Effective team leadership. Five guiding principles.

Every team has a double life

Sometimes teams seem capable of meeting together effectively to get on with a task –reviewing a strategy for example, or solving a dilemma.

At such moments teams feel energetic, creative, effective.

But there are also times when the team

seems to have a different purpose -

more primitive, more disruptive and more

concerned with making its members feel better, through

humour for example.

They may struggle to get through agendas.

They make it difficult for leaders to lead effectively.

They could be described as ‘avoidant’.

A better understanding of the double life of groups can help with the complex task of leading a team.

The following five principles will help leaders to better understand group dynamics and lead effectively.

It might be tempting, but make no mistake a team

in the grip of ‘avoidant’ behaviour

will not be able to work effectively.

1. Don’t ignore the dynamics

2. Develop ‘double task’ capacity

Pay attention to dynamics at the same time as helping the team get on with the task in hand.

Naming what you think is going on ‘below the surface’, can help the team get unstuck and move forward in a more realistic and collaborative manner.

3. Notice what sort of leader you are being asked to beAt times you may feel your team’s needs are appropriate and that it’s possible to lead effectively. At other times you may not.

Three common avoidant patterns in teams*:

• over reliance on leaders in a dependent way– feel like you’re supposed to have all the answers

• seek a leader to fight an imagined enemy on their behalf– feel pumped up by the team to take on a fight

• get carried away with unrealistic plans– feel a pressure to sanction fanciful ideas

*Wilfred Bion

So what do you do?

4. Encourage useful behaviours

• Overly relied on?– Ask team members for their own opinions,

encouraging everyone to speak.

• Being encouraged to shift the blame to another department?– Shift the focus back to the team. What’s being

avoided here? What about our own struggles?

• Suggestions are unrealistic?– Focus on the present. ‘This is all very well, but

what can we do now?’

5. Make sure you have a reflective space yourself

Either peer to peer, or with a coach or supervisor to help you process and understand what’s going on - away from the heat.

Consulting and Leading in Organisations: Psychodynamic and Systemic Approaches

Masters programme – part time

Starts September 2016

Click here for further details on the programme and course open evenings.