In my senior year of college, way back when I was 20 years old, I had a business experience that I can point to as being one of the defining moments of my leadership development.

This defining moment came from taking a specific course, a 400 level strategic management course. Most business schools have an equivalent course, one students take towards the end of their degree program that has the student look at big picture decision making. You know, the kind of decision making that executive leaders need to make every day.

The interesting thing looking back on this now is that I can’t for the life of me remember the instructor, the book or even most of the material. But I do remember this: It was during this course that my organizational thinking changed from viewing the world as one of “us” to understanding the view of “them”.

It was during this course that I started to see the world through the lens of “them”. Even in my early career when I was still at the bottom of the organizational food chain, I was able to understand decisions that were handed down from on high because I was able to see the big picture; the same view seen by “them”.

I think that this single ability, my ability to view the world as “they” see it has not only served me well through out my career but has distinguished me as a leader in each of the organizations that I’ve been a part of.

“Us” and “Them”

There is no doubt that an “us” and “them” mentality existing in many organizations. The “us” who make up the lower levels of the organization can’t understand why “they” in the higher levels of the organization make the decisions that they do.

Meanwhile, the “them” in the higher levels of the organization can’t understand why the “us” at the lover levels of the organization always seem so unmotivated or are always complaining.

To me, some of this is no different than the typical generational gap that has plagued parents and teenagers forever. Teens think that their parents just don’t understand what it’s like to be a teenager today. Even though we “grown ups” were once teenagers ourselves. And of course, now that we’re all grown up we can’t understand why our teenagers act the way they do. We certainly didn’t act that way at their age.

The same thing happens in organizations, those in the lower levels of the organization forget that those at the top were once at the bottom and have dealt with the work and the issues. However, the folks at the top tend to be dealing with issues that are broader than those in the lower levels are used seeing. And there is the key to the whole dynamic.

It’s About Perspective

This whole “us” and “them” issue is really one of perspective. The main differences between “us” and “them” is how they see the world. “Us” tend to look at the organizational world through the narrow view of the current job they are doing. When decisions are made on high, those decisions are seen by “us”, not through the impact on organization, but through the impact on how I do my job.

“Them”, because of where they’re situated in the organizational hierarchy, tend to look at the organizational world through the much wider lens of the entire organization. When decisions are made, they look at how the decision impacts the entire organization AND individual areas. Sometimes needing to keep a delicate balance between the two and not always succeeding.

Leaders Need to View the World Like “Them”

I’ve watched folks who have been moving through their careers for as long as I have but keep getting stalled out because of this “us” and “them” view of the world. They continue to view the organizational world as one of “us”, never fully seeing the big organizational picture and it always stymies their progress. They may be the best at what they do, but the “us” view keeps them from being offered positions of leading others.

Looking back on it now, I’m grateful for the strategic management course that caused my thinking to change allowing me to be able to understand the view that “they” see. It has allowed me be in a better position to help move the organizations I’ve been a part of move further forward.

Leader’s Reflection: The “us” and “them” dynamic in organizations is one of perspective. Those in the lower levels of organizations tend to see the organization through the view of their current job. Leaders need to view the organization through the wider lens of the entire organization.

You also might be interested in:

1. Are You a Type A or Type B Leader?
2. Understanding Why People Behave the Way They Do
3. What is Systems Reflection?

Recently the role I play in my organization has begun to change again and I’m in one of those really great places where I get to define the role and create the systems that I need to be successful. As this all started to happen, I thought it would be a great time to finally read David Allen’s best seller Getting Things Done. I know I’m a little late to this particular party seeing how the book was first published 9 years ago, but I figure better late than never.

Before you tune out thinking “oh boy here comes another rabid fan of GTD who hasn’t really done it well himself”, that’s not actually what I wanted this article to be about (although for the record I did find the book insightful and helpful to my specific situation, though your mileage my vary). Instead this article is about what GTD and books like it represent for leaders who practice Reflection Leadership.

Practicing Systems Reflection

As I was nearing the end of the book, my brain was going into overdrive thinking about how I could best incorporate GTD into my workday and life. I was able to recognize that I was in a perfect position to make changes to my own systems because of the transition I found myself in with my position. Unfortunately, most of the time we are so busy and caught up with the day-to-day that we don’t take the time and effort to stop to evaluate our systems to make sure we are being the most productive and effective.

As leaders, we need to make Systems Reflection part of our ongoing reflection practice and we need to be able to reflect on all of the systems that we have responsibility for. But here I want to stay focused on our own personal systems; the things we use and do to stay organized.

Most of the time we are in constant motion moving from one thing to the next. The more we try to do and keep track of the harder it gets and the more anxiety that we feel when we have to worry if we are getting everything done that needs to be done. There are any number of organizing schemes and computer programs to help with this, but in the end how we keep ourselves organized is habitual. It is pretty much what we do because we’ve always done it that way.

Our Personal Systems Are Habits

As I was reading Getting Things Done and really taking the time to reflect on how I keep myself organized, I was able to see a pattern that actually dates back to the my very first job out of college, long before I could ever contemplate having a computer based digital organizer let alone something handheld. Over the last 25 years or so, my organizing habits have pretty much stayed the same, they’ve just been modified over time to adapt to newer technology.

Some might say that given my relative success over these past 25 years I must be doing something right and I wouldn’t necessarily argue with that. But my point here is that if our personal systems are mostly based on habit, how do we know if we’re being the most productive and effective as we can be? Might there be a better way for us to be doing what we do? This is why Systems Reflection at the personal level is important.

We need to make the time and effort to stop and remove ourselves from the day-to-day so that we can take a real look at what we do and how we do it. Once we’re able to really see our personal systems we can start to take a critical look to see if there are other ways to do what we need to do.

David Allen suggest that getting started with GTD may require two full days just to figure out where we are and setup our systems. And there in lies the problem: Who has two full days to give up? So to me, adding Systems Reflection to our continuous reflection practice is the answer. When we consistently monitor our personal systems we can make changes and adjustments along the way instead of having to make a clean break to make changes.

It is important for leaders to be able to reflect on their own personal systems and make any adjustments needed to be more productive and effective. When we are able to reflect own our personal systems it then allows us to expand to reflecting on the organizational systems.

Leader’s Reflection: Our personal systems of organization are mainly habits we have done over long periods of time that might not be the most productive or effective. When we practice Systems Reflection on a regular basis it allows us to make adjustments to our systems incrementally allowing us to be more effective leaders.

You also might be interested in:

1. What is Systems Reflection?
2. Personal Development and Well Being Blog Carnival – 11/15/09
3. 7 Books That Made Me the Leader I Am Today

I’ve been writing quite a bit lately about teams and I wanted to continue with a look at different roles that team members take during team interactions.

When we work on something collaboratively in a team setting we are all trying to accomplish a shared goal. As I’ve mentioned before, one of the best ways to promote teamwork and to create a high performing team is to be a better team member. Part of being a good team member is identifying the appropriate role that needs to be played at any given time.

Jim Clawsen, who is a professor at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, has identified four general roles that individual team members take during team interactions. These roles align along two axis with each pair being polar opposites. The roles Clawsen has identified include:

Task Driver: This is the person that keeps the group focused on the ultimate goal. Part of the Task Driver role is to bring the team back to its purpose when the group starts to stray to far afield.

Process Facilitator: As a counterpart to the Task Driver, the Process Facilitator’s job is to monitor the interactions of the team and keep the group on track by focusing on how they work together.

Creative Visionary: The Creative Visionary is the risk taker. This person is always open to new and different ideas, no matter how far out they actually are. The Creative Visionary is needed to help the team get unstuck from set thinking that gets in the way of progress.

Practicality Pusher: As counterpart to the Creative Visionary, the Practicality Pusher’s job is to keep the team focused on the realities of the assigned task. While the Creative Visionary comes up with creative solutions, the Practicality Pusher keeps the group grounded to the practicality of their solutions.

Each of these roles play out in needed ways as the team sets out to complete its work. For instance, if there is a strong Process Facilitator the group will get bogged down in deciding how to accomplish their work. At this point the Task Driver is needed to remind the team that they are here to accomplish a task, just not figure out how to interact together.

Likewise if the Creative Visionary is strong and takes the group on multiple tangents through brainstorming, it will take the Practicality Pusher to ask what these great creative ideas can bring to the task at hand.

Sometimes cross polar roles are needed to counterbalance someone in a strong role. As an example, if the team has a dominant Task Driver who constantly keeps the group focused just on getting things done, it will take a strong Creative Visionary to point out creative alternatives that may be best for the team in the long run.

As individuals, we all naturally tend towards one of these four role types. But at any given time we each have the ability to take on any of these four roles. In fact, it is not unheard of to have a single individual move between each of these roles in the course of a single team meeting if that’s what the team needs.

In a high performing team, these roles are perfectly balanced out so that the team doesn’t drift too far towards any one area. So, if the team is overloaded with individuals who tend towards being say a Task Driver, then assignments will have to be made requiring some team members to take on different roles to keep the team balanced.

While team roles transcend the actual work that needs to be done by each individual, they are important none the less. Leaders need to be able to not only understand each of these roles but be able to insure that the team roles remain balanced. Assigning individuals to different team roles is needed when they are out of balance, but in the immediacy of any moment the leader also needs to be able to step into a role to keep the team from heading too far in one direction.

Leader’s Reflection: Leaders need to understand the importance of the Task Driver, Process Facilitator, Creative Visionary and Practicality Pusher as distinct roles needed in high performing team.

You also might be interested in:

1. Challenges To Being a Team
2. Have You Ever Been Part of a Highly Functional Team?
3. Being a Better Team Member

In a previous article I looked at some of the challenges to being a team. Many of the challenges that I looked at were related to the creation, care, and feeding of a team. While we’ve all heard that “there is no ‘I’ in team” teams are absolutely made up of individuals. The one individual on the team in particular that I want to look at is ourselves. There are things we can do as individuals to help us be better team members, which will lead to better and stronger teams.

There has been much written about how aspiring leaders can learn valuable leadership skills by trying to be a good follower. I think it works the same way with being part of a team. The best way that we can help a group of folks to become a team is act like a good team member.

What Can We Learn?

When we are part of a team we need to recognize that each member is part of the team because they bring something different and possibily unique to the group. For leaders who are constantly seen as “the answer person” as Mary Jo Asmus puts it, it can be hard to let others share their particular wisdom and knowledge. But we have to do exactly that. We need to fight any urge we have to show that we always have the answer.

Instead, we need use inquiry to gain an understanding from others on the team. As team members, we need to be supportive of the team as a whole as well as each of the individual members. The best way to do this, especially as the team is still learning to work together is to be inquisitive with the purpose of learning.

When we focus on learning all that we can through our membership in the team we gain skills and knowledge that we can take back to our own departments and jobs. But from the standpoint of the team, if we stay focused on learning and inquiry all members of the team are able to get a better understanding of not only each other, but also the things that need to be done and why.

We’re In This Together

One of the things that a highly functioning team does well is stay away from the “blame game”. If we are truly a team and we are “all in this together” then there is no point to trying to place blame when things don’t go as expected.

This isn’t to say that teams need to completely ignore what happened. Certainly if something didn’t go as expected, quickly understanding why is important for future planning. But trying to get to the bottom of things just to find someone to blame is a waste of time and energy. Not to mention how destructive it can be to team morale.

As I mentioned in a previous article, my organization was working on a major implementation project through January and February. There were many parts and many people working hard on this project. There was one particular part that had sequential work being done where I was the last person in the chain before this part was launched. Right up against our deadline I noticed something small but necessary that was missing. It should have been caught by someone who was responsible in the first two parts of the process.

I was angry that it wasn’t caught and had gotten to me in this state a day before it had to be ready. I immediately started writing an email specifically to the person that should have caught it first that I planned to send to the whole team. I got the whole email written, properly chastising the individual and asking that he go back and get it fixed.

Then I realized this was a team effort and teammates pick each other up and help support the work that we are all responsible for. Since I was able to do the work myself, I deleted the email and took the steps needed to get the work completed. But it was important for the future that this not happen again, so instead of bringing it up in our daily team meeting I had a private conversation with the individual explaining why it was important that he watch for this in the future.

Successful teams have members, the individual “I’s” that act as team members. As leaders, once we have taken the time to create and develop a team the best thing we can do is to be a good team member acting in the best interest of the team and each of its members. Doing that will always be in our own best interest.

Leader’s Reflection: The best way to help a team that we are part of to be high performing is to take the lead in being the best team member we can be. We can accomplish this by focusing on learning from other team members and always remembering that the team is in it together.

You also might be interested in:

1. Challenges To Being a Team
2. Team Roles
3. Have You Ever Been Part of a Highly Functional Team?

For several years now organizations have been trying to become more team oriented. Somewhere along the way we collectively seemed to understand that more things can be done when we split the work amongst a team of people. Nowadays job applicants need to prove that they can play well with others and many times job interviews aren’t with a single person, but with other members of the team to make sure the new person is a good fit.

Based on my experiences, I think we are overselling the use of the word team. I think we use the word team because we want all of the things that “team” intimates but in practice, most of the time what we really have is just a group of individuals working on the same project. So instead of real teams we end up with workgroups. While this may seem like semantics, it makes all the difference in the world.

The reason we so desperately want to organize into teams is because when the conditions are right a team can do amazing things that a group of individuals can’t (for an example of a highly functional team, please read this previous article). But the conditions have to be right and in most cases we don’t take the steps needed to create these needed conditions.

Building a team needs to start at the beginning, but we usually don’t take the time to determine the right individuals that need to be part of the team. Most of the time workgroups are born out of necessity; we include members from the functional areas needed to complete the task. This group building by necessity gets us the coverage we need from an organizational standpoint, but most times we just end up with representatives from different departments who come together to report on the work of their units. Rarely do we see a group like this turn into a team because many times different departments within an organization end up with competing priorities and needs for resources which sets up competitive instead of collaborative dynamics.

But even if we do take the time to find the right mix of individuals to be part of a team, the need for the team to produce immediate results tends to get in the way of building team cohesion. Building a highly functioning team doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time for members to experience working with teammates and learn how best to work together effectively. Not giving the team the time needed become cohesive and expecting high performance from them is setting the team up for failure.

Sometimes the issue is not about finding the right team members, it’s about not providing the support that the team needs in order to accomplish it’s goals. We’ll get the team up and running but fail to provide adequate time and resources for the team to meet as often as needed. Or, we expect the team to operate and get the work done while still requiring the individual team members to continue doing their already full-time jobs. Not giving the team the support and resources they need and expecting high performance from them is also setting them up for failure.

Most times we also have issues with team leadership. Leadership in a highly functional team shouldn’t be top down. Instead, when a team is high performing any team member at any time can lead the team. Leadership in a highly functional team is based on the needs of the team at any given time, for any given reason. Unfortunately, most times we don’t give teams the autonomy they need to lead themselves. We usually appoint someone in position of authority to oversee the work of the team, often giving this person a title of something like “team lead”. Designating someone as a team leader tends to stifle the opportunity for each member of the team to step up and lead when it’s the right time.

I’ve identified what I think are some of the major reasons why the “teams” we try to create have trouble operating at the high performing levels that we desire and know are possible. These reasons show why we end up with groups of individuals who are all working on the same project instead of highly functional teams.

Are there other reasons you’ve seen that keep our workgroups from becoming teams?

Leader’s Reflection: Even though we know the promise that a highly function team holds, most times we don’t give adequate support to the creation, growth, maintenance, and leadership of teams. This lack of support makes it more likely that our “team” will end up just being group of people working on the same project.

You also might be interested in:

1. Have You Ever Been Part of a Highly Functional Team?
2. Being a Better Team Member
3. Team Roles

Much of organizational life these days revolves around “teamwork”. We try to organize the work by teams because we believe that when the conditions are right a team is able to create and do more than individuals can do on their own.

Unfortunately, I think most of us go through the majority of our work life without ever being part of a real team. Instead, we mostly spend our time as part of a group of individuals working on the same project. The difference between a team and a work group may seem small, but they can end up being worlds apart. When we find ourselves working within a real highly functional team we’re able to clearly see how different they can be. Working as part of a group that is truly a team is an amazing experience.

My Team Experience

I’ve been lucky enough to have experienced such a team. For a time I worked for a non-profit, youth serving organization. There was an executive director and three of us directors who were responsible for the operation of the organization. Each of us had come to the organization at different times, from different backgrounds and for different reasons. As the organization grew at an average annual rate of over 30% per year for a decade, we grew as a team. Looking back it’s really hard to pinpoint when it really happened that we began acting as a team, so all I can say is that it was something that came about over time.

As individuals, the four of us each had our own strengths and weaknesses. Amazingly, given the somewhat random circumstances that brought us together, most of our individual strengths and weaknesses were unique within our group. More amazingly is that most of our individual weaknesses turned out to be a strength of one of the others.

As we spent time working together, the experiences we shared allowed us to see what each other brought to the group. Over time we gained comfort and trust in one another and started to operate in such a way that allowed each of us to accentuate our strengths. As we grew as a team we shared in the ups and the downs. When we succeeded it was because of what WE did. When we failed it was also because of what WE did.

How We Did It

There were a number of things that allowed this group to work so well as a team. We all talked as a group on a regular basis, at least everyday and sometimes multiple times in a day. But we NEVER had any scheduled meetings or agendas. We just informally ended up in the same office at the same time and talked about what we needed to.

As we got better at working together we began sharing responsibilities for the different projects we were working on. In most cases this also was informal. Since each of us always knew what was going on, we would just naturally step in when the project called for our particular strengths and talents. Rarely was there an acknowledgment in the beginning of a project that I would do this piece or he would do that piece.

Why It Didn’t Last

We had a good run of several years working together as this team. During this time we certainly were able to accomplish more as an organization than we would have if our team was just a group working on the same project. But eventually the magic started to fade away. Looking back there are two things that I can point to that caused the team dynamics to change.

As the organization got bigger it got harder and harder for the four of us to manage everything effectively. We needed more folks to help us so we reorganized the organization around program areas, adding another whole level of leaders to the organization. While the four of us were still in charge, there were now others that were making decisions and managing projects.

The second thing that happened is that I moved my office out of our main building to another part of town because my department needed more space. Even though I visited the main office everyday, it took me away from the impromptu discussions that we were used to. Within a short time a second of the Directors moved to another part of the state to oversee operations there. Unfortunately, within a couple of years two of us directors left the organization to do other things and the third died at a tragically young age.

Trying to Find It Again

After having the wonderful experience of working in a truly remarkable team, I’ve searched for it again in subsequent jobs. But I’ve always been disappointed. A few years after leaving that organization I found myself working in a much smaller nonprofit organization in the same functional position. This new organization had a similar structure with an executive director and four directors who were responsible for the operations of the organization. But no matter how hard we tried to act as a team we always came up short and acted a group of five people working on the same projects.

Because I’ve had the pleasure of working in a highly functioning team I know it’s possible. But since finding that experience again has been so elusive, I know that team development needs to be purposeful if we really want teams that can work at such a high level. I’m hoping to explore some of the challenges we face trying to develop real teams in our organizations in future articles.

In the meantime, I’m asking you to share your experiences with working in a highly functioning team in the workplace. Have you been lucky enough to have an experience similar to mine? What made your team work so well?

Leader’s Reflection: Many organizations try to organize around teams. But in most cases we are really just groups of people working on the same project. Being part of a highly functional team can be elusive, but when it happens truly remarkable things are possible.

You also might be interested in:

1. Challenges To Being a Team
2. Being a Better Team Member
3. Team Roles

This is Part 5 in a series of articles that introduce the main ideas about Reflection Leadership.

Up until now as I’ve described the parts of Reflection Leadership I’ve mostly focused on the leader’s reflection of interactions with others. Systems Reflection steps beyond interactions with individuals and looks at organizational issues. Part of the role of the leader is to make sure that systems are in place to support what needs to be accomplished by the organization. This means that the systems in place should support rather than constrict both recognition of the vision and it’s continuous articulation. It also means that the systems that are in place should support the members of the organization in their pursuit of working towards the vision.

Organizations have different kinds of systems in place such as reporting structures, compensation packages, working conditions and the like. However from a leadership perspective, when I talk about Systems Reflection, I’m really talking about things like team development, motivational systems and the culture of the organization. These are the organizational dynamics that we as leaders need to have a keen awareness of and be able to understand whether they are supporting or hindering what we are trying to accomplish. For instance, if the reporting structures in the organization are such that there is little cross functional communication, silos will be created limiting the overall performance of the organization. Likewise, if we want to create a dynamic organization that is nimble and always looking for innovation, but the organizational culture is one where the messenger is always beat down, innovation will be stifled.

Practicing Systems Reflection

The key to Systems Reflection, just as it is for the other parts of Reflection Leadership, is to take the time to actually stop and reflect. Being able to really understand organizational dynamics is difficult when you are enmeshed in the everyday drama of it all. So, taking the time to stop and reflect on what is actually happening in the organization can be some of the most productive time any leader can spend.

As you begin to take the time to stop and reflect on what is going on in the organization you should start to ask yourself questions like:

What is the organizational culture like?
Is the culture toxic?
Are the employees in my organization dedicated to the work and the mission or are they just here for a paycheck?
Do smaller units act like a high performing team, or are they just a group of people working in the same area?

When we are able to start seeing the answers to these questions we can begin to reflect on whether or not these systems are aligned with what we want for ourselves and our organization.

Systems Reflection is a routine way to constantly monitor what is going on in our organization so that we can make sure that the systems we have in place are supportive of our efforts as a leader. When we find that our systems are not supportive, we really have two choices. We could choose to work on changing the systems, which sometimes can be extremely difficult (it’s really hard to change an organizational culture overnight). We could also choose to change our expectations so that they are more inline with our organizational systems. Unfortunately, many times we are so overwhelmed by the day-to-day grind and caught up in the drama of things that we end up doing nothing.

Systems Reflection gives us the tools and energy to make the changes we need related to our organizational systems. But without the action, the doing something, things will never changes. So, once we have reflected on what needs to be done, we need to act…to make change happen.

What kinds of organizational systems do you pay most attention to in your Systems Reflection?

You also might be interested in:

1. Reflecting On Our Personal Systems
2. What is Environment Reflection?
3. Creating a Reflection Practice