Teamwork is overrated.
Space… the final frontier…
Teamwork… the over-rated concept…
Teamwork is misaligned, misinterpreted, misused and misunderstood. And “it ain’t all that,” anyway.
Now, before I’m accused of organizational blasphemy, realize I’m speaking of “teamwork” in its most common evolution within companies. It’s been reduced to “playing well together,” “getting along,” “not rocking the boat,’ and other ridiculous euphemisms that interfere with true teamwork.
True teamwork, in the form that really matters and provided value to the organization, is best defined as Synergistic Leadership. There you have it – you’ve witnessed the birth of a new phrase in the consultant-speak lexicon. And you saw it here first, folks.
Now, here’s what Synergistic Leadership means to me…
Well, first, what it doesn’t mean:
- It doesn’t mean that we must all get along as best buds;
- It doesn’t mean that we must all give way to each and every idea, even when clearly unfeasible, unrealistic, or brazenly impractical; and most importantly,
- It doesn’t mean that we should use consensus as a method of dumbing down the best idea to make it acceptable to all those who didn’t think of it.
Synergistic Leadership means three things: Understanding each other, applying intellect, and acknowledging the ‘best’ way.
Specifically:
- Understanding each other. Now, this isn’t some kumbaya-sounding effort at walking coals, falling backward into your coworkers arms, or a ropes challenge course (don’t get me started…).
And it’s not about MBTI or ENTJ, or DiSC, or any other consultant-speak acronym.
Synergistic Leadership means we can listen, derive real meaning, and understand the position of our colleagues, even if/when we disagree. It means we’ll do whatever is possible to make certain we understand, and to develop and use a process for managing through the conflicts we will most assuredly enjoy.
It simply means we’ll understand each other. Not necessarily like, love, or agree all the time with each other.
- Applying intellect. Let’s face it – if there’s not some degree of smarts involved, it’s just not going to work. If someone on a leadership team has a couple of bricks missing, we need a replacement.
In Synergistic Leadership, the assumption is that all members have a semblance of intelligence, and aren’t afraid to use it. And use it wisely.
Some may think themselves smarter than others in the room – and in fact, they may actually be smarter. But, to borrow from Forrest Gump, stupid is as stupid does. Unapplied intellect is as useless as stupidity to begin with, and infinitely more dangerous on many fronts.
In fact, a good argument can be made that unapplied intellect is, in fact, stupid. And as we’ve discussed before, you can’t fix stupid.
Further, and pay attention here, within leadership teams, intellect without empathy is simply arrogance. To have the “smarts,’ and not be bright enough to realize that there’s others in play here, and I may actually not have the best answer, is tragic. Don’t do that.
- Acknowledging the “best” way is where Synergistic Leadership really comes together for leadership teams. We understand each other, we take our intelligence and apply it for good over evil, and then, most importantly, we take the best decision and act on it.
Note clearly here; I did not say we compromise, water down to achieve consensus, nor combine the “best” approach with the “second-best” approach just to appease some ego-driven team member with an inflated sense of self-worth.
Understand, discuss, and then decide. Choosing the best response or decision among options, and sticking to your guns in doing so, is where Synergistic Leadership trumps teamwork all day, every day.
And twice on Sunday.
