Consider this example.
A team has just concluded a meeting about how they were going to achieve a near term goal. There was a headed debate about how to move forward. Several don’t agree with some of the proposals. They believe strongly in their point of view. A decision is made. Each member of the team gets behind the decision even if they previously disagreed with that course of action. How can passionate leaders drop their disagreement and align behind a decision?It happens all the time.
In this case the team is a football team. Every play is a debate, decision and alignment progress that takes place in 45 seconds. It’s third down and four yards to a first down. The on-field team comes together in the huddle. The wide receiver says “throw me the ball across the middle.” The running back says “give me the ball. I’ll run off tackle”. The play is called as an end run. The team breaks huddle. Everyone on the field knows what they have to do to execute. It is expected that each player will “own” the play and execute with excellence. This play was successful. Not every play yields the intended results yet each player must own the decisions of the huddle to have any chance of winning the game.
- Does your team know how to debate openly?
- Does each member typically align around a decision once it is made?
- What if the decision does not yield the intended results?
- What would it take for you to align behind a decision that you did not agree with?
- What conditions need to be in place for team members to execute what’s expected of them once the decision is made?
