Welcome to Team Pulse

Welcome to the first issue of Team Pulse, where we are going to explore all things related to teams and their alignment with one another.?

In this issue, we’re going to look at how to spot the red flags that will allow you to spot broken leadership and what you can do about it.

Leadership is something many aspire to, but only a few truly excel at. If you ask people to identify a bad leader, you'll get a wide range of answers. Most of us either have encountered a poor leader ourselves or know someone who has. The important question is: how can you recognize a bad leader?

I read an article on Inc today that really said it well. Paraphrasing here:

Breaking this down into six main dysfunctions:

1?? No clear direction

If you’re a team member that is always left guessing what a leader wants then you are likely on the receiving end of a leader that isn’t giving clear directions.? Leaders need to give clear direction and if something changes, they need to immediately communicate the change.

2?? Control all aspects of their team

This has especially gotten worse with the rise of remote work.? These leaders don’t trust what their teams are doing and as such are always micromanaging their teams.? Pinging them on chat apps, sending emails, etc... taking their teams away from their work and destroying trust.

3?? Play people off of each other

Instead of dealing with a problem, this leader will often play team members against each other or even worse bring a third team member into the mix to gain an advantage or deflect attention away from the leader’s inabilities.?

4?? No self-awareness

These leaders don’t see how their behavior is affecting their team members.? Even when pointed out they often won’t apologize or fix the damage.

5?? Never wrong

Goes along with #4, but this leader can never be wrong and will never admit to doing something that his harmful.? Often shifting blame to someone on the team.

6?? Play the blame game

Will point fingers at everyone except themselves.?

These dysfunctions have been around for a long time, but sadly have been getting worse since the pandemic and the stresses that have been put on leaders since then.?

This is in no way an exhaustive list, but it hits the major points.? Let me know what you think and if I’ve missed anything.?

In my next issue, I’ll explore ways to fix these traits and get your team back on track.

Pet Corner:

Every week I’ll end my newsletter with a spotlight on our four-legged animals and how they help us cope.? For those of who work remotely these office mates have been there through thick and thin.

This week, Sommar

Sommar is our five-year-old “everything bagel” that we rescued from the Humane Society.? When she’s not snoring on my office floor, she’s the ever watchful eye for our house and companion of our 22mo old Jeff.? Fun fact, sommar is the Swedish spelling of summer. We got her the same year we got our Volvo... yea kind of nerdy, but the name stuck. ?

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I'm Aaron Fromm and I’m dedicated to helping GTM teams perform at their highest levels.? Follow me for real strategies that work.

Reach out if you want to discuss any of these topics.? You can DM me on LinkedIn or email me at [email protected]

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