The Game of Teams
Tara Nolan
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Team Better Together with Bernard Desmidt
Introduction: Bernard Desmidt is an accomplished Coach, Facilitator, Speaker and Author. His first book is called; Inside Out Leadership: How to master the 4 Principles of Effective Leadership and become the Leader that others will follow. His second book is called: Team Better Together and is the subject of the Podcast. Bernard was born in South Africa and he lived there until he was 38 and then he emigrated to Australia where he now lives with his wife and children. Podcast Episode Summary To flourish as a team is a choice. It takes discipline and in this episode Bernard Desmidt helps us appreciate the 5 disciplines teams can apply to get at impactful results & meaningful relationships. In addition Bernard litters this episode with nuggets of wisdom and incites to help understand the work of teaming better together. Points made over the episode Bernard starts this podcast by sharing a story of his background that he has only recently shared publicly. 3 African expressions inform his way of being and working today Sibona -a Zulu word for hello, which means “I see you and by seeing you, I bring you into being. By seeing each other is this way we hold each other with respect, dignity and legitimacy Ubuntu- Means to affirm an others humanity, by recognising their uniqueness and their differences. This expression acknowledges our interconnectedness Hambi Gashi – means “Go well, gently in peace and carefully. Bernard spent 20 years in corporate life with companies like ICI and Goodyear in South Africa where he recognised the considerable waste of time on teams and the inherent dysfunction that often resides with teams After an outburst on an executive team, where Bernard was a member, the team engaged in Team Coaching. That was where Bernard met Peter Stephenson, a pioneer in team coaching in Australia at the time. Bernard recognised that he had found the work he was meant to do in the world and joined Peter’s company. The motivation to write Teams Better Together was born out of Bernard’s experience working with teams. The Paradox -The 80-60-20 heuristic shares that 80% of Leaders spend 60% or their organisational life on teams and only 20% of those teams flourish. High performing teams are elusive because Teams rise and fall by the quality of their relationships and until this is understood it is unlikely teams will co-ordinate wall and relate well together to get impactful results. It is important to invite teams to share their lived experience on teams to assess the quality of lived relationships – do team members hold each other with the same respect as they wish for themselves? Are they open to learning together? Is there sufficient trust and safety to speak concerns openly and honestly? These are some of the questions that can be asked to determine the quality of relations on teams Bernard administers an assessment against 5 disciplines. Two indicators in the fifth discipline score the lowest Team Behaviour & shared ways of working have been identified & consistently upheld Team members are open to receiving & giving feedback to each other on performance and behaviours The practice of observing a team in action whilst sitting in the corner of a room can often be the best form of due diligence of the effectiveness of a team. To flourish as a team is a choice. A High Performing Team is like an elite athlete, they employ rigorous discipline Teams are living systems that need to evolve, learn and adapt. Teams need to be able and willing to open themselves up to new ways of thinking, being and doing Teams need to acknowledge their interdepended nature, to know that relationships matter and have to be cultivated and will impact the impact of their results. 4 Team Types are distinguishable with discernment. Two dysfunctional teams reveal themselves as combative or competitive Two functional teams can be identified as Cohesive and Collaborative or Flourishing. There exists a subtle distinctions worth pris
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