Page 169 - Fearless Leadership

156 FEARLESS LEADERSHIP

And as so often happens, distrust leads to resignation, and the only thing
that rectifies this situation is building committed partnerships. Marco, the
president of an integrated solutions company, knew that his “good” team
was not a high performance team. Here’s how he addressed the issue of
trust and initiated the process of building committed partnerships.

How a Leader Recognized the Lack of Trust and
Established Committed Partnerships

Marco relied on the individual expertise of his direct reports and
interacted with them as a group of individuals and not as a team. He
felt he had a good group and simply wanted to move them a couple
notches up the scale. But a problem, simmering below the surface,
would not allow this to happen.
The locus of the issue was Marco’s exclusive and protective rela-
tionship with Kevin, a brilliant marketing strategist. He gave Kevin
carte blanche to operate as a separate entity and make unilateral deci-
sions that undermined the team’s effectiveness. A frustrated member
of the team said, “Kevin is not linked to all points in our operating
strategy, and we pay the price.”

What Happened. Several senior leaders expressed their concern
about Kevin and asked Marco to discuss it at the next group meet-
ing. The meeting opened with several comments from senior lead-
ers who said they felt blindsided by not being included in a recent
change in marketing strategy that directly impacted their business
units.
Marco was defensive and responded, “Things happen fast around
here, and you’re included as soon as time permits.” The room got quiet
and not a word was said. Now it was our turn to facilitate the dead-
end conversation. I asked Marco: “Is this what you want—leaders who
comply with you even when they don’t agree?” “No, of course not, I
just want them to agree with me,” answered Marco half jokingly.
I responded, “But you can’t achieve agreement unless you’re willing
to listen to how your behavior has impacted the group. Right now the
group does not trust you to listen and resolve a situation that is affect-
ing everyone.”