Harsh Truth for Leaders Involved In Team Engagements

You can take all the training you want.

You can be the smartest in the room.

You can be liked by everyone.

You can be self-aware.

But if you aren’t nailing down the basics:

1. Leading from Behind

🗣 Minimise Airtime: Speak less and listen more

❓ Ask More, Tell Less: Pose questions instead of offering opinions

❌ Avoid Being the Spokesperson: Don’t dominate discussions

🙏 Let Others Lead: Speak last and create opportunities for teams members to lead

2. Leading from the Front

😎 Set the Stage: Introduce the session and clarify expectations

💯 Take a Stand: Step in when the group or team struggles to reach a consensus.

3. Finding the Right Balance

❌ Overleading: Talking too much destroys team input leads to disengagement

❌ Underleading: Avoiding decision making wastes times and frustrates the team

4. Following the 3 Rules for Team Engagements

✍ Join in, don’t ✍. Be part of small group activities, but avoid taking notes.

🙏 Step back, don’t speak: Let others present during group report-outs 

⌛ Share the spotlight: Limit your input to 20% of the time

5. Focus on Asking Questions and Summarising Decisions

⏳ Allow your team 80% of the time to:

💯 Discuss + Problem Solve + Share Ideas

6. Take the role of a Sheriff and bring it all together

✔ Accountability:

-Hold team members responsible for completing tasks and following rules.

✔ Team Selection:

-Ensure the team has the right members and remove underperformers or troublemakers when necessary.

✔ Authority:

-Be prepared to enforce rules and decisions.

✔ Effective Leadership:

-Aim to leave the team better than you found it.

✔ Balance:

Avoid spending too much or too little time leading from the front, behind, or enforcing rules to prevent team dysfunction.

Doesn’t matter what level of a leader you are.

If you aren’t nailing down the basics.

You won’t get the results you expected.

We get so caught up in the learning the HOW, that we forget that we actually need to DO.

Nail down the basics in your team engagements above.

That’s how you start preventing team dysfunction.