Watch Out for These Trust Killers
“Remember teamwork begins by building trust. And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability.” Patrick Lencioni
This article was originally written and published by Table Group Consultants and inspired by teams that trust us to consult them on Organizational Health material from Patrick Lencioni’s best-selling books, The Advantage and The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.
Trust is the Foundation of a Healthy Team
While most leaders we work with want a high level of openness and honesty on their teams, many end up unintentionally undermining vulnerability. As a leader, you may recognize your critical role by going first and setting the tone and expectation of vulnerability, but unfortunately, we’ve observed that that’s not enough. Very often, these three undermining moves get in the way:
- Confusing “being supportive”… with “being efficient”
- Fostering a spirit of competition … internally
- Setting clear expectations … and not telling anyone
Need to work on one of these? Here are tips for what to do instead.
Even great leaders will occasionally slip up and negatively impact vulnerability on their teams. It happens. We’re human. But, interestingly enough, so are the rest of your teammates. Encourage vulnerability and you’ll be sure to get the most of each and every one of them. Here are three things that you can do to demonstrate vulnerability:
- Share failure stories with team members.
- Celebrate a teammate’s superiority.
- Let an employee teach you.
Remember, the leader’s role in building trust on a team is to lead with vulnerability and go first. If you are not doing it, it is likely that no one else will.
