What makes up a Loyalist Team – Rebecca Teasdale, Linda Adams, & Audrey Epstein – EP174
Season 4
Episode 174

What makes up a Loyalist Team – Rebecca Teasdale, Linda Adams, & Audrey Epstein – EP174

Hi there, This was one I recorded in late February but only getting around to release now. It's an excellent panel discussion with the 3 authors. The notes below are lengthy but cover off the main points. Enjoy! Key takeaways from the interview: •Knowing what you’re for and what you’re against •Building High Trust Relations and focusing on Trust is so useful right now – for teams that don’t have this it’s showing up so much! •Key Question – where does this passion come for wanting to help people? oHard wired in this way and being naturally a helper oHaving empathy intrinsic to her and embedded in her DNA oWhen you find this overlap between meant to, love to, and make a living at oHaving exposure to supporting and managing people from an early part of her career and developing a real interest in this – wanting to do the right thing for people •Self-Awareness is at the core of everything as a leader and a human! •We never get there….but we need to keep trying! •Others view of you matches how you perceive yourself •Self-awareness and how to build it within Teams… •How Leaders can develop their own self-awareness and in others? •The Spinach Analogy!!! •We need to be able to give others insights that they are not self-awareness •How do you approach a leader that think they are self-aware when they are not? •Creating Curiosity as the key for the leader to be more self-aware! •Tool – Look in the mirror – reflecting a different image of what you have! •Using Data to bridge the gap of self-awareness – 360 Data or interviews with a Leader •Data driven feedback is invaluable for developing the self-awareness of the team •Tool – Team Assessment to find out trust about the leader and the individuals Q – The idea for the Loyalist Team – where this idea came from? •Based on a passionate believe that everyone deserves a great team •Developed an approach that can be assible and felt that writing a book would extend this reach! •Identified 4 different team types and lots of examples of each •How they developed the model itself to give people a common language around the team types they were experiencing •Team work, Candor, Accountability and Results as some of the stand out traits •Testing hundreds and hundreds of teams and validated that there was the 4 team types that existed •The emergence of the idea – a lot had been written leadership but not as much on teams •What makes a good leader in a suboptimal team? •The way people show up on a team impacts how other people perform? •Observing teams and then developing teams •The importance of data in team analysis moving the team from Saboteur to Loyalist oFound % variance attributed to team leaders – 15% oIf you’re enable to fully engage the full team – 70% •Key point – get the whole team engaged •Where does gut and feeling come into moving the team to Loyalist •Exercise – Imagine the best team they were ever on? oAttributes oWhat was in there oIdentify the key characteristics oBuild out this list, this really reflects what YOU would want in a loyalist team oWhat made it your best team? oThere could be sadness in this…as they could go back a long time… •Key Point - Teams are only as strong as the weakest link between any 2 people on the team – every single relationship matters and has to be strong oThe leader has to see what is happening with the team oAre they supporting, or competing with each other? •The toughest part of leadership is to be able address these challenges between team members •How does the Leader breakthrough this? •Exercise – set up the safe environment & assuming positive intent oCome up with agreements and team norms so the team can measure themselves against oHave the team responsible for these and everyone has buy-in oThis leads to self-management •This is a key area for self-awareness comes in •Leaders operating from the hub and spoke perspective – it’s not creating points of interconnection with the team •Have the leader step back from being the hub – the whole team needs to engage •Almost no one has this clear definition of the High Performing Teams – they have years of experience working on mediocre teams….you need the team to get very clear on what they expect from each other. Not from what they’re bringing from previous failed teams •Teams need to be clear on what we WILL do instead on SHOULD to • •Self-awareness & Teams •And one areas was with relationships & teams…and how Self-Awareness was key.. •There are lots of compelling reasons to build a better team. Great teams deliver stronger results, faster. They’re more innovative. They challenge you to learn more quickly and to be at your best. And, let’s face it — they’re simply more fun to work with. •Self-Awareness is lacking was the key piece •To build greater self-awareness, work to create a team of Loyalists around you, people who trust you, support you, and challenge you to be your best. Surround yourself with people who will speak their truth, even when it’s hard. And then listen. When you do, you will see an amazingly positive impact — on you, on them, and on the overall success of your team. •How you can measure the team’s progress & how regularly? •Tool – the 4 teams zone assessment – both reliable and valid oUsed on over 800 teams – strong academic base assessment oEvery team engagement is assessed and gives them a baseline (trispectivegroup.com) oIdentify what are the 2-3 clear opportunities oThis leads to creation of a team development plan oCreate pulse points from that and do a retest 6 months later and see where things are at then – a very objective test oEstablish which zone the team stands and then work towards to the next phase oOver 6 months it’s possible to move from Saboteur to Situation/Loyalist •How can teams stay High Performing once they get there? oChanges to teams can impact the level they are oConsistent conversations is needed oOngoing partnerships are needed and leaders need to continue the conversation when the coaches are not there •Motto/Manta - Never rest on the laurels and never fully satisfied attitude is key! •Never take the view that they’ve made it…and that’s it… •Ongoing development, ongoing self-analysis and setting new goals •Example – highest performing team never spoke bad about each other – had to be fully honest with each other at the top and this had a huge impact all the way down! •A small tweak at the top of the pyramid had a huge impact all the way down the organization •Live roundtable feedback during team meetings and at leadership meetings – CEO would come in for feedback •COVID19 and How teams work – what are you seeing? •How can leaders enable / empower their teams to work? oFocus on Trust and the Relationship oTaking Time to check in with people oEnsure you’re getting truth on the table oAssume positive intent is key! oStart with Compassion as a Leader…this is key!! oTeam members are feeling anxious about missing out oSimple ideas – quizzes, coaching techniques… oAssume stress oDon’t forget about personal lives oReview your Operating Norms??? – are they still valid? oIf you don’t have them…maybe start now! oUnexpressed expectations that are violated are dangerous….make them clear! •Living their own principles and being a loyalist team and it’s an ongoing journey •3 key points that make them a loyalist team oFinancial model – split 3 ways equally from the start oHave each other’s back 100% oHonest Feedback with Positive Intent! Connect in with the team: •Buy the book on Amazon.com •Trispectivegroup.com

Follow Rob of the Green