Greetings!
Often, people find themselves working in a team environment when the last thing that seems evident is teamwork. There are many factors that contribute to a lack of teamwork. In this issue we explore some of the factors that get in the way of effective teamwork and what you may want to do about it. Certainly, an overactive ego can be a major roadblock. As a leader in your business, can you afford to let your ego or a lack of teamwork get in the way of the success you desire? We welcome your feedback or suggestions. If you would like to
provide feedback or suggest topics for future issues, please click on
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Happy reading!
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Bill Spreitzer 919-388-3600
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How to Improve Your Team
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 Over my career, I have been a leader of many different
organizations and the one thing that has always made the difference between
success and failure has been how well the people on my team worked together
toward a common set of goals. So over
the years, I became a student of team dynamics from a very practical perspective,
ie. what works and what doesn't.
Recently I read a book entitled "The Five Dysfunctions of
a Team" by Patrick Lencioni. Written in
the form of a story, it provides the five factors that I have found get in the
way of building effective teams which are consistently successful in achieving
results. To build a successful team
each of these factors needs to be addressed and overcome. And because these elements tend to build
upon each other, they mostly need to be addressed in the following order:
1.
Absence
of Trust
2.
Fear
of Conflict
3.
Lack
of Commitment
4.
Avoidance
of Accountability
5.
Inattention
to Results
If the people on the team don't trust each other then it
is very difficult to engage in healthy conflict. I'm talking about the kind of discussions
which are essential to achieving high caliber results. Teams
on which the members don't trust each other engage in what Lencioni calls "artificial
harmony" - on the surface everyone seems to agree, but below the surface there
are large unresolved disagreements.
It's no wonder then, that teams that don't engage in
constructive conflict, which allows everyone to be heard, have a hard time
reaching aligned commitments. Team
members are permitted to live in a state of ambiguity where commitments are
soft and subject to individual interpretation.
As a result of the lack of commitment to team decisions,
accountability for each member of the team to do what they signed up to do is
low. They don't hold each other
accountable for their contributions to the team and the standards of team performance and behavior become low.
Predictably, the
focus on individual status and ego become more important than team
results. The team starts to resemble a
professional athletic team comprised of individual all-stars, who somehow just
can't win the big games. In a great
team the individual egos are subjugated to the collective ego of the team. Individuals may receive recognition, but not
at the expense of team results.
Collective team results are more important than any individual results.
In his book, Lencioni
provides a useful assessment tool to help you determine how your team stacks up
relative to the five dysfunctions. He
also provides suggestions on how to overcome the dysfunctions. From my experience, I've found his
suggestions to be extremely effective and this book to be right on the
money. If you're interested in
improving the performance of your team, read this book and if you'd like some
help, give us a call.
Copyright protected, all rights reserved worldwide. ©2010
Dave Vogelpohl - Excellerate Solutions, Inc.
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A Productive Ego
 Guess
what? As human beings that are part of
society, you and I have developed our Egos - it's a fact of life and we all
have one. The challenge we each face is
how to keep our Egos "in check" so that we can be a positive contribution to
our organizations and families.
Let's
start by defining what an Ego is and isn't.
An Ego is a reflection of what
others think and is a societal artifact.
An Ego's sole purpose is to make us:
look good, be right, be in control and to be safe in the broader sense
of the word (i.e., physically, socially, emotionally). An Ego is not our true, authentic self - that
person we were born into this world to be.
In essence, our Egos serve as a defense or coping mechanism battling our
fears and insecurities which again, we all have.
Where
we get into trouble is when our Egos take over as our exaggerated sense of
self-importance kicks into gear. This
"overactive" Ego exhibits such behaviors as:
- Being
defensive
- Being
judgmental of others - if I am "right", someone needs to be "wrong"
- Being
closed minded to the ideas and opinions of others
- Being
guarded or inauthentic - covering up
- Not
generously listening to others
- Needing
to be understood vs. understanding where others are coming from
- Not
taking risks or trying new approaches
- Telling
more than asking
- Self
focused - "What's in it for me?"
- Not
taking responsibility - blaming others
- Taking
the credit - being in the "lime light"
So, it is clear to
see how an overactive Ego can wreak havoc on the productivity of a team effort!
Well,
the good news is that there is hope for all of us, our co-workers, family
members and friends alike. Let's look at
a few ways of "taming" that Ego of ours:
- Be
humble
- strive for that next level of performance in ourselves. Come from a place that being our best
self is a never ending journey.
- Be
a learner
- genuinely seek out the knowledge and wisdom of others to fuel our
journey.
- Use
"we" statements
vs. "I" or "me" - inclusion of others takes the focus off of our
self. It's telling our Ego that all
is "ok" in our world and it can "stand down" for the moment.
- Delegate
leadership
to someone else on the team - take ourselves out of the "cross hairs" of
attention if you will. Be an active
contribution as a team member by listening, facilitating and supporting
the achievement of the mission and goals of the team.
- Build
our self esteem
by being in authentic service to others.
- Take
care of our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual self through a
continuous cycle of getting out of our comfort zones (energy out) and then
recovering/refueling (energy in).
This rhythm of energy creates a strong "base" of resilience to face
life's challenges gracefully.
- Use
self affirmations to quell that private voice of ours that is calling
our Ego into "active duty". I
recommend using a 3" X 5" index card and structuring them with the words,
"I am a person who....." Select no
more than 5 affirmations and repeat them out loud three times per day
saying each one three times each session.
Our Egos are with us for life.
Every person in our families and organizations bring their Egos along
with them to each engagement we are involved in. Being responsible is having a strong sense of
the state of our own Egos first and foremost, and then making adjustments in
our behaviors to keep our Egos from getting in the way of creating productive
results in our lives and the lives of others. Copyright protected, all rights reserved worldwide. ©2010
Bill Spreitzer - Excellerate Solutions, Inc.
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Is Your Behavior Helping?
Is your behavior helping or getting in the way of the team achieving the results you want? If you would like to learn more about your behavior style, we invite you to take our complimentary assessment.
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Motivational Quotes
"Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a
plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously
act. There is no other route to success."
By: Pablo Picasso
"Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do
what you want done because he wants to do it."
By: Dwight D. Eisenhower
"Always do right. This will surprise some people and
astonish the rest."
By: Mark Twain
"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn
more, do more and become more, you are a leader."
By: John Quincy Adams
"Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision, the ability
to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to
attain uncommon results."
By:
Andrew Carnegie
"Coming together is a beginning.
Keeping together is progress.
Working together is success."
By: Henry Ford
"The strength of the team is each individual member...the strength of each
member is the team."
By: Coach Phil Jackson Chicago Bulls
"The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined
effort of each individual."
By: Vince Lombardi
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