Recently I was working with a team on leadership development. As I was facilitating the team, it was clear that the “leader,” of the team was not comfortable listening to what his employees had to say. I requested that he observe and watch his team as the made a low risk decision. After three consecutive interruptions I realized that there is no commitment from this leader to “allow” his team to come together.
So what does commitment look like on an effective team? Here are three examples of how commitment might show up on an effective team:
1. Listening to opinions different than yours. It’s healthy to have differing opinions. If you don’t that is an indication people are not being open and honest with you.
2. Allowing everyone the opportunity to be heard. Does everyone on your team participate? Are some observers to the team process? A strong leader will bring every member of the team to contribute to the team process.
3. Your words and your actions are aligned. A critical element in a strong team is aligning words with actions. Does your team commit to your goals? Do the team actions support that? A simple test is to track completion of action items. If items are continuously missing due dates there is a lack of commitment.
If you are on a team and the leader or the team members are continually giving reasons, excuses for his/her behavior that is negatively impacting the team, then it is very possible the leader/team member is more committed to his personal comfort level than the effectiveness of the team. In order for the team to become a thriving team, they must commit to the process of improvement. Without commitment, change will not be sustained.