I’m passionate about working not only with LEADERS, but with LEADERSHIP TEAMS.
What I’ve found to be true about teams is this: the most effective teams have healthy levels of…
● Openness / psychological safety
● Peer #accountability
● The ability to navigate conflict in a healthy, productive way
The individual wiring and personal traits of each leader plays a very significant role in the team dynamic.
Not just that, but those individual wirings and personal traits contribute to what I like to call the COLLECTIVE WIRING and DNA of the team itself.
When we evaluate this “Team DNA,” it allows us to understand where that leadership team is naturally going to work effectively together, and where there are areas that could lead to an unhealthy team dynamic.
GROUPTHINK is one of those unhealthy team dynamics.
Defined simply, “groupthink” is: the choice to conform and achieve group consensus at the expense of critical reasoning and individual responsibility.
The costs of groupthink on a team can be drastic.
I’ve found that #leaders who are naturally more introverted, more accommodating, and less assertive, don’t naturally process their thoughts or concerns out loud. AND, they don’t always feel compelled to share their opinions.
The leaders who DO feel compelled to share their opinions often steer the conversation on the team—sometimes steering it AWAY (often unintentionally) from the most important topics or issues and often consuming the majority of the meeting time.
To avoid groupthink, here are some key steps you can take…
1-ORIGINAL THOUGHT…When collaborating together to solve a problem, each leader is asked come to the table having individually thought through their perspective and prepared to share their thoughts – even if they are not conclusions.
2-SPACE TO SHARE…In group conversations, each person has a designated space of time to share their individual thoughts and perspective.
3-PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY…When the team is assembled and begins sharing, the leader promotes an environment of psychological safety—encourages and affirms the contributions made, regardless of which ones are accepted and implemented.
4-NO INTERRUPTIONS…Each team member has the opportunity to share their perspective thoroughly without judgment, without interruption, without feeling rushed, and without others invalidating.
5-OPENNESS TO NEW AND DIFFERENT…Brainstorming ideas can be separated from the portion of the meeting set aside to critically analyze and challenge the ideas. The leader make space for ideas that seem initially like they may not work.
The success and sustainability of any organization depends upon team members’ ability to freely contribute their unique perspectives and insights.
Leaders are the ones responsible for creating an environment where that can happen.
What’s one thing you can do today to create an environment that promotes more collaboration?