Training

The most basic tools of great team leadership can be been summed up in what Marcus Buckingham called the “One Thing” that all great managers must know about great managing, “discover what is unique about each person and capitalize on it.” Buckingham breaks this idea down into four skills that have become a part of our team training philosophy.  First, you need to select good people.  It is always easier to hire right than it is to train right. Effective recruitment and selection are critical.  Second, you need to be able to define clear expectations.  Buckingham states that less than 50 percent of employees claim that they know what is expected of them.  That is a frightening number that should cause all of us to make sure our goals are clear.  Third, you need be able to show appreciation in a way that makes sense to the recipient, and do it in a way that leads to positive consequences.  One of the best resource in this area is a book by Aubrey Daniels titled Bringing out the Best in People, which reminds every leader of the power of praise.  Buckingham’s fourth skill, you need to show people you care.  True care is not just being “warm and fuzzy,” it also means caring enough about your team to confront problem behavior.  “Pick good people, set clear expectations and praise it, and show care for our people.”  That’s Buckingham’s list of the skills needed to succeed as a manager of a team.

In Lencioni’s overview of the model he gives this warning.  “These dysfunctions can be mistakenly interpreted as five distinct issues that can be addressed in isolation of the others.  But in reality they form an interrelated model, making susceptibility to even one of them potentially lethal for the success of the team.”  For that reason, team training needs to be built in a way that links one set of team functioning skills upon another.  Start by building trust among the members.  Then provide a safe way to practice “unfiltered and passionate debate.”  As the teams learns how to have healthy conflict, move into the areas of purpose, goals, process, and planning.  Let the training mirror what they will see in their team as they link one chain with another, forming a team that matters.

Successful strategic implementation requires people at all levels of the organization who care about the outcome, people who have the necessary ownership, commitment, and will to implement them.  (Richard Axelrod)

Lencioni’s final dysfunction focuses on a team’s inability to accomplish its goals.  This is where the rubber meets the road.  Do you do what you said you would do, or do you do something else?  “There’s a part of you, deep inside your brain and spirit, that’s a bit like a heat-seeking missile, searching by instinct and feel for something of true significance, craving big goals,” writes Robert K. Cooper in his book Get Out of Your Own Way.  I am convinced most people want to do something important in their life, they want to do it well, and they want to be noticed.  A well functioning team provides that experience.  But it requires some work.  Teams need to stay focused on tangible group goals, and consistently reward members based on team goals and collective success.

Lencioni describes teams that are not focused on results as ones that “stagnate, rarely stand out or remembered, lose achievement-oriented members, encourage team members to focus on their own careers and individual goals, are easily distracted.”  Results focused teams on the other hand, “retain achievement—oriented members, minimize individualistic behavior, enjoy success and suffer failure acutely, benefit from individuals who subjugate their own goals/interests for the good of the team, and avoid distractions.”  Having clear goals is the key to helping people see the big picture, understand dangers and opportunities, and create urgency and energy for the challenge.