The Team You’re On vs. The Team You Lead
Last summer our leadership team read The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni and the quote below has stuck with me ever since. I will confess, I have not been as strongly committed to this ideal as I feel I should be.
“The team you belong to must come ahead of the team you lead: this is putting team results (e.g., organizational needs) ahead of individual agendas (e.g., the team or division you lead).” – Patrick Lencioni
I love the people I work with. I love my team and my teammates. I feel a close connection with the team I lead because that is where I spend most of my time and energy in a typical week. I want to see this continue. We have big plans ahead. Yet at the same time…
I would like to demonstrate and develop a greater commitment to the team of division heads and the leadership council to which I belong. I would like to break down silos. I want to be a unit rather than a collection of individuals. I would like to see the potential of a group of incredibly committed and high-performing people fully unleashed.
To quote Michael Jackson, I’m starting with the man in the mirror. Yes, I just said that.
Here are 3 ways I plan to move in the direction of being a better teammate…
* Be more disciplined and effective in managing my time – so I have more time to…
* Be selfless and willing to help others – and simply be available and engaging to…
* Foster relationships by taking a greater personal interest – Life in a school is very busy. Life at my school is extremely busy. Weeks go by and though I may meet with the team I lead daily, I often do not see other teammates until the next leadership council meeting. Even when I see them, I feel that I don’t have a clear sense of what they are struggling with/working on and how I could help them. We are each doing our own thing, even though we are each working towards a common mission. We can improve our alignment, communication, commitment, and thus our impact.
Resources:
Characteristics of Great Teammates by Brad Lomenick