Quite often, when people speak about teaming, they talk about Tuckman’s stages of Group Development of Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing. As stated in most of these discussions, teams can cycle back through these stages.
So, what is a leader to do when approaching a new team? Advice is plentiful in this area, but I believe it is as simple as following a bird’s nesting behavior. A bird’s nesting approach is Adapt, Build, Care, and Disrupt.
ADAPT
As a bird adapts to her environment when building her nest, a leader must adapt to their environment also. Allow time to create a view of the culture. Adapt your style to the workplace and people. Study team dynamics and adverse behaviors. Attention should be taken to understand the risks that may be taken to improve the team, and all your learning should be applied in the Build phase.
BUILD
After adapting and learning the environment, it is time to build. A bird will build her nest and improve upon what she can with what she has. The building phase applies to building relationships, building new habits within the team, and improving upon the foundation that is already set.
CARE
Just as a bird cares for her young, a leader will care for his/her team. Care for the culture and habits you have built. Care for the relationships with people in your team. Care by developing their talents even further.
DISRUPT
As a bird leaves her nest, a leader will place himself outside the team and understand where the appropriate disruption is needed to advance the organization. This disruption must be done with intent to improve, and the intention must be transparent to the team. The cycle can then start over by adapting to the disruption
ADAPT to & Assess your environment
BUILD on the Base of relationships & habits
CARE for the Culture
DISRUPT with the intentional Advancement
This simple approach can be applied with great care and attention as a new team leader.
Consider This Thought 