Over the years I have been involved in building, participating, and leading teams in a variety of challenging operational environments. These have included: leading helicopter gunship fire teams in Vietnam (607 missions); Officer-In-Charge Navy East Coast Search and Rescue Swimmers School; Officer-IN-Charge, Helicopter Combat Support Detachment One, Commander Middle East Force; Operations Officer, HS-7 a carrier-based anti-submarine aviation squadron; Head, Navy Corrections Washington, DC, 21 facilities worldwide; designing, building and then serving as the first Commanding Officer of a new generation naval prison; the first Commanding Officer of newly formed 5th Battalion, South Carolina State Guard; and serving as Chief of Staff of a South Carolina Sheriff’s Office.
From these experiences, I can say with the utmost confidence that the writing of a mission and vision statement, drafting operational procedures, and then assembling a group of people to accomplish “the mission” does not create a “team”. I only wish that I had just a small portion of the wisdom gained from these many unique experiences when I began this journey some 50 years ago. My vision is to share a few dynamics of team building with you to inspire and hopefully assist you in accomplishing your mission of team building in 2022 and beyond.
I have just reviewed Patrick Lencioni’s great book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, and his follow-up, Overcoming The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, A Field Guide, and found myself giving fist pumps. Check out his 11 books, podcast, leadership and management resources, etc. at www.tablegroup.com. Although the book was published in 2005 the concepts transcend time and culture and were espoused by such leadership savants as Xenophon and King Solomon, Lencioni greatly simplified and clarified the all-important concept of “Team”. My effort here is to note the five dysfunctions Lencioni identifies and demonstrate how they can be scripted as five essential elements for transforming team members into teammates.
Where there are teammates there can surely be teamwork. I have often heard it said, “Teamwork makes the Dream Work”. However, the effectiveness of “teamwork” is extremely difficult to measure. This may explain why teamwork remains the one sustainable advantage that is often overlooked in the “pace to get things done”. Studies continue to show that, when it comes to helping people find fulfillment in their work, there is nothing that provides a sense of connection and belonging like being a part of an organic team.
Build Trust. We must first understand that trust, like love, is an issue of the heart. As such, trust undergirds and affects the quality of every relationship, every communication, and practically every effort in which we are engaged in life. Accordingly, trust has great value and must be revered and guarded because it is the “linchpin” holding the team together. This would apply to business, sports, academia, church, politics, and most assuredly marriage and family life. We know from research that “lost trust” is a major factor in the growing divorce rate and the devastating effect on American family life. The loss of trust on any team is devastating and once lost it is difficult to regain.
What if trust became a recognized and understood goal in your relationships and conversations? As in all things team, leaders must lead by example. In this case, they lead by being transparent in their weaknesses and vulnerabilities and pure in their motivations. Because of the natural tendency for self-preservation, this may require some self-sacrifice as well as personal courage on the part of the leader. However, transparency is one of the most effective ways to build trust with teammates. Trust-based leadership builds and maintains trust-based teams. When we simply trust the leader and trust each other the mission comes alive. I believe the most practical way for leaders to implement building trust with their teams is to follow King Solomon’s wise counsel. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight..” Proverbs 3:5-6
Master Conflict. The building of trust is the laying of the foundation for the team’s operational success. Any plan to resolve personal or professional conflicts among teammates will be predictably unsuccessful without this foundation. This is because our culture is awash with numerous “urgencies and complexities” whose fruit is often the conflicts that people bring to the team. In the mid-80’s the Army War College developed the acronym “VUCA” to describe the international environment that was developing after the Cold War. Drawing on the very credible leadership theories of practitioners such as Warren Bennis the terms of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity were developed. The culture we are surrounded by in 2022 could well be described as a VUCA environment.
The central objective of the army in the 1980s was to train and equip leaders to be resilient, adaptive and effective in this new potential warfare arena. The objective was not to put aside core competencies of leadership training, but ratheer to enhance core competencies so to better distinguish leadership skills and ability. The same objective could well apply in 20222 in that leaders need these same, mix of qualities to “master conflict”. I suggest that we introduce another VUCA to guide the team to master conflict: We counter, Volatility with Vision, the vision our team is called to attain: Uncertainty with Understanding, the purpose of our team ande the process that defines us; Complexity with Clarity, of how the team’s parts function together as one team; and Ambiguity with Adaptability, we believe and and promote the “AIM Principle”, Adapt-Improvise-Overcome. Remember, the goal is not to eliminate or manage conflict but rather to “master it” … to normalize it and turn it into “healthy, issue-oriented discussions”.