Page 275 - Fearless Leadership

262 FEARLESS LEADERSHIP

Do you hold yourself and others accountable for working effectively
together? When you see a leader in trouble do you support the leader in
turning the situation around? If you have truces or a hands-off arrange-
ment not to interfere with others’ areas, then it is impossible to build a
high performance team. You must decide if you are committed to the suc-
cess of others and to living the true meaning of the phrase, “all for one
and one for all.”

Stop Playing Referee
In a business-as-usual environment, the team leader is often the discus-
sion facilitator, final decision maker, and the “parent” who feels he or she
must manage unruly “children.” Not so with high performing teams. Team
leaders place accountability where it belongs—on people changing their
own behavior—and hold them accountable for behaving in a way that
advances the group objectives.

How a Team Held Two Adversaries Accountable
for Their Behavior
A leadership team was dealing with a conflict between two influen-
tial members—Prem and Arty—which was costing the group time
and energy. Both individuals had a powerful need to be right and had
no qualms about verbally sparring in meetings. It reached a point
where the team was spending considerable nonproductive time put-
ting out fires created by the two warring team members.

What Happened. In a team-building session, the conflict between
the two sparring members became readily apparent. What also
became apparent was how frustrated the team was with how Colleen,
the team leader, was handling the situation.
When we asked Colleen why she was allowing this behavior to
continue, she responded, “I’ve talked to both Prem and Arty and
things have improved somewhat.” A team member spoke up and said:
“Nothing has improved for us as a team and we’re still wasting time.”
Up until this point Colleen had been able to ignore the impact
of Prem and Arty on the group. But when group members began
sharing their pent-up frustrations, she listened. They told her that