Leadership - Will You Lead - 5

Subject - Leading Wherever You Are

by Rick Welbourne

I. Leading Like Jesus by Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges

A. The most persistent barrier to leading like Jesus is a heart motivated by self interest.

B. Another factor that needs to be considered is whether we are driven people or called people...

C. Are you a self- serving leader or a servant leader?

How do you handle feedback? 

How do you plan for Successors?

Who leads and who follows?

II. Understanding and Overcoming The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lecioni

Dysfunction 1: Absence of Trust

A. Trust lies at the heart of a functioning, cohesive team. Without it, teamwork, is all but impossible. True with church, business, or home.

Lecioni - In the context of building a team, trust is the confidence among team members that their peer’s intentions are good, and that there is no reason to be protective or careful around the group. In essence, teammates must get comfortable being vulnerable with one another.

B. Standard definition of trust: Centers around the ability to predict a person’s behavior based on past experience. For instance: one might ‘trust’ that a given teammate will produce high quality work because he has always done so in the past.

C. This is good and may be desirable, it is not enough to represent the kind of trust that is characteristic of a great team...we all have the potential to make mistakes.

D. Trust requires that team members make themselves vulnerable to one another, and that they be confident that their respective vulnerabilities will not be used against them.

E. These vulnerabilities include weaknesses, skill deficiencies, interpersonal shortcomings, mistakes, and requests for help.

F. When team members become comfortable with their own vulnerabilities, they can begin to act without concern of protecting themselves.

G. As a result, they can focus their energy and attention completely on the job at hand instead of being disingenuous or political with one another...be yourself.

H. Listen to the characteristics of a team with an absence of trust:

–They conceal their weaknesses and mistakes from one another and they hesitate to ask for help or to provide constructive feedback.

–They hesitate to offer help outside their own areas of responsibility and jump to conclusions about the intentions and aptitudes of others without attempting to clarify them...we are quick to judge but slow to help.

–They fail to recognize and tap into one another’s skills and experiences. They waste time and energy managing their behaviors for effect...become selfish.

–They hold grudges and dread meetings and find reasons to avoid spending time together.

I. Characteristics of teams who trust one another.

–They admit weaknesses and mistakes...they ask for help. They accept questions and input about their areas of responsibilities.

–They give one another the benefit of the doubt before arriving at a negative conclusion.

They take risks in offering feedback and assistance.

–They appreciate and tap into one another’s skills and experiences. They focus time and energy on important issues, not politics.

–They offer and accept apologies without hesitation. Forgive and be forgiven. They look forward to meetings and other opportunities to work as a group.

J. So how do we overcome Dysfunction 1: Absence of Trust?

–It only comes from team members who are willing to stay together a long time. The leader must be willing, first of all, to show sincere vulnerability.

–An environment must be created that does not punish vulnerability...do we?

–Finally, displays of vulnerability by the team leader must be genuine; they cannot be staged. One of the best ways to lose the trust of a team is to feign vulnerability in order to manipulate the emotions of others.

How does this connect to Dysfunction 2 - The Fear of Conflict?

–By building trust, a team makes conflict possible because team members do not hesitate to engage in passionate and sometimes emotional debate, knowing that they will not be punished for saying something that might otherwise be interpreted as destructive or critical. Respect is key.

Dysfunction 2 - The Fear of Conflict

A. All great relationships, the ones that last over time, require productive conflict in order to grow. This is true in marriage, church, parenthood, friendship, and business.

B. Unfortunately, conflict is considered taboo in many situations, especially at work.

C. The higher up you go up the management chain you see people spending inordinate amounts of time and energy trying to avoid the kind of passionate debates that are essential to any great team.

D. Teams that engage in productive conflict know that the only purpose is to produce the best possible solution in the shortest period of time. Conflict can be positive.

Lencioni: It is also ironic that so many people avoid conflict in the name of efficiency, because healthy conflict is actually a time saver. Contrary to the notion that teams waste time and energy arguing, those who avoid conflict actually doom themselves to revisiting issues again and again without resolution.

E. Listen to the characteristics of a team who avoids conflict.

–They have boring meetings. They create environments where back-channel politics and personal attacks thrive.

–They ignore controversial topics that are critical to team success. They fail to tap into all the opinions and perspectives of team members.

–They waste time and energy with posturing and interpersonal risk management.

F. Teams that engage in healthy conflict.

–They have lively, interesting meetings. They extract and exploit the ideas of all team members. They solve real problems quickly.

–They minimize politics. I hate politics. They put critical topics on the table for discussion.

G. So how do we overcome Dysfunction 2: Fear of conflict?

–The first step is to acknowledge that conflict is healthy and should not be avoided.

Also, the leader must avoid the temptation to rescue a team member prematurely.

–The leader himself must model appropriate behavior for healthy conflict. Conflict that is suppressed long enough will become combat. Marriage.

Connection to Dysfunction 3: The Lack of Commitment

–By engaging in productive conflict and tapping into team member’s perspectives and opinions, a team can confidently commit and buy in to a decision knowing that they have benefitted from everyone’s ideas.

Dysfunction 3: The Lack of Commitment

A. In the context of a team, commitment is a function of two things: clarity and buy-in.

B. Great teams make clear and timely decisions and move forward with complete buy-in from every member of the team, even those who voted against the decision. Unity.

C. They leave the meeting confident that no one on the team is quietly harboring doubts about whether to support the actions agreed on.

D. The two greatest causes of the lack of commitment are the desire for consensus and the need for certainty. The Day of Pentecost 120 bought in.

Lencioni: Great teams understand the danger of consensus, and find ways to achieve buy-in even when complete agreement is impossible. They understand reasonable human beings do not need to get their way in order to support a decision, but only need to know that their opinions have been heard and considered. Great teams ensure that everyone’s ideas are genuinely considered, which then creates a willingness to rally around whatever decision is ultimately made by the group. And when that is not possible due to an impasse, the leader of the team is allowed to make the call.

Certainty: Great teams also pride themselves on being able to unite behind decisions and commit to clear courses of action even when there is little assurance about whether the decision is correct. That is because they understand the old military axiom that a decision is better than no decision. They also realize that it is better to make a decision boldly and be wrong—and then change direction with equal boldness—than it is to waffle.

E. A team that fails to commit:

–Creates ambiguity among the team about direction and priorities. Watches windows of opportunity close due to excessive analysis and unnecessary delay.

–Breeds lack of confidence and fear of failure. Revisits discussions again and again.

Encourages second-guessing among team members. Stirs the pot.

F. A team that commits:

–Creates clarity around direction and priorities. Aligns the entire team around common objectives. Develops an ability to learn from mistakes.

–Takes advantage of opportunities before competitors do. Moves forward without hesitation. Changes direction without hesitation or guilt.

G. So how do we overcome Dysfunction 3: The Lack of Commitment?

–By taking steps to maximize clarity and achieve buy-in while resisting the lure of consensus or certainty. Make sure that everyone is on the same page by clarifying and reviewing the decision.

–One of the best tools for ensuring commitment is the use of clear deadlines when decisions will be made, and honoring those dates with discipline and rigidity.

H. The leader must be willing to make mistakes and then show strength by a willingness to admit it and then change direction with confidence.

Connection to Dysfunction 4: Avoidance of Accountability

–In order for teammates to call each other on their behaviors and actions, they must have a clear sense of what is expected. Even the most ardent believers in accountability usually balk at having to hold someone accountable for something that was never bought in to or made clear in the first place. More information is better than less.

Dysfunction 4: Avoidance of Accountability

A. In the context of teamwork, accountability refers specifically to the willingness of team members to call their peers on performance or behaviors that might hurt the team.

B. Great teams are willing to push past their own comfort zone to confront a team member with their performance...this is scary for some.

C. This is especially difficult for teams who have been together for long periods of time because of fear of jeopardizing friendships.

D. In reality, the better friend is the one who is willing to point out areas of weakness and then be willing to help you through it.

E. As politically incorrect as it may sound, the most effective and efficient means of maintaining high standards of performance on a team is peer pressure.

F. A team that avoids accountability:

–Creates resentment among team members who have different standards of performance.

Encourages mediocrity. No expectation no production.

–Misses deadlines and key delivery. Places an undue burden on the team leader as the sole source of discipline. The leader becomes the bad guy or the fall guy.

G. A team that holds one another accountable:

–Ensures that poor performers feel pressure to improve. Identifies potential problems quickly by questioning one another’s approaches without hesitation.

–Establishes respect among team members who are held to the same high standards.

Avoids excessive bureaucracy around performance management...avoids favoritism.

H. One of the most difficult challenges of a leader is to allow the leadership team to serve as the first and primary accountability mechanism.

Connection to Dysfunction 5: Inattention to Results

–If teammates are not being held accountable for their contributions, they will be more likely to turn their attention to their own needs, and to the advancement of themselves or their departments. An absence of accountability is an invitation to team members to shift their attention to areas other than collective results. The good of the whole.

Dysfunction 5: Inattention to Results

A. The ultimate dysfunction of a team is the tendency of members to care about something other than the collective goals of the group.

B. An unrelenting focus on specific objectives and clearly defined outcomes are

requirements for any team that judges itself on performance.

C. The results mentioned here are not just measured in financial terms but also is

determined by out-come based performance.

–Not just were we within budget but was our goals met.

D. A team that is not focused on results:

–Stagnates or fails to grow. Rarely defeats competitors. Loses achievement oriented employees.

–Encourages team members to focus on their own careers and individual goals. Is easily distracted.

E. A team that focuses on collective results: 

–Retains achievement oriented employees. Minimizes individualistic behavior. Enjoys success and suffers failure acutely.

–Benefits from individuals who subjugate their own goals/interests for the good of the team, the business, the church. Avoids distractions.

F. How does a team go about ensuring that its attention is focused on results? By making results clear, and rewarding only those behaviors and actions that contribute to those results.

G. The team leader must keep the team focused on results and model this diligence before them holding them to the same standard.

–Ultimately teamwork comes down to practicing a small set of principles over a long period of time embracing common sense with uncommon levels of discipline and persistence. Also, they must be bonded together by the Holy Spirit.