Rethinking collective responsibility Are you really all in it together?
Strong team work at senior leadership level is a prized asset, yet it is rarely the reality.
Why is this?
On paper, everyone wants to get it right. No one wants to be thought of as a poor team player. Few call it out when they see a lack of team spirit in others.
It remains a common topic for interview questions and often that is where the conversation ends if the candidate is appointed. The ‘team player’ box is ticked, and never raised again.
The power of teamwork is generally understood but the routes to get there are not.
This is the first of a new series about leadership teams. It draws on my experience as a Leadership Team Coach and those I have worked with both in this capacity, and from when I was running organisations.
There are three key principles which I come back to over and over again with my leadership team clients. They require a level of honest conversation which few feel safe enough to have.
The first principle is collective responsibility, and this is the first of (at least) two blogs on the subject.
I will keep the definition simple - under this principle the team is collectively responsible for everything, good or bad.
What does that actually mean in practice?
And how can you make it happen?
Here’s three aspects to consider.
1. Start with the key measures
This is a typical example when I have a new leadership team coaching client.
An initial session is taking place, and there is a discussion about the current standard of teamwork amongst team members.
The conversation often goes along the lines of ‘when someone is really needed to do something, they turn up’. What is more, ‘it is not always the same person that does it’. And then ‘it could be ANY of us, well maybe most of us’. The dilution process often starts early.
Some senior leaders’ bar for what effective teamwork looks like is very low. Conversations with key stakeholders, such as middle leaders, directors, customers and suppliers reveal the impact of that very quickly. If the quality of teamwork is rarely talked about round the senior team table, it is by the rest of the organisation.
I then test out the team’s sense of collective responsibility. People tend to have an idea that if the performance of the whole organisation fails then it might impact upon them, particularly if the issue is sustained over time.
Even then, there is vague hope that if everyone other than the team leader can sit on their hands and stare at the floor for long enough it will not have an impact on them. If questioned the response can be statements like:
‘I did MY job’
‘I work SO HARD, you need to look elsewhere’
‘The people I manage know that the problem ISN’T ME’
And so on.
Generating any sense of collective responsibility requires an acceptance that it applies to the key goals and measures.
Back to the scenario. I then ask individual team members what they made of the overall performance last year.
Very quickly it is revealed that there can be as many different versions of that as there are team members. They refer to the individual areas they led themselves but not the whole, or reveal that they do not actually know how the bottom line performed. They come up with last year’s figures, or what they were predicted to be.
In short, it was Not. Their. Job.
A cornerstone for collective responsibility is that team members have a clear understanding of the key goals and measures, how well the organisation is performing against them and that they carry some responsibility for them.
If they do not know, or feel any responsibility for, overall performance the cold truth is that they need to rethink whether they belong around the senior table.
It may take a culture shift to get to a better place, and some difficult conversations along the way, but that is what a team coaching programme is for. A single away day will not fix it on its own.
2. Collective responsibility is not equal
Let’s develop that scenario a little further.
In that initial session I will ask an individual team member how they thought Department X performed over the last year. The response is frequently ‘I’ve no idea, I do not line manage them’.
My response is that, under collective responsibility, they should. Often the penny drops before the team member has finished their sentence.
There is often a protest about that.
‘But that person HAS a line manager. If they don’t do their job it is not my fault.’
‘I can’t be responsible for everything, I have far too much work as it is!’
‘My contribution to the team is to get my areas right. How others do it is up to them or the CEO.’
I understand the anxiety that this can provoke, and do my best to keep it hypothetical.
Responses are often split between those who feel overwhelmed by having to broaden their perspective, and the bunker dwellers whose eyes widen when they realise they might be forced out of it for the very first time.
But this is the key point - collective responsibility does not have to be equally spread across the whole team for every activity.
There are two dynamics to this. The first is that the team leader carries more of it than anyone, and the same applies to any ranks within the team. The higher the pay grade the levels of responsibility.
The second is that individuals who line manage a particular department carry more responsibility for it. They spend more time on it, and should have the best opportunity to get underneath any issues holding it back.
Neither of these absolves other team members from their own part of collective responsibility. It does not have to be spread equally, but it does mean everyone carries some of it.
The line manager should not be the only one looking. There will be information and reports coming through about the performance of every area. There may be a building to walk around where the culture of every department can be seen. There will be senior team meetings where issues from individual areas are discussed.
Everyone has the opportunity to know, form a view and make a contribution to the success of every single area. Effective teamwork demands it.
This element of collective responsibility is so powerful, because it widens the lens of every member of the team. It affects every discussion, every walk around the building, how communications are dealt with and engagement with every document.
The same can apply to the team leader who may choose to delegate particular areas to the extent they do not know anything of what is going on themselves. A conversation about collective responsibility is a chance for them to step up too.
3. Ask the questions
Making a start with this culture is really simple for team leaders.
They need to start asking the questions, and to keep asking them. They also need to be prepared to answer any question they ask themselves.
Senior leadership meetings present the best opportunities. Everyone is there and it can be done transparently.
It may not always be pleasant to be tested, but ultimately as a senior leader it is your responsibility to know.
Make time on the agenda to talk about the big picture. Where are we folks? What is everyone’s sense on the ground? What is giving you that impression? What are we not getting right?
For individual areas which are underperforming, spread the discussion out. Ask those who do not line manage the area for their view. Test it out around the room with every single team member. No doubt this can be an uncomfortable experience for the line manager concerned but it will lead to a powerful discussion and more productive outcome.
When senior leaders know they are going to be asked about the performance of other areas, they operate differently. It should be just as tricky to have no answer to a question, as it is to have your area be the subject of discussion.
The dialogue does not have to stop at gaining perspectives. It is not all about finding a range of solutions for a line manager to pick and then get on with on their own. The wider team can be involved in implementing the solutions too, and be accountable for having done so.
Remember that
Senior leadership teams are only together for a tiny percentage of the time. How senior leaders behave and interact beyond the meetings can be significantly influenced by what takes place within them.
Gaining the perspective of the whole team on a particular issue is a far richer experience if they all know that they carry responsibility for it.
How can I help you?
1. One to one coaching programmes for senior leaders who are swamped by their jobs so they can thrive in life. Click here to discover where you are on your journey from Frantic to Fulfilled? Just 5 minutes of your time and you will receive a full personalised report with guidance on your next steps.
2. Team coaching programmes - working IN a team is not the same as working AS a team and yet they are often treated as if they are the same. I help teams move from the former to the latter, and generate huge shifts in productivity and outcomes.
3. Talks, workshops and seminars - including topics relevant to the two areas above plus explaining Gen Z to Gen X and dealing with the intergenerational workplace. Speaker showreel here.
