Skillfully-led teams provide great impetus for any business.
Last week I wrote that you are probably a team member many times over. If you are also the leader of any of these teams, I suggested that you show them the list of principles for enhancing team power and ask “Which of these principles does our team have and want?”
But while the need for high functioning teams is axiomatic, the reality of team life can be fraught with difficulty.
Team power can be hijacked or subverted—that Molotov cocktail could be sailing through your window.
So, let’s consider how teams can be sabotaged, whether this is intentional or not. Get out the fire extinguisher and always be alert to these behaviours:
1. Bitter rivalry. Some leaders target other internal and/or external teams as “the enemy”. This may be an attempt to provide their team with identity and a sense of purpose, but inevitably it becomes too inward-looking, destructive and isolating—non-one benefits from an “us and them” culture. Resist the temptation.
2. Complacency. Being in a successful and effective teamwill be reassuring and stimulating for members—but it can also lead to so much comfort that members begin to underperform. They may sit back to rely on past glories or leave other members to initiate or do all the hard work.
3. Credit stealing. There will be some who take all the credit for the group’s success. This may not be official or overt but the “big-noter” will make it known that the group has been successful mainly, or only, “because of them”. They will be exploiting the humility of others.
4. Disempowerment. You set up the team but then you don’t adequately define their boundaries or, having done so, move their goalposts—both of these undercut the team’s authority and autonomy. First they will lose effectiveness, then they will lose heart. Set them up for success and maintain your support.
5. Excessive politeness. Success leads to comfort which can make people think that they should do not nothing to upset anything or anyone. They will sit on their thoughts or actions to the detriment of open and vigorous discussion.They can also fall victim to group think—where no one disagrees.
6. Gate keeping. Those who have been around may effectivelylock out newcomers with rules that are both actively and passively applied. The message they send is: “We don’t want you here.”How ever much tenure team members have, the idea is to be open and welcoming—smash the gates.
7. Neglect. When the leader (you) fails to provide clear direction or the tools and resources to do their job, fails to help when the team becomes stuck or doesn’t acknowledge their successes, the team can suffer a serious drop in morale and therefore effectiveness. Be ever-ready to lead.
8. Self-serving. On the face of it, they will be doing things that support the activities and outcomes of the team, but this will be a happy co-incidence because the self-server will be seeking to address their own agenda. They are in the team, but they are acting for themselves.
9. Talented terrorism. Everyone loves the person who stands out from everyone else and whose key contribution makes everyone walk tall. But there may be differences in values that undermine group discipline or self-belief. This may come from bullying, selfishness, drug abuse, criminal activity or some other severely incongruent behaviour.
10. White anting. The white ant criticises other team members behind their backs and does their best to disrupt their projects and relationships. This is deadly, but it may not be apparent to everyone—so in instances of underperformance or conflict, be sure that you first look below the surface.
The leadership of teams and their day-to-day activities form the foundation for systems thinking. The flow within each group will determine the flow of the whole business and any that is dysfunctional will be cancerous.
Set the standard for the rest of the business by making your executive team flow.
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