Two executive coaching clients of mine were both struggling with developing high performing teams, for different reasons…or so they thought. One was relatively new to leadership and the other led for over two decades. But both couldn’t get their teams into high gear – or maybe I should say out of first gear – and we developed action plans unique to each situation. When we coached through the causes, the lack of trust factor was the common theme. Before I say more, let me share with you an excerpt from an article I keep handy for this very reason. It is written by Pam Bilbrey* as part of a larger article on creating high performing teams.
“The absence of trust is the first and most important dysfunction. The type of trust that is critical to high performing teams is not predictive trust where you know how people will act or respond, although that type of trust is advantageous. It is vulnerability-based trust that has to do with the team members’ ability to admit their mistakes, share their weaknesses, ask for help and acknowledge the strengths of others. When team members can’t be vulnerable the trust level of the team suffers and an us vs. them mentality is created where the team members work at odds instead of collaboratively, team members jump to conclusions about the intentions of their colleagues, and time and energy is wasted in managing behaviors for effect. The result is that significant intellectual capital on the team goes untapped.”
While focusing on building their teams, my clients and I also focused on creating the trusting environment for the team to have those difficult conversations so crucial to break through thinking. But before that could occur, an important initial step had to happen. First and foremost, each executive had to be honest, worthy of trust, and vulnerable themselves… without which, the teams could make no further progress. This step was easy for one client, but difficult for the other. One was warm, emotional, (sometimes too much so) and people centered and the other was tough minded, sometimes cynical but always focused on results (sometimes at “all costs”).
Sound like some executives you work with? Sound like you?
The role of the leader is crucial to building trust, and last week I referred earlier to two clients’ stories about their challenges building a high performing team. In our coaching, we focused on creating the trusting environment for their teams to have those difficult conversations so crucial to break through thinking. But before that could occur, an important initial step had to happen. First and foremost, each executive had to be honest, worthy of trust, and vulnerable themselves… without which, the teams could make no further progress. This step was easy for one client, but difficult for the other. One was warm, emotional, and people centered and the other was tough minded, sometimes cynical but always focused on results.
My second client chose to share with her team a story about her progress up the corporate ladder and how one rung almost collapsed. She had shared powerful stories in the past, but never one this intimate. She was fired earlier in her career and now she could admit she deserved it. More importantly, she could share it and what painful lessons she learned with her team. Her tough minded, results focus developed as a result of strict parental guidance as a child. She admitted she struggled with the “people stuff” (her words) every day and really wanted to be softer in her approach…and show she cared about them.
The first client chose a different, equally effective route; we had done a 360° evaluation months before which told her “what she needed to hear.” Sometimes her exceptional people skills got in the way of results. She delegated poorly, was too task oriented, and her team felt she failed to advocate to the CEO on their behalf. She chose to share all the things she needed to develop in herself as means to show her own faux pas and flaws… and she asked for her team’s help when they saw her fall short.
First and foremost, each executive had to be honest, worthy of trust, and vulnerable themselves… without which, the teams could make no further progress.
Today, each executive reports their team is making huge strides in how they function. The harder discussions are occurring, goals are set by the team and monitored by the team. It’s not perfect by any means, but it’s a fine start to creating their high performing teams.
*Pam Bilbrey is a Principal Consultant with The Table Group, a Patrick Lencioni company, executive coach, speaker and author.
This excerpt came from High Performing Executive Teams in MHCA Executive Report, Quarter 1, 2010