Trust and Teamwork
Gordon (Gordy) Curphy, PhD
Managing Partner at Curphy Leadership Solutions
There is a considerable amount of confusion regarding trust and teamwork. Some teamwork proponents, such as Patrick Lencioni, believe trust is foundational to teams, and if there is no trust, then teams cannot get past go and collect $200. This approach considers trust as an input variable, and Five Dysfunctions of a Team advocates usually start team engagements by doing trust building activities and then move on to other issues affecting team dynamics and performance.
This is the wrong way to look at team trust, as we see it as more of a mediating or output variable. Team members trust each other when they believe everyone on the team: (1) has the right skills and experience to do their jobs (ability); (2) puts their own agendas aside and does what is right for the team (benevolence); and (3) plays by the rules, safeguards confidential information, and follows through on commitments (integrity). Sharing MBTI, DISC, Social Styles, or Enneagram results will not provide any insights into evaluations of ability, benevolence, and integrity; this happens when team members work through adversity and share common experiences. Team trust takes time to develop, and the more teams succeed, the more likely team trust will increase.
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Another problem with the Lencioni philosophy is to look at the base level of trust in teams. According to the graph, 90 percent of team members somewhat or completely trust each other. Working on trust when some level is already in place seems like a faulty assumption and potential waste of time and resources. Moreover, a much higher level of trust is needed for teams to perform at high levels than for groups or hybrids (collections of people having both team and group characteristics). Most collections of people fall into the latter two categories, and many team models fail to make the distinction between group and teams.
If you want to learn how to separate the myths and misunderstandings about teams while learning how to design powerful off-sites, train leaders how to build teams, and enable organizations to scale effective teamwork, then join us at the next Rocket Model Certification Workshop starting on February 26th. Contact Gordy Curphy ([email protected] ; M: 651.253.5604) for further details.
Author of Become & Managing Partner Hannum, LLC at Hannum, LLC
10 个月I think you said what you needed to say when you said, “the Lencioni philosophy.”
Organization Development and Human Resources Consultant
10 个月brilliant and clear
Leadership Coach & Facilitator | Team Effectiveness | MSc Organisational Behaviour
10 个月Interesting points about identifying the levels of trust present now, vs levels of trust needed given the work together, as well as what actually builds deeper trust in the first place. Your reflection about where and how trust influences high performance - seeing it not as foundational element (input) but as something that affects the strength of other factors or is in fact an outcome - is good food for thought.
Senior Client Partner at Korn Ferry
10 个月Trust is the currency of all relationships. Full stop. That said, clarity of an impactful why/what we come together to do collectively in the first instance is what allows us to suspend self focus and extend trust to see what is possible.
I help transitioning leaders & teams reach their true potential, high performance & well-being | ICF, EMCC Accredited Transformational Coach | Leadership → Teaming → Coaching → L&D
10 个月Thought-provoking article Gordon (Gordy) Curphy, PhD. I really love it! ?? Great way you distinguish between competency-based, benevolence-based and integrity-based trust vs. vulnerability-based trust from the Five Behaviors. It sparks lots of reflections, so thank you for that. One point, I’d make, is that MBTI, DISC, Insights and other profiling tools rather brings valuable indications about team members’ communication preferences, which is a part of how to collaborate effectively in a team. You can say that how team members communicate is an interpersonal skill, so If you communicate like Mars and Venus (perhaps a poor example ??) then it also affect trust levels in the team. So, communicating effectively is a skill that could be related to competency-based trust in my mind. Your communication style is an interpersonal skill required to do your job well and collaborate. That said, I am totally with you that trust “happens when team members work through adversity and share common experiences.” That really takes time. Wonderful write-up ??