IF YOU WANT TO DEVELOP BETTER TEAMS, YOU MUST DO THIS!

Patrick Lencioni, writer of the landmark book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, said trust is the #1 foundation you must build on your team. Recently, I met with a previous executive of a large company. I knew that he’d overseen a culture shift at his company. When I asked what he did to make it work, he said people didn’t trust the leadership. He focused on building a “community” (not company) where people trusted each other. It doesn’t matter what your mission, vision and objectives look like; your teams won’t execute over the long haul without trust.

Surprisingly, the ability to have healthy conflict is second. This means having honest disagreements about an issue, not a personal attack. Respect is the key.

If you want to know if these two are currently true of your teams (or family), ASK. The key is to listen without being defensive or explain why something is true. Just listen, or you will shut them down. The best question you can ask is: “Tell me more.” Practice this before you ask.

Some behaviors your team, company or family are doing are inconsistent with your stated values. The challenge about determining the health of a culture is that you can’t pick up on the nuances. It’s like asking a gold fish to describe what water feels like. However, you can identify 1-2 key behaviors that will slowly shift toward trust, healthy conflict and team health, which produces great relationships and great execution..

 Question: If one of your previous employees were asked what it was like to work for you or your company, what would they say? What tweak or significant shift would lead to a more positive response?

I am trained to come into your company to determine what can make your leadership, teams or organization more effective. I can do a “sniff test” to help you understand where you need to do work. Let’s explore how we can make your company excel long-term both in profit and influence.

Click here to see how easy is.