The senior management team is the social and cultural engine that drives organization performance. Senior teams juggle and resolve a myriad of issues like strategy formulation, productivity improvement, changing markets, competition, innovation, quality, and talent management. Yet to succeed in the market place today, senior teams have to collaborate, share information across silos, make collaborative decisions and solve big problems. In order to do this, members of senior leadership teams need to communicate easily, constantly share information, and develop a high level of trust. They need to know each other’s needs and styles, and to be cohesive and aligned around common goals.

Is it possible for people at the senior leadership level of your organization to work as a cohesive team? After all, you are probably dealing with a group of very independently minded-individuals who are self-confident (maybe even egotistical) at this point in their careers. In addition, you are likely looking at a group of people who are hyper-competitive, hard driving, and unlikely to seek out help from others. These individuals have probably been compensated and rewarded for results within their individual business units. They are very focused on “righting their own ships” rather than worrying about other parts of the business. Finally, these individuals may even be in pitched battle for the final career move into the CEO’s or COO’s office. So an equally important question is this: is working as a team important or does some degree of collaboration add value at the top of the organization?

Background

Recently I had the opportunity to facilitate CMOE’s Exploring Teamwork workshop for a Fortune 50 company. As a quick background, this company has open enrollment workshops. So, at this workshop, there was quite a mix of attendees; two senior vice presidents, one vice president, two directors, five managers, and six individual (hourly) contributors. This kind of diversity in a class is always fun and stimulating.

A few years ago when I was working for a global pharmaceutical company, I had the chance to work with a colleague from Canada. One day, when we went out to eat Japanese food, I noticed that Roger picked up a bowl of miso soup, and finished it all. Then he moved on to another dish and finished that. Roger’s eating style was to focus on each dish, one by one, according to a defined pattern. Seeing him eat Japanese food in what I perceived as a Western approach was a big eye-opener for me in regards to team effectiveness in a cross-culture setting.

Early in my career, I was an Assistant Account Manager in the world of advertising. I worked for a firm that targeted the technology industry and found great success. The three founding partners were always very cordial and continually tried to build a creative work environment, at least it seemed that way to me.

To build a creative work environment, employees were encouraged to dress as they pleased and be relaxed, innovative, and to have fun. Exciting events were hosted every few weeks, designed to set the tone for the organization as a place where the employee would feel appreciated and rewarded. The company had a nice office and break rooms for employees to gather, talk, and have opportunities to collaborate with each other to meet the very demanding needs of clients.

A few weeks back I had an interesting discussion with a fellow colleague. He brought up the subject of the individuals that exist within a team. He talked about the very commonly used phrase: “There is no “I” in team.” He took the counterpoint to the phrase and argued that not only is there an “I” in team, but multiple “I’s.”

He went on to show that a team is made up of a number of individuals “I’s” and that a successful team is built around each and every “I.” Everyone has their own strengths and abilities and is able to contribute to the success of a team because of those attributes. We should celebrate those individual traits and utilize them as resources. For the most part, his observation is very accurate.

The Team Overview:

At an earlier time in my career, I was commissioned to be on a project team responsible for redesigning a company’s sales training program. The old program had become archaic and cumbersome and was obviously in need of a major overhaul. A number of individuals were selected to be a part of this project team. The people selected to work on this came from markets across the country and from various roles and positions within the organization. For many of us, this was the first time we had met each other, let alone work together and on such an important endeavor. We were brought together for a week of intense discussion and design.

A few years ago, I read an interesting story about a CEO of a large hospital and rehabilitation network. As a CEO, he emphasized that the organization could be more successful if people would work together and “pull the wagon” rather than working at cross purposes. He wanted to discourage the aimless independent work and fruitless efforts that seemed to be impeding their progress.

Whether through college courses, the workplace, sports, or personal endeavors, I have been a member of many teams. Some teams have been effective while others have not. I noticed there is a common thread in many of them. MEDIOCRITY. I can’t say that I am completely innocent of this, still, I am shocked at how often it occurs. Why is mediocrity in the driver sear of so many ineffective teams?

It seems to me that the mentality that often arises in teams is, “Great! I don’t have to work as much or as hard because the work load will be distributed.” Sadly, these individuals become distracted, too busy, or confused, so they coast through relying on the others to pull the slack.

What does a high performance team look like? Can you give me a working example? To these often asked questions, I reply, “There are many examples of organizations, business units, sales teams, sports teams that produce great results because of the commitment to teamwork and leadership.” However, there is one team I commonly refer to that gets many people excited and intrigued to learn more and see this team in action for themselves.
I like to add a bit of intrigue once in a while, so I begin with clues:

• Eight pilots
• Four support officers
• 120 active duty military personnel