Here’s a situation that occurs more frequently than it should. A leader holds a team meeting. They set goals, discuss the most recent performance, offer guidance and praise, and suggest how team members can step up at the next opportunity. The leader departs for their next meeting while the team holds court and debriefs on what they just heard.
One team member uses this time with their peers to bad mouth the leader. They offer a competing view about the goals the team should pursue and how to go about improving performance. They let their distaste for the leader be known to everyone in the room.
Most typically, the rest of the team believes in the leader and views the naysayer as an outlier that does not represent their views. The only question that remains is how they respond. If they do.
True advocates, whether leaders or team members, don’t sit idly by while others poke holes in the team strategy or denigrate a colleague. If they are true comrades in arms, they voice their disagreement with the killjoy and let it be known they don’t appreciate such passive-aggressive behavior. They refuse to remain silent or simply go their own way because they understand that having each other’s back is what teamwork is all about.
Great teams advocate strongly for each other. They don’t tolerate anyone badmouthing a member of the team, especially the leader. If they disagree with the direction of the team or the style of the leader, they raise their issues openly and work through the conflict.
Trusting that the team is comprised of full-hearted advocates, leaders and team members don’t feel as if they might be judged or belittled behind their backs. This allows them to operate openly, without defensiveness, and to engage others with candor. Teams perform best when everyone believes in the good intentions of others and is willing to stand behind them. Any threat to this comradery is a threat to everyone.
A team of advocates will not allow anyone, even a high-performing colleague, to dis a teammate, especially the leader. As Denzel Washington is said to have phrased it, “Don’t tell me what they said about me. Tell me why they were so comfortable to say it to you.”
A Daily Dispatch from the Front Lines of Leadership.
