Listening Impact

Last week we took a look at Patrick Lencioni’s brilliant book, Five Dysfunctions of a Team, that is used widely to help teams diagnose their ailments, as well as how to get them team-healthy.  I offered some examples of the first three dysfunctions and how at the core of many of the dysfunctions, is the lack of listening – a set of habits formed in the brain, body and emotions that we come to rely on at such a subconscious level that we aren’t aware of what we listen to/for and what we ignore.

Let’s look at last two of Lencioni’s five dysfunctions to analyze the role of listening in each.

Avoid Accountability:  Low standards

Recently in a coaching session, my coachee, the team leader talked about being over-burdened because people on her team weren’t pulling their weight. I think she expected me to commiserate with her and say how challenging for her.  Instead, I asked who was responsible for that sub-standard behavior, and when she pointed her finger at them, I turned it around and asked, “What if you’re the culprit?”

Our session was terrific once she caught on that it was she who accepted the lowest standard of performance as the norm. Case in point. One of the team members often missed deadlines. Prior to our work together, the team leader would fume and fuss, and do some of the work herself; but, in the end, she allowed the mediocre performance to perpetuate itself and spread like the disease it was.

Here’s a practice demonstration of how we changed the team dynamic:

Team Leader: Today is the report deadline, do you have it?

Employee: I have some of it, but not all.  There were more parts to the assignment than I thought.

Team Leader: Here you go again. This is the last straw. I don’t know what to do when you do this over and over. Give it to me.

And so goes the established and poor pattern.  Let’s look at a replay, done better.

Team Leader: The calendar shows today the report is due today. (observation) In what format can it be retrieved? (expectation and question)

Employee: Ah, I don’t quite have it finished.

Team Leader: The lateness of the report puts undo burden on others who depend upon it to complete their part of the process. (impact) How will you rectify the situation? (inquiry)

Employee:  I’m not sure. It’s almost done.  How about I show it to you and maybe you can help me complete it in time.

Team Leader: Part of your job responsibility is to write this report. It’s not helping you, your colleagues, the department’s reputation, or my faith in your ability if I step in to save you. (observation)  Now let’s turn our attention to addressing the issue at hand and how you will complete the report. (next steps).  What ideas do you have? (inquiry)

When the Team Leader listens and bounces back with an inquiry, the onus is on the Employee to figure out how to be accountable. Scolding is parent-to-child and accomplishes nothing other than dependency and rebellion, neither if which belong in a work environment.

Inattention to Results: Status and Ego

It’s not unusual to find people with good ideas in a team, but when they are not heard, those people leave, or worse, stagnate. Just think, if you see ways to achieve results and they fall on deaf ears, you’ll soon lose interest, become self-centered, and might even become a saboteur.

It is possible to change all five dysfunctions if teams are given high-performance tools to boost skills and time to practice with one another and a coach.

I’m reminded about my first coaching request when I was a facilitator of a leadership program at General Motors, at least a hundred years ago. The man responsible for the training casually mentioned to me one day, “You seem to be good with people. There’s a team of executives that is a mess. Maybe you can help them.  Don’t worry if you can’t, they can’t get worse.”  What an invitation.

We worked together for a few months, and indeed they did improve.  If I look back now at what I did, without having any coaching education, it’s clear that I listened, observed, and reflected. To this day when I watch a team in action, I say, “Here’s what I observed, is that how you want to perform?” Then we go to work.