Thoughts from the Field - Issue #15 - April 2013

The Impact of "Rock Stars" on Healthy Teams
By, Kristine Kern
A rock star team member. Sounds great, right? Who doesn't want to have at least one of those on their team? Life would be so much easier. We'd meet our goals; hit our numbers; take more vacation time. What exactly do I mean by rock star, though? I'm talking about those team members who consistently perform above and beyond their peers. They may be able to do so based on pure talent, or blood, sweat and tears, or more nefarious methods — but the point is they get things done.

Thoughts from the Field - Issue #14 - February 2013

Organizational Overload
By, Glenn Lyday
Despite what you might think, your employees don't actually enjoy sleeping underneath their cubes at night. Your colleagues, and please don't take offense to this, would probably rather be home watching American Idol with their families than be stuck in the office with you. And, even though your boss is the one that created this deadline, he likely doesn't enjoy torturing you into working through the entire weekend. Likely. And yet, here you all are. In the office.

Thoughts from the Field - Issue #13 - November 2012

Accountability – A Precursor to Succes
By, Pat Richie
About five years ago two NFL teams replaced their very hard-nosed coaches. Players on both teams believed the new guys selected were going to be very different from their past coaches. In fact, the players from both teams told the press how great it would be to now have a "players coach". Team A had one player who said, "The last guy was just too hard on us!" Much to the delight of the players of Team A, practices were easier, pressure was off and life seemed good.

Thoughts from the Field - Issue #12 - September 2012

Your Circle of Influence – Seize the Power
By, Mary Silva Doctor
When I first heard of Stephen Covey’s passing this summer, I immediately thought of, and expressed gratitude for, one of the concepts from his book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, that we use regularly in our client work – the circle of influence-circle of concern. When working with a team that isn’t the executive leadership, like IT or sales executives, inevitably there’s discussion very early in the session about being the victim of company forces outside of their control – "If only the company had an overall plan, then we would know what to work on" or "If only Joe from marketing wasn’t such a controlling bully, then we could move more quickly." In fact, I first learned this model prior to my work as a consultant, when I was a member on an IT leadership team whining about this at a Table Group Off-site.

Thoughts from the Field - Issue #11- July 2012

The Peril of Becoming a Cohesive Leadership Team
By, David Simpson
One of the most frequent "aha" moments I've seen in my experience working with leadership teams is around the importance of being a cohesive team and the impact it has on improving the health of an organization. This foundational principle is front and center in Pat's latest book, The Advantage, as well as previous books; most notably, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. It is fascinating to see the light come on as leaders comprehend the concept of "team number one" and as they realize the importance of committing to being a fully-invested member of the leadership team, above all else.

Table Group consultants share their insights on how Pat's models work within organizations.