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Managing as a Team

By Donald J. Clark

Consider these images; the manager as the Lone Ranger; the manager as Ultimate Problem Solver; the manager as Answer Man; the manager as Strong and Steady Chief.

Contrast those images with the reality apparent in businesses of all kinds and sizes: the manager as stressed out, anxiety ridden, and image driven; or the manager as exhausted from trying to put on a great show while balancing precariously on the very edge of his or her competency. This reality, the fate of far too many managers constitutes a real and present danger for both the organization and the individual -- bad decisions, tense relationships, unstrategic thinking, ineffective use of time and resources.

Washington University psychiatrist George E. Murphy, quoted in a March 31st Business Week article about executive suicide says, "Most men have a hard time asking for help. But if you're an executive, one thing you never let anyone see is your weakness."

Try a different image -- the manager as a member of a winning team, a leadership management team. Not a group, but a team. Not cooperation among allied individuals, but colleagues bound together by the same mission. Not individual stars orbiting a brilliant sun, but ordinary individuals accomplishing extraordinary things because the team acts through them.

A true team, of any kind in any situation, experiences something called teamhood. It arises from a swirl of factors, but the foundation is a combination of respect, trust and commitment. "I know your commitment to the task, and you know mine. I trust your integrity and your values, and you trust mine. I respect your individual ability, and you respect mine. I honor your unique individuality and you honor mine. We and our colleagues are one, and the team is an enlargement of our individual selves."

Each member of a leadership management team wears the same big hat -- the one mission hat, the responsibility for the whole organization hat. But each also wears a smaller hat -- the particular expertise hat, the focused responsibility hat. With each member wearing both hats, a team can practice an entirely open flow of information. No topic is off limits and every topic engages the intelligence of each team member. Each individual actively seeks counsel and advice, and relies on the others to modify and improve his ideas or proposals. The individual member functions on a day to day basis with the knowledge that he is accountable to the team, acts on behalf of the team and has the full support of the team. The team makes better, more thoughtful decisions.

Is it possible to manage as a team? Can a team be sharp and focused and decisive. Can a team accommodate individual initiative? Yes, to all of the above. It requires work, passion and compassion, but the results can sharpen the competitive edge and make a good company great. It is being done; in fact, it has always has been done. The myth of the Lone Ranger, and our desire to identify heroes and villains, often obscure the team and stands behind every great achievement and every great achiever.

Yes, it requires a paradigm shift, a commitment, a plan, and a willingness to grow. But you and your associates can function as a team, and the experience may change your life.