Book Titles

…it is only when team members are truly comfortable being exposed to one another that they begin to act without concern for protecting themselves.

…most successful people learn to be competitive with their peers, and protective of their reputations. It is a challenge for them to turn those instincts off for the good of a team, but that is exactly what is required.

Teams that lack trust waste inordinate amounts of time and energy managing their behaviors and interactions within the group.

The most important action that a leader must take to encourage the building of trust on a team is to demonstrate vulnerability first.

All great relationships, the ones that last over time, require productive conflict in order to grow. This is true in marriage, parenthood, friendship, and certainly business.

When team members do not openly debate and disagree about important ideas, they often turn to back-channel personal attacks, which are far nastier and more harmful than any heated argument over issues.

Ironically, teams that avoid ideological conflict often do so in order to avoid hurting team members’ feelings, and then end up encouraging dangerous tension.

One of the most difficult challenges that a leader faces in promoting healthy conflict is the desire to protect members from harm.

…a leader’s ability to personally model appropriate conflict behavior is essential.

Great teams make clear and timely decisions and move forward with complete buy-in from every member of the team, even those who voted against the decision.