Why do you want to sideline your people?

As a true farmer, I’m not exactly eager to admit that we’ve actually had even more inquiries, meaning we haven’t won every client (yet!). What’s common in 99% of the requests is that they want us to develop their X-level leadership team. Most often, it’s through training or a training process to develop a specific skill, and less frequently through coaching, inspiring talks, or team-building programs.

It doesn’t matter—the point is that we close the door on a group of leaders. After all, they understand each other since they’re battling in the same swamp, facing the same difficulties, sharing the same joys, and the feeling of similarity and connection helps them bond.

And that’s true.

But then what happens?

These leaders go back to their own realities, with their new insights and altered behavior, and their teams look at them like aliens. What’s this guy up to now? Did he read another management book over the weekend?

For two weeks, they give it their best shot, but since they’re the only ones in the team who experienced that "things could be different," they slowly (with odds being the lowest at around the two-week mark) slip back into the familiar, “it might not be good, but at least we’re used to it” mode.

Senior management and HR then sadly conclude that this program, too, failed to meet its original goal, and our culture continues to evolve at the slow, glacial pace David Attenborough would narrate. But hey, you’re not even surprised by this.

However, there is a success story too.

In some cases, it’s become clear that it’s not individuals who need to be developed, only to parachute them back into their teams as guerrilla warriors, hoping they’ll bring the long-awaited revolution. Instead, it’s about developing teams together. When a 5-8-10 person team, along with their leader, sits down and really digs into what’s working and, more importantly, what’s not, when they hash things out to the point that instead of grumbling about each other behind their backs in the kitchen, they start sharing their difficulties openly in the team, when they can confront each other and find shared agreements, that’s when team development happens.

Why?

Because everyone in the team was there.

Everyone who put in the energy to reach a consensus. Everyone who can remind each other, “Hey, this isn’t what we agreed on.” You won’t be an alien anymore, or at least not in your own team. Instead, your team will become the one in the company that’s excelling, that’s broken free from the old swamp. In these cases, skill development is rarely needed. Let’s face it, the issue isn’t whether you know how to give feedback. Of course, you know - or at least you’ve got an idea.

The real question is whether the other person understands your feedback.

The question is whether you dare to give feedback.

To him.

To them.

And that’s why you need to develop together.