Untangle Leadership Team Knots Through an Extraordinary Game

Thu, Oct 20, 2011

Diverse Team Stacked Hands resized 600Think of a leadership team as a web of interconnected relationships. Mix in clashing egos, hidden agendas, and lack of trust. Agitate with different personality and thinking styles. Sprinkle in unproductive norms, power plays, and cultural and gender differences. Throw in a propensity to blame. Complicate matters with a complex business challenge--you know the kind--a frightening new competitor that threatens to eat your lunch, declining market share, a scarcity of cash to invest in needed resources--the kind of challenge that only this team can solve. The problem is, this team is mired in what I call a Strangling Team TangleTM. In almost every tangle, and I have named nearly two dozen distinct tangles, you experience unproductive working relationships, snarled lines of communication, and fuzzy lines of authority. Emotions run high and there is plenty of conflict, blame, and “us versus them” thinking and behavior. Sound familiar?

As a Tangle DoctorTM, I am always on the lookout for innovative tools and methods to untangle team knots. Last week, I was in Raleigh-Durham North Carolina and had the opportunity to be certified in Team Advantage--a comprehensive and fun process that unleashes the strengths of a team while at the same time achieving extraordinary results.

Team Effectiveness and Strategic Planning on Steroids

One of the certification trainers called the process "team building and strategic planning on steroids." The process is intense and only for leadership teams that want to untangle the knots that keep them from exceptional performance. If you are happy chugging along with mediocre results and dysfunctional relationships, this process is not for you!

If you want to engage in a process that results in exceptional results and healthy, productive, respectful team relationships, this program will pay for itself. It requires commitment and courage.

The Team Advantage Process

The process, developed by Master Coach DJ Mitsch, is facilitated by two expert level coach/facilitators. The program starts with two months of individual coaching for the team leader. The process is framed as a game as a way to up the ante and create a sense of fun, excitement and to get the competitive juices flowing.

The Game is framed as a four-month stretch goal that under usual circumstances might not seem possible. It becomes a game because it is scored, has a clear strategy, a clear plan, a scoreboard and each step in the plan has a score attached to it. Just like other team sports, it is a game because there is ongoing coaching from the sidelines. All of these elements encourage the team to work together to get things done.

The team process begins with a two-day, in-person kickoff workshop to create effective rules of engagement, expose the hidden tangles that strangle performance, and create and agree to new and productive norms. The team then agrees on  their extraordinary goal. We create a name for the game and a scoring system.  No one wins unless all points are scored. We create action steps to handle inevitable obstacles. The team leader agrees to a prize, anything from a homemade cookout to a trip to a fancy resort.

For the next four months, your team coaches facilitate 12 coaching calls to ensure that the game is running smoothly. They provide coaching on how to work through obstacles, untangle interpersonal knots, and keep the team leader and team on track. The focus is both on reaching the strategic goal and personal and team development along the way. At the end of the game, both the team leader and team have the skills, knowledge, and confidence to replicate their results.

Be the First in the San Francisco Bay Area 

Right now, I am pleased to be the first and only San Francisco Bay Area executive coach/facilitator to offer this innovative team coaching/building process. I would welcome the opportunity to partner with you and a highly motivated team, in conjunction with one of my highly skilled and esteemed Team Advantage partners, to bring the power of this process to your organization.

Click on the link below for a complimentary consultation. I look forward to exploring how an innovative game, customized to meet your most strategic goals, can help you and your team scale new heights.

 

Marcia Ruben Ph.D, PCC, CMC

Marcia Ruben Ph.D, PCC, CMC

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