[Neurons] 2025 Neurons #46 GREAT TEAMS --WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE

Sat Nov 8 19:24:59 EST 2025

From: L. Michael Hall

2025 Neurons #46

November 10, 2025

WHAT DO GREAT TEAMS LOOK LIKE?

If you want to know what makes for a great team, you do not have to do
research, interviewing, or modeling.  That's already been done.  Jon
Katzenbach, and Douglas Smith did that and reported their findings in their
1993 book, The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High -Performance Organization.
In that book they suggest the following five qualities or vital ingredients.

              1) Trust  -team members trusting each other.

2) Effective conflicting - able to work through differences.

              3) Commitment - willing to make a commitment to each other.

4) Accountability - willing for all to hold each one accountable.

              5) Attention to results - caring about the ultimate goal,
results.

It begins with trust because trusting yourself to come through on what you
say and trusting others is the foundation of any relationship and that
remains equally true for leadership teams and any kind of cohesive working
group which is seeking to achieve peak performance.  Trust includes trusting
that we can work through differences and disagreements, we can conflict
about ideas, debate them, dialogue about choices, and come to a mutual
understanding.

When a group of people can do that, then they are ready to make a commitment
to each other and to the group as a whole.  In business, we call this
buy-in.  This is the very thing which makes a group a team.  That's because
once we are committed to our performance goals, we are willing to accept
accountability and to hold each other accountable to our promises.  And now,
because we have gotten the individual ego out of the way and are committed
to each other, we can attend to the group result rather than worry about
getting enough credit.

After modeling these five key ingredients as the qualities of a great team,
Patrick Lencioni went on to write another book, Overcoming the Five
Dysfunctions of a Team (2005).  In this work, he focused on the same five
qualities, but now in reverse.  What if you don't have them?  His
description of these five dysfunctions is so well written, that I have
quoted him verbatim:

"Absence of trust: members of great teams trust one another on a
fundamental, emotional level, and they are comfortable being vulnerable with
each other about their weaknesses, mistakes, fears, and behaviors.  They get
to a point where they can be completely open with one another.  This is
essential because ... 

Fear of Conflict: teams that trust one another are not afraid to engage in
passionate dialogue around issues and decisions that are key to the
organization's success.  They do not hesitate to disagree with, challenge,
and question one another, all in the spirit of finding the best answers,
discovering the truth, and making great decisions.  This is important
because...

Lack of Commitment: teams that engage in unfiltered conflict are able to
achieve genuine buy-in around important decisions, even when various members
of the team initially disagree.  That's because they ensure that all
opinions and ideas are put on the table and considered, giving confidence to
team members that no stone has been left unturned.  This is critical because
...

Avoidance of Accountability: teams that commit to decisions and standards of
performance to not hesitate to hold one another accountable for adhering to
those decisions and standards.  They don't rely on the team leader as the
primary source of accountability; they go directly to their peers.  This
matters because ...

Inattention to results: tams that trust one another engage in conflict,
commit to decisions, and hold one another accountable are very likely to set
aside their individual needs and agendas and focus almost exclusively on
what is best for the team.  They do not give in to the temptation to place
their departments, career aspirations, or ego-drive status ahead of the
collective results that define team success."  (page 7)

If you coach, train, or consult with groups and teams, and if you want to
create some highly effective teams, these five features of teams gives you a
great place to start.  

Meta-Coaching News

             Group & Team Meta-Coaching (GTMC) occurs in Hong Kong this
December. December 4-7 for the training and Dec. 8-9 for the assessments and
for watching and learning from the assessments.  All of it is open to
everyone!

For detailed information about where and how to sign up - contact

Mandy Chai -   <mailto:chaimansun at yahoo.com.hk> chaimansun at yahoo.com.hk

Boey Law -      <mailto:boey_law at neurosemantics.hk>
boey_law at neurosemantics.hk

 <http://www.meta-coaching.org/> http://www.meta-coaching.org

References: 

Katzenbach, Jon R.; Smith, Douglas K. (1993/ 1999).  The Wisdom of Teams:
Creating the High -Performance Organization.  New York: A HarperBusiness
Book.

Lencioni, Patrick. (2005).  Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A
Field Guide. San Francisco: CA: Jossey-Bass.        

Lencioni, Patrick. (2002).  The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership
Fable.  San Francisco: CA: Jossey-Bass.

Voting Time for Neuro-Semantics & Meta-Coaching

Rankings for the Top 30 NLP Gurus in December 2025.

Click here:  <https://globalgurus.org/vote/nlp/>
https://globalgurus.org/vote/nlp/

"Vote for the Best Development Programs," and enter your program's name and
details here:  <https://globalgurus.org/best-nlp-development-program/>
https://globalgurus.org/best-nlp-development-program/

L. Michael Hall, Ph.D.

Executive Director, ISNS

738 Beaver Lodge

Grand Jct., CO. 81505 USA

meta at acsol.net

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