Archive for the ‘Teams’ Category

Earlier this month, two University of Washington researchers released a study titled Rotten to the core: How workplace ‘bad apples’ spoil barrels of good employees. This interesting article validates what everyone experiences in the working world. “Bad apples” absolutely destroy trust and the performance of a team.

A negative atmosphere is contagious. People will react to a negative atmosphere in a number of ways, often unconscious, with a loss of trust and subsequently loss of high performance as the outcome. Because “bad apple” behavior is often not task related but more often subtly undermining of the team’s trust, it is very hard to identify and deal with especially in behavioral terms. It is hard to let someone go because they “make others feel bad”. Yet, this bad apple behavior is very costly for the functioning of a team. I once had two team members quit in the same week because they could no longer tolerate the “bad apple” of a senior, very talented team member.

So what can you do if you have a ”bad apple” on your team?

1. Pull the team together and as a group set “norms” for effective behaviors in the team. Discuss how you are going to hold each other accountable. This sets the baseline for what the “rules of engagement” for the team are. As a result, when those norms are violated (which is what “bad apples” are really doing), there is already an accountability mechanism set up. These norms also gives the boss concrete behaviors with which to coach the person.
2. Be careful not get caught in triangulation. The “Bad apple” can frustrate you so much that you commiserate with your other team mates. This kind of triangulation actually reduces trust even further and accomplishes nothing except allowing you to vent.
3. Try to understand where the person is coming from. Maybe there really is something you can do to help. Sometimes “bad apples” can act as a sort of “canary in the coal mine”, reacting to a real issues that should be dealt with.

If you boss is a bad apple, you still might try the norm setting technique. However, it is much harder for a team to hold a boss accountable for the “bad apple” behavior. Still, it is worth a try. No matter what, don’t get hooked into the bad apple behavior. Try to not respond or avoid it. Ultimately, you need to work for someone you trust. If your boss is a bad apple and you can’t trust that person you will need to find another job.

Technorati Tags: team-building, bad apples, leadership

One of the best leaders I have ever known was a 27-year-old rafting guide who took me and my five closest friends in a tiny paddle raft through class 10 rapids on the Grand Canyon. Not only were we considerably older than our captain, Andrew, but one of our party was an Olympic paddler. In the first 5 days as we prepared for the ultimate challenge of Lava Falls, Andrew won our trust buy guiding us expertly through gnarly rapids, by letting us learn from the experience of turning over (we were sure we could best that 20 foot wave), and by trying out our skills in rapids that were less treacherous.

When we approached Lava Falls (the largest rapid in North America) we knew that the water was very high, that the usual path through that rapid was gone because of the water flow, AND that we were a team with ultimate confidence in our captain. As we committed ourselves to inescapable pull of the water, we saw the boat in front of us fall into a 20 ft hydraulic. While we watched the much larger boat flip over and over in the rapids, we were concerned about the safety of our fellow captain and could easily see that we had a major change facing us. We also knew that Andrew knew his team and had deployed us in the positions that best fitted our skills. We knew that we were completely committed to each other.

As we were drawn into the roar of the rapid and were just over this 20 foot hydraulic, a wave that seemed to go through my ears knocked me to the center of the boat. Andrew, who was in the middle of giving commands to turn left immediately, stopped. He said to me in a completely calm voice “It’s okay, Jodi. Take your time, you will be ok,” and then went back to screaming commands. His calm and caring style allowed me to safely get back to position and add my power to the successful completion of the rapid and the rescuing of the other boat.

Leadership is both about task and relationship activities. Andrew was an expert on rafting the Grand Canyon (task activities) but he also knows how to take care of his team members (relationship activities) to help each one deliver the very best .We would have followed Andrew into any river situation that he asked.

What are you doing today that helps others deliver at their best? That is what leadership is about.

Technorati Tags: leadership, leadership development, rafting, leaders

Imagine that you’ve just joined a new team working on a complex project… minutes into the project, it becomes painfully clear that the person selected to lead has absolutely no technical knowledge of the project. If your leader’s good, this shouldn’t be a problem. But if they’re not, you may be headed for a disaster.

I’m sure we’ve all been there, and with a constant flow of new technologies, privacy regulations, and complex accounting requirements, we’ll all be there again. And this isn’t just a challenge for the corporate world. According to ZDnet (and I’m sure we’ll all agree), this is increasingly becoming a problem facing our politicians as they create laws around technology.

How the less-informed leader acts and relates to their team has a critical affect on whether the project is a success or a disaster. What should you do if you ever find yourself in this situation? We’ve asked the Leader’s Studio Team for their advice… (more…)