Teams are built by the 3 Pillars of Team Success (Part 1). They’re also destroyed by 3 deadly poisons. These can surface at anytime in the life of a team. Great teams inoculate with the cures before they’re infected and maintain a discipline of prevention.
Beware 3 Deadly Team Poisons:
Conflicting Interests Partners who fundamentally disagree on what they want for the team and from the team. Unless partners agree, it’s painful journey filled with disappointment and resentment.
The Cure The courage to be clear about what you really want and what you’re really willing to give.
Inflated Value It’s easy for us to see our value. The value of others is less clear. Psychology calls this Attribution Bias. Bottom line, We truly think we’re better than we are AND that others are worse than they actually are. This multiplies the error. We raise our self up AND lower everyone else. Given this psychological reality, it’s easy to have an overinflated sense of our worth on a team.
The Cure Consistent generosity toward others and humility for yourself.
Inflated Rights Members of close knit teams can expect a lot of support but with a cost, service to the team. Members of loose teams have more freedom to serve themselves, but shouldn’t expect much support. Unfortunately, our natural desire is to serve ourselves and take team support. This urge to “have our cake and eat it too” combined with Attribution Bias creates an inflated sense of personal rights. Too easily, we feel entitled to take from team and serve ourselves, while expecting teammates to deny themselves and serve the team.
The Cure Being highly self-accountable and highly gracious to others
Resources: Contact me for a complimentary team evaluation tool
