Your Team is “Dysfunctional”!

Yes, it takes a lot to admit it; however, it’s true.  Mom always told me if I couldn’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.  Well, I have since learned that words spoken with the intent of building others up is a good thing and these words are offered with this intent.

We haven’t come across a leader or team who isn’t dysfunctional.  What we do see in a lot of situations is that leaders, and their teams, are not “conscious” of these dysfunctions.

A great book in aiding in the identification of some dysfunctions is Patrick Lencioni’s, The Five Dysfuctions of a Team.  “This gripping fable centers on Kathryn Petersen, an old-school CEO who comes out of retirement to accept the monumental task of transforming a dysfunctional group of high profile, egocentric executives into a cohesive and effective team. With an amazing gift for building teams, Kathryn forces her colleagues to confront the behavioral pitfalls that destroy most teams and adopt the five characteristics of a truly cohesive one.” You may view a summary of the five dysfunctions by clicking here.

Foundational to Lencioni’s “five dysfunctions” is the “absence of trust”.  We typically see “trust” issues in every organization which is why our role as an independent, non-biased coach is important. Some say trust is built over time.  Our experience is that this process can be greatly accelerated with the right assistance.

In addition to trust, we have experienced the fruits of team’s getting “conscious” of all these dysfunctions and developing strategies to minimize these dysfunctions on countless occasions. Our core competency is in accelerating the “getting conscious” process and bringing practical solutions for minimizing these dysfunctions resulting in the manifestation of High Performance results.