What kind of leadership destroys your sense of belonging, of community, and fractures relationships on a team? What role do leaders play in the process of fostering (or inhibiting) a sense of unity and cohesion among team members? Here are some pitfalls to avoid and to confront in others when we pursue individualism at the expense of building a relational community moving together to achieve success.
Blinded by Vision
A vision is only as good as the reality it produces. Leaders obsessed with what could be fail to see what is. They are constantly running on vision fumes. Teammates and followers become frustrated and then trust in a leader vaporizes. World War II activist and religious leader Dietrich Bonhoeffer observed “the one who loves his dream of community more than the community itself, destroys the latter.” We could paraphrase today: “The leader who loves their vision more than their people, alienates them.” It is easy to get so obsessed with our cause, mission, product launch, set of values or even our service to a needy community, that we miss the destructive impact of our vision obsession, failing to see and support those we seek to help.
Pre-occupied with Structure
One of my favorite mantra’s working with leaders and teams is: “The structure serves the people—the people don’t serve the structure.” Or think of it this way: when the model becomes the master, community building’s a disaster (ok, a catchy rhyme, but a deep truth.) Structure-focused management versus people-driven leadership produces a reliance on organizational means to accomplish relational outcomes. You can put people in a group—but it takes a relational culture to turn them into a community. We wrongly expect policies, chain of command and power systems to foster a sense of corporate community. Instead we get top-down, top-dog leadership styles that become an unhealthy norm and destroy a true sense of community.
Decidedly Irresponse-ible
Leaders are “the voice” for a key initiative and are tasked with guiding others to rally around it. But a leader who shuns input from others and fails to consider their collective wisdom and insights, leaves followers feeling disconnected and devalued. We fail to listen with empathy, do not respond to the thoughts and ideas of others for the purpose of learning. Michael Hoppe’s Active Listening is a big help. Real listening takes some humility and work—but it goes a long way toward becoming a community.
To be clear: a person who is not a responsive leader, is not a responsible leader.
Focused on “Self”- Improvement
The inclination to use people instead of empowering them kills any team or community. When leaders make decisions from self-interest or self-promotion others lose respect for them and then passion for the shared mission fizzles. You notice this when team leaders design meetings to meet personal needs or interests; staff members focus mostly on numbers and the success of large initiatives or huge events; senior leaders make decisions to enhance personal agendas, and all this happens at the expense of the people we are called to lead.
Let’s look at our own leadership approach and style, and ask the hard questions. Are my self-focused actions and mindset destroying the community I set out to build? Have I—or have we—lost our focus? Am I obsessed with using my own vision and rigid structure to drive team success? If so, it’s time to change. And it starts with me.
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