FIGHT THE ENEMIES OF A UNIFIED TEAM
Look closely at any great company, and you’ll find a unified team. Look even closer, and you’ll
realize that a culture of unity is intentionally created and protected. Most companies, though,
are made up of smart, talented people who, as a group, just can’t get the job done.
If you have a team like that, you can be sure it is under attack from one or more
of the Five Enemies of Unity:
1. Poor Communication
2. Gossip
3. Unresolved Disagreements
4. Lack of a Shared Purpose
5. Sanctioned Incompetence
You can build unity in your company by fighting these enemies. Let’s take a look at these
unity-killers so you’ll be able to recognize them and fight them.
POOR COMMUNICATION
Communication is the lifeblood of any
organization. It is the grease that keeps the
gears moving. But most companies use
mushroom communication—leave them in the
dark and feed them manure. That won’t work.
Winning organizations must have a culture of
communication. Without it, team members
are detached and insecure.
You can take practical steps right now to
create a culture of clear communication in
your business:
SHED SOME LIGHT
People want to know what’s going on and why.
When they are left in the dark, they don’t see
themselves as a valuable part of a worthwhile
venture. People want to participate in something
that matters, whether work or ministry. If they
don’t know what is being accomplished, why it
matters, and how they fit into it, they can’t feel
good about their contributions.
When in doubt, overcommunicate. If you
mess up, adjust your approach next time and
either limit how much you share or share it in
a different way.
DEFINE THE GOAL
Be sure the group you’re leading understands
the expectations. Put them in writing and
agree on predetermined goals. Accountability
will motivate your team members, so require
weekly reports of their progress to be turned
in at a set time.
Carried to its extreme, a culture of secrets
and missed opportunities generates fear. Fear
develops quickly when quality communication
is missing.
BUILD A LEGACY
Smart leaders pass on the legacy of their
company. How did you get where you are?
Tell that story. Who sacrificed, refused to quit,
and paid the price for success? Tell their story.
Make these stories a part of your culture.
CREATE A MISSION STATEMENT
A personal mission statement helps ensure
that what you’re doing is in line with your
life goals. If you’re leading a group or team,
create a mission statement and have everyone
memorize it, put it in their hearts, and make it
part of them. A team is not a team unless there
is a shared goal and vision. They can’t share it
if they don’t know it.
ADDRESS PROBLEMS
THOUGHTFULLY
Have people bring problems only to someone
who can do something about them. Avoid
impulse communication with your team
when you are angry or upset. Communicate
in such a way that individuals aren’t harmed
or embarrassed. Handle issues the way you’d
want your own issues dealt with, or people will
question your integrity.
Remember, the greatest problem in
communication is the illusion that it has
been accomplished. Communication should
be attempted early and often, and it should
be ongoing.
GOSSIP
It may be human nature for people to talk about
each other, but that doesn’t mean you have to
put up with it. It is impossible to create a unified
team with a bunch of gossips. Gossip pushes
people apart instead of pulling them together,
and everyone knows you can’t trust a gossip.
Dave and his team have a motto: Negatives go
up; positives come down. Team members love
it. They not only adhere to it, they enforce it.
They are, after all, the real beneficiaries of that
policy. They can point to that rule with pride
and cut gossip off before it has a chance to do
any damage.
UNRESOLVED DISAGREEMENTS
Most leaders don’t realize that unresolved
conflicts are destroying their businesses—
they’re not even aware these conflicts exist!
That’s a result of poor communication. Other
leaders avoid confrontation. That’s called
denial. Either way, your team loses.
THE WEEKLY REPORT
Communication is the key to fighting this
enemy of team unity. For Dave’s team, that
communication comes through their weekly
reports. Each week, every team member emails
a report to his or her leader and Dave. All leaders
read their team members’ weekly reports and
pass along any issues or concerns to Dave. That
way, leadership from all levels is involved with
the day-to-day activities of the company.
Gossip is unfair to everyone involved. It’s unfair
to the gossipers because they must toil in a
problem situation with no hope of resolution.
It’s unfair to others who hear the gossip
because it undermines passion for their work,
confidence in their leadership and belief in your
vision. It’s also unfair to you because you aren’t
given the opportunity to address a problem
within your business.
Team members report their progress on their
assigned tasks and relate their high and low
points of the week. This is where dissatisfaction
and disagreements tend to be revealed,
directly or indirectly.
That’s why there is a no-gossip policy at Dave’s
company. Gossip is defined as discussing
anything negative with someone who can’t help
solve the problem. If you’re having computer
problems, and IT is slow about helping you, you
don’t complain about it to the sales rep in the
break room. You talk to your leader because
he or she can and will do something about it.
REMOVE THE SPLINTER
If a team member is discovered gossiping, they
receive one warning. After that, they’re fired—
and yes, Dave has fired people for gossiping.
Negative stuff will happen. That’s inevitable. The
negatives may be about a person or a process.
Either way, those issues need to be handed to
a leader. If you’re mad at your manager, talk to
another leader about it. Complaining to your
teammates is disloyalty, and it fosters a negative
spirit that will trash the organization.
When a leader believes that one team member
may be upset with another at work or has a
problem with an assignment or a process, the
leader gets the involved parties together and
straightens things out.
Deal with conflict like you would deal with a
splinter: Pull it out right away, even if it hurts.
Don’t leave it until it’s infected, causing even
greater pain. A little confrontation can wash
out the wound and allow the parties to go
forward in a spirit of unity.
Leaders lead best when they pull out that
splinter. Sometimes it’s messy. Sometimes it
doesn’t work perfectly. But the alternative is to
walk around and act like nothing is happening
and wonder why there’s no unity.
Avoiding conflict is what normal companies
do. Dave suggests you be weird. Normal
companies have employees. Dave never
wanted that. He wanted—and has always had—
talented team members focused on the same
goal, rather than ordinary employees who are
burdened with unresolved conflict.
LACK OF A SHARED PURPOSE
Have you ever seen a football team—a
successful football team—that didn’t know
where the end zone was? Of course not. That
was made up of skilled players who had no
idea what their roles were in reaching the
goal? Of course not. But every day, people
show up to work with no idea what the
company’s goals look like or how their work
contributes to reaching them—and they are
expected to be successful.
If your team is suffering from a lack of a shared
purpose, it’s because you, as their leader, have
not restated your company’s goal, vision
and mission enough. Andy Stanley, a noted
pastor who leads a church with thousands of
members, says you should recast your vision
every 21 days. When a company is growing
and adding people, recasting the vision is even
more important. It might be repetitive to the
old-timers, but it’s brand-new to a lot of people.
Dave goes over the mission statement and goals
of his company every few months as part of a
weekly staff meeting. He asks the individuals
who have been with the company less than a
year to stand, which visually illustrates to the
veteran team members why it is important to
restate the mission early and often.
You can find new and creative ways to share
your mission statement, but always remember
there is a goal. There has to be a goal.
Otherwise, how can your people know where
they are headed or how much progress they
are making?
What do you make and/or sell? What are your
core values? Good leaders restate these values
over and over.
Dave’s company doesn’t pursue ideas that
don’t fall within the company’s mission, even
if they have the potential to make money. They
aren’t opportunities; they are distractions.
SANCTIONED INCOMPETENCE
When one team member is allowed to work
less or consistently has a destructive attitude,
it’s a disaster waiting to happen. If you don’t
deal with the offending team member, the
rest of the team will become demoralized and
resentful. You can’t allow incompetence to
continue unchecked, whether it’s related to
social interactions or job productivity.
If one person slacks off, the next person feels
entitled to do the same. Soon, everyone is
working as little as possible. Spreading like
a cancer, sanctioned incompetence quickly
becomes the lowest common denominator.
In other words, the worst worker eventually
becomes the one setting the standard, simply
because a spineless leader won’t step up and
deal with the situation.
Sometimes the solution isn’t pleasant. Some
people thrive on conflict, or they’re simply
determined to work as little—or get away with
as much—as possible. When this happens, the
leader may have to set that person free to find
a suitable environment for his or her attitude.
FIGHT FOR UNITY
A unified team is worth fighting for. The Five
Enemies of Unity are strong enough to cripple
and even destroy your business. There is
going to be a lot of drama in any workplace,
but leaders must invest the time and energy
to deal with issues instead of blindly writing
paychecks and hoping for the best.
But you won’t fight alone. Once you teach your
team to fight with you, they will be your closest
allies. They will fight to protect the culture you
create because they’ll recognize that a unified
team is successful and powerful—and it’s great
to be part of one.