. The values involve trusting talent and creating an opportunity for talent to win. The belief is that an unbeatable team can be created.

I'd like to help you learn to listen to your employees. Then we can begin the exciting and rewarding journey involved in creating a winning culture and an unbeatable team.