Leadership Preparing for Brexit
The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team™
When uncertainty is our only certainty, how do you prepare for Brexit?
How do you identify if you as an Executive Team have the capability to survive and drive a successful business through what is potentially seismic change?
My last article was written in the wake of the referendum. Whilst on the surface not much is changing around us, headlines for businesses, individuals and communities have exposed some of what may lie ahead, as we manage our exit from Europe.
Whilst this article focuses on Leadership, it holds true for any team. No matter what team you are a member of, please read on.
So what do we know about Brexit? We know that it will impact on our working lives and our home lives. It will affect everyone in some way. We remember the day that the referendum results were announced and the impact it had on productivity. Similarly, the energy that will be spent talking, debating, surfing the web, seeking to understand the headlines, will detract from work and adversely affect productivity.
Why is this important?
Every member of staff who is dis-engaged or actively disengaged, costs you, their employer, just over 1/3 of their salary. If their collective annual salary bill equates to £1,000,000, then this could be costing you approximately £333,000[1]
When clients ask us how to boost performance, it is rarely “what” people are doing (tasks) that get in the way. It is “how” people are doing it (their behaviours) that adversely affects productivity. This holds true for leaders, managers and staff.
It is in times of such seismic change that peak performing leadership will be key in every business and every organisation.
Let’s first of all look at the Five Behaviors based on the best-selling book by Patrick Lencioni.
Key principles:
It is no mistake that trust, the foundation, is the largest segment and is the one you start with.
The success of this approach is that:
The Executive Team shares common goals, as well as the rewards and responsibilities for achieving them.
Executives readily set aside their individual and personal needs for the greater good of the company.
This approach means that each Executive puts the Executive Team first. That their own line management teams come secondary to the Executive Team. In this Executive Team, there is no place for ego and self-interest.
This approach focuses on behaviours. It requires courage.
The uncertainty of Brexit requires consistent and courageous leadership.
What can you expect from The Five Behaviors?
Individually and collectively investing and committing to the Five Behaviors:
Achieves better, faster decisions
Taps into the skills and opinions of all members
Avoids wasting time and energy on politics, confusion, and destructive conflict
Creates a competitive advantage
Is more motivational as a team member!!
So how does it work?
Stage 1:
Individual team members complete an online profile, which flows as follows:
The first section focuses on their own behaviours first, mapping individual and then collective behaviours using Everything DiSC:
It then explores current team behaviours and maps them to the Five Behaviors model.
Finally, the questions focus on team culture, seeking responses to:
How should the team operate, how could we improve?
How appropriate is each behaviour? Unacceptable? Tolerable? Perfectly acceptable?
Stage 2:
A comprehensive 36 page report is produced. Personalised to each team member, it also provides collated data for the team as a whole. The report provides:
The team’s strengths and how to overcome the team’s challenges
A summary of the Five Behaviors within the team
A deep dive into each of the behaviours: exploring the team behaviours, reflecting on the impact of the individual’s behaviours, understanding how to build each behaviour and key themes for further development
Stage 3:
The report itself provides a logical and theoretical assessment of the team. The team must now come together to explore their behaviours and work out how they will individually and collectively adapt their behaviours to be a highly effective, high performing and cohesive team.
Keen to explore further? Then please do contact us at info@valuingyou.co.uk
[1] The Cost of Disengagement to your Company, Achievers
