Every leader wants to have a dynamic team.
Too few leaders understand how to build a dynamic team.
So often, we wrongfully assume our teammates are the problem. Sure, at times, a team member may need to be assigned to a new group or released to be a free agent. However, most of the time, our leadership behaviors kill our team because our behavior carries the most weight in the team.
Are you the most significant problem on your team?
I offer you 10 foolproof ways to kill your team. I’ll expand on each item below, but if you’re a “give me the list upfront” kind of person, here you go:
- Meet only when there is a crisis.
- Allow the strong personalities to dominate the discussion.
- Allow team decisions to be undermined by private meetings after the team meeting.
- Have your mind made up before you get input from the team.
- Remain inflexible in the face of new information.
- Cut off debate.
- Don’t hold team members accountable for their assignments.
- Ignore the intangibles.
- Expect more of the team than you expect of yourself.
- Take individual credit for the accomplishments of the team.
Let’s take a second and ponder each of these destructive behaviors.
1. Meet only when there is a crisis.
Attempting to lead during a crisis without time dedicated to relationship connection is a recipe for disaster. In no way am I a fan of useless meetings. Still, I firmly believe in relational connections, and meetings often are the perfect conduit for connecting outside of a crisis.
Two simple suggestions: (1) Spend time at every meeting connecting before digging into the content. And I don’t mean “How’s everybody doing? Okay, that’s enough, let’s get to work.” I mean, spend 10 minutes at the top of your meetings really connecting with your team. And (2) schedule relational time with your team (individually or as a group) specifically for relational connection. Go to lunch. Attend a sporting event. Anything relationally focused counts. Whatever you do, make it about connection, not content or decisions.
2. Allow the strong personalities to dominate the discussion.
I know this can destroy a team because I tend to be that strong personality. Luckily, I’ve had leaders in my life who’ve graciously pointed this out to me.
As a team leader, I’ve had to pull people aside and confront their meeting behavior. I’ve found the best method to encourage the dominating personality is to (1) challenge them not to speak first and (2) only share three times per meeting. These two challenges are formidable for the dominant personality. At the same time, this challenge illuminates their typical meeting behavior.
3. Allow team decisions to be undermined by private meetings after the team meeting.
This is a massive problem for poorly functioning teams. A simple solution is to never leave a decision-making meeting without clarity on the decision and responsibility for the decision. Suppose everyone at the table knows with complete clarity what’s been agreed upon and who is responsible. In that case, it’s harder for the private meetings to derail the team decisions.
You may also try to squash the private meetings. Good luck. I do believe you can challenge the team to avoid them and, instead, come directly to you with questions or concerns.
4. Have your mind made up before you get input from the team.
As the leader, you’ve most likely been processing the pending decisions for days, weeks, or even months. This means you’re walking into a meeting with a lot more information, more time for processing, and, therefore, a potential decision in mind.
I would never suggest you stop learning and processing information to rectify this situation. I will suggest that you walk into meetings with an open mind and attentive ears to listen. Listening to your team will help you better understand their perspective and make a more inclusive decision. More, allowing the team to weigh in creates a mechanism for them to buy-in.
5. Remain inflexible in the face of new information.
This connects to our previous team killer. Leadership is about building, innovating, and growing. But for that to happen effectively, a leader must realize they aren’t always the most competent person in the room or the person with all the information. Great leaders seek out information from their team and adjust as needed. You can’t do that from a place of rigidity.
6. Cut off debate.
There is healthy and unhealthy debate. As a leader, you must become agile in spotting both. Unhealthy debate harms your team and the individuals therein. Healthy discussion stems from a commitment to the mission over our personal position. This is the kind of debate that we need around the table.
I suspect you’re tempted to cut it off because you want to make a decision. As the leader, ceasing the conversation to expedite a decision leads to worse decisions and less team involvement. Never forget this: The goal of a decision-making meeting is much greater than the decision.
7. Don’t hold team members accountable for their assignments.
It seems everyone wants more authority but less responsibility and accountability. Allowing team members to work outside of accountability introduces toxins into the team dynamic. You may not have articulated specific accountability, but the team knows who is stepping up and who is not. Ironically, if you allow people to work without accountability, your best leaders who need less accountability will leave.
8. Ignore the intangibles.
Most team members bring more to the team than just their job description. When you allow yourself to know your teammates better, you learn the other areas of competency and ability they possess. These team members would undoubtedly love opportunities aligned with their intangible value.
9. Expect more of the team than you expect of yourself.
The minute you ask the team to do something you’re not willing to do yourself, you’ve lost the team. This is more about the servant heart of leadership. You can’t expect your team to give up weekends for work if you’re not willing to do the same in greater measure. You can’t expect healthy team morale to exist in a place where the leader talks the talk without walking the walk (right beside them).
Just take out the trash. Help stack the chairs. A leader worth following is working alongside the team more often than not.
High expectations are not a problem until you stop expecting the same of yourself.
10. Take individual credit for the accomplishments of the team.
This one is a real team killer. One massive benefit of point leadership is the opportunities to pass along credit and accomplishments while owning failures and mistakes. In general, team leaders get too much credit for successes and too much blame for failures. Leadership isn’t an individual sport. Neither is accomplishment. Make sure you pass along credit every single time you’re given a chance.
Conclusion
I’ve been in leadership positions for a long, long time. Luckily, all that time has allowed me to get each of these wrong. I can tell you from first-hand experience that killing a team is easier than you might believe. What takes months and years to build can be torn down in a day.
Let me conclude with a question for you. As you look at this list, which team-killing behavior creates your greatest struggle? Or, which of these do you find leaders struggle to get right the most? I’d love to hear your answers in the comments below.
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