Team Leadership

By Candace Barnhardt

Last November I had the pleasure of facilitating the VASTA leadership group in their strategic planning. It was three days of creative thinking, hard work and team effort. During that time we began a dialogue about what makes for effective teams. I promised the group that, based on my experience in Leadership Development and Team Dynamics, I would pen my thoughts about effective teams for the Spring/Summer edition of the VASTA Newsletter.

I'm sure that each of you has likely been a member of a team that "clicked," was successful, and a joy to be a part of; you've likely all been a part of a team that was ineffective, divided, and ultimately unsuccessful. In either case, as a member of the team, you shared responsibility for the outcome. Team membership comes with no fewer responsibilities than team leadership.

As you read these essential team behaviors, much of what I will describe you have seen in action. You may have described it differently or may find yourself saying, "So that's why our team was so successful!" Ideally, you will feel better prepared to replicate successes, and nurture these behaviors in yourself and others. In my experience, effective team membership requires five things. To contribute to my team I must: 1) Understand myself. 2) Share in the team's vision. 3) Seek first to understand. 4) Assume innocent motives. 5) Conduct myself with honesty, openness, and integrity.

Understanding myself is my prework. I am reminded of a story of a young Native American boy who is taken into the mountains by his father to learn what he would need to know in manhood. As he and his father sat by the fire, his father handed him an empty cup. The father began to pour water into the cup. He continued to pour and as the cup overflowed the son said, "Father, stop. Why do you continue to pour when the cup is full to overflowing?" His father responded by saying, "Like this cup, your mind is full of your thoughts and beliefs. How can you expect to take in new learning until you empty your cup?" Each of us has a mind full of opinions, values, beliefs, judgments and speculations we've collected

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along the way. If my mind is too full of these things, I am unable to be open to new perspectives and insights. My daily prework is to empty my mind of those things which are no longer useful, and make room for what others can offer.

A shared vision helps create the esprit de corps that characterizes successful teams. This doesn't require wordsmithing eloquent prose; a shared vision describes simply what we hope to become. Each member must be able to paint a picture with words of what it will look like when we succeed. Revisit your vision often; it is a source of excitement, and passion. It also serves as a guide to stay the course. Every organization makes choices about what it will engage in and what it will not. A clear vision is a decision making tool and allows us to continually ask, "Will this move us closer to realizing our dream?" If the answer is no, ask why you would pursue it. Too often teams move at the whim of the leader or the most vocal of its membership. Movement must always be an incremental step toward what we are to become.

Steven Covey in SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE advises us to "Seek first to understand, then to be understood." To understand my team members requires that I actively ask questions and listen openly. Dialogue is rarely created when two people seek to be understood - that is debate. We each have a preferred process for taking in information - seeking facts and evidence, or seeking possibilities; for decision making - based on our values, or based on logic, and a preference for keeping our own council -introversion, or seeking input from the world around us - extroversion. Honor differences in the team and be cautious of interpreting other's behavior.

A willingness to assume innocent motives is essential to real teamwork. We naturally process the behaviors of others through our own filters. We see a behavior, or hear a statement, and ask ourselves what it means; or more to the point, we ask ourselves what would it mean if I said or did that? This is one of the most common sources of tension within a team. We can never truly know what is in someone's heart and so it is always wiser to assume that our colleague is operating out of innocent motives.

Lastly, I conduct myself with honesty, openness and integrity. I take responsibility for my role and what I contribute. I invite reluctant members to share their thoughts, I respectfully challenge those who dominate, and I thoughtfully consider the opinions, beliefs and

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