We were asked to help a broken leadership team to mend itself. We completed the ‘usual’ research, speaking to the team, their reports and some of their client groups to understand the situation. The causes of the problem rapidly became apparent :
- individual objectives and priorities that weren’t aligned;
- different ways of working; and
- a lack of trust in each other.
We worked with the HR Business Partner and the team’s Director to develop a one day programme that would lead to some simple commitments that the team could hold themselves to.
The day focused on identifying and agreeing :
- the shared values they had – and understanding their differences
- the dysfunctions in the team – we used the assessment in Patrick Lencioni’s book to help the discussion
- what their clients needed from them and what they wanted to be known for – their individual and team brand.
The team were all experienced leaders, but the pressure they were under had got to them. The day allowed open, constructive conversation and agreement to a way forward.
The simple commitments to each other – attending and being prepared for meetings, sharing information in a timely way outside the formal sessions – these all happened. The feedback from their clients and team was that they were getting consistent messages from each leader and their team and were far easier to work with. The trust had started to come back.
