Welcome to Guest Blogger Karen Valencic!
A compelling vision isn’t enough.
If the dynamics of a team are not productive, vision in itself will not compensate for the dysfunction. While a compelling vision is crucial for commitment, I find there are two other things necessary to create functional group dynamics.
1. A clearly articulated intention about behavior. I call this a Values Credo. An agreement about ‘how’ team members treat each other. A short list of ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions works extremely well. Examples: Do you care about and respect me? Do you have my back? Can I trust you? Are we having fun? (Make note: pronouns, I, we, and you, should be interchangeable.)
When team members create a collective Values Credo, it provides an easy way for them to identify and speak up about dysfunctional behavior.
2. The willingness and skill to engage in creative conflict. The most dominant people often set the cultural tone of a team. This is great if you have positive, enlightened dominant people. It is a disaster if the dominant people are negative and controlling. A Values Credo helps set the cultural tone. Engaging the less dominant people is the tricky part of building functional teams. Equipping everyone with skills to engage in conflict fosters innovation and keeps the passive aggressive behavior to a minimum.
So, leaders, a compelling vision isn’t enough to create a functional team. Ironically, a compelling and passionate vision can actually create more dysfunction without the two items mentioned.
Karen Valencic, founder of Spiral Impact
Karen@karenvalencic.com
