Introduction and module overview
Introduction
Sometimes theories are too theoretical, and the best engineered plan can face unexpected objections. In this module, we will take a look at some of the common ways used to explore team dynamics and motivations at work. We will then dive deeper into one relatively new approach, known as positive intelligence, to examine the most common ‘saboteur’ voices in people’s heads and how understanding your own saboteurs can define the practical steps you can take to ensure your message hits home.
People bring opinions, perspectives, feelings and sometimes even baggage into work. Any leader can tell you how frustrating it feels that their messages don’t seem to get heard, after significant investment in planning and preparing for change. Let’s be fair; when work pressures hit or patients seem more agitated than usual, it can feel like the messages you want to get through are quickly hijacked.
Leadership literature can help in building an understanding of how your team works. Three established schools are worthy of mention here. (You will find links for further background information at the end of the module.)
Leadership literature
Probably best known, the Myers-Briggs Type describes four dimensions of a personality:
- Introversion/extroversion (how a person gets energised)
- Sensing/intuition (how a person takes in information)
- Thinking/feeling (the means a person uses to make a decision)
- Judging/perceiving (the speed with which they make a decision).
Undoubtedly a gold standard test, Myers-Briggs is often used in talent management schemes or with executives to facilitate team building. Importantly, in the context of a pharmacy team, this framework can help leaders understand themselves as well as their career trajectory and, by understanding the personalities of the people around them, build a team that covers their blind spots. If you look around your team, you know who is good at what. By recognising this, you can assign aspects of a project or job to the people best suited to them.
This framework helps people to discover, articulate and refine their behavioural strengths at work. It’s based on the discovery that the most successful teams are made up of people who demonstrate a mix of behaviours. The framework suggests that people play nine different roles within teams – for example, the shaper, the completer finisher or the implementer. As a leader, if you can understand people’s natural roles, you can engage them in the proper sequence when carrying out a task.
A more dynamic and straightforward, approach, Eduard De Bono identifies six thinking hats: white (facts and figures), yellow (optimism, opportunism), red (emotions, intuition), green (creativity), black (risks) and blue (distance and control). If we assume that diverse thoughts can improve an idea or project and that there is a benefit to all of the thinking hats to create the very best then, as a leader, you can bring different thinking hats to a debate to strengthen the outcome. You can also use the tool to role play different sides of a decision within a team to augment your natural preference.
Each of these frameworks is powerful in helping you to understand yourself as a leader, and the team around you. Imagine you are a conductor of an orchestra – seeing your team as members of the orchestra can bring out their part of the melody and, when combined at the right time and in the right combination, can create a powerful tune.
These frameworks will give you a clear idea of the person in front of you and their potential so that you can help them fully reach that potential. However, in this module, we want to push your thinking further to give you an extra edge.
The truth is, irrespective of which business or industry you are in, most people are walking around with inner voices – their saboteur voices – that get in the way of happiness and success. As a leader, understanding that we all have a mix of these saboteur voices and finding ways of minimising the impact they can have on the group will help that person and the group find a way of reaching their potential, time and time again.