Have you ever imagined what it is like to be at an HSM Special Management Program? After all, it is an extremely exclusive, limited capacity opportunity. Well, since we are approaching the end of the year, and the season of giving has put me in the spirit, my gift to you is a glimpse inside this week's Building Winning Teams with Patrick Lencioni.
Along with the CEOs and CFOs in attendance were an array of executives representing a cross section of industries, both from the US and outside the US. It was an impressive who's who of the business world including the Chief Administrative Officer of the largest children's hospital in the US, a risk manager from a major financial services firm, a consultant who works with family businesses, top Human Resource executives from agricultural, healthcare, pharmaceutical, software, defense, telecom, and television were also in attendance. People attended both with 4 or 5 team members joining them, while others came on their own as the sole representatives of their firms.
You see, in the challenging times in which we are competing today, these executives realize how crucial it is to build and maintain winning teams. Without a winning team, it is impossible to execute effectively, efficiently and profitably. Without a winning team, forget about being in the game.
So, what did Pat talk about? To begin with, he talked about the two requirements for success - smart teams and healthy teams....Incidentally, how would you assess your team? He spent alot of time discussing this based on a bit of prework attendees had completed prior to coming to the event. So, how smart is your team? How healthy is it? Do you know --- is it more important to be smart or healthy?
Pat also talked about the 5 Dysfunctions of a Team:
* Absence of Trust
* Fear of Conflict
* Lack of Commitment
* Avoidance of Accountability
* Inattention to Results
How dysfunctional is your team? Do you know that if there is not trust within your team, your team will fear conflict? Without conflict, the "right" issues will not surface, will not be addressed, and will not be resolved. Dysfunction will prevail. Pat says that "great teams argue". Great teams argue???? Yes, he explains that trust enables us to have "good arguments around the right things". Trust is the foundation upon which great teams are built.
If I may speak for Pat, he had a great time. In fact, he must have said 5 times that he felt like "a kid in a candy store" because he loved the active engagement and participation of the attendees. With regard to all of the questions attendees were asking, he commented that there were "lots of great questions. I love this!" How often do you attend events during which you get to ask whatever is on your mind whenever it enters your mind???
People wanted to know about:
* Managing up when there is no trust
* Gaining buy in from the top
* "Healthy" conflict
* Constructive vs destructive confrontation
* Being friends with co-workers
* Peer pressure and accountability
Other discussions were around running effective meetings and the 3 signs of a miserable job! After this discussion, nearly 100% of attendees raised their hands when asked how many now thought they had insight into things they could do right away to ensure that people in their organizations were not miserable in their jobs. Although maintaining high morale and employee satisfaction is always extremely important, it is a key to success particularly in challenging times. You want and need an "A team" on its "A game". Learning how to recognize, remedy and reverse misery among team members is a huge, valuable, and priceless takeaway!
What were some of the things attendees told us they liked about the program?
* Speaker "awesome"
* The practical applications
* The contextual discussion that drove points home - both by Pat and the audience
* Pat's interaction with the attendees
* The open forum
* Ability to ask questions directly to speaker
* Good practical takeaways
* Audience participation
While the intent of this post is, in fact, to let you know what you missed, it is decidely NOT intended to make anyone feel excluded from this exclusive gathering because you have 2 more opportunities in the months ahead to participate. Patrick Lencioni's Building Winning Teams will be taking place on March 10 - 11, 2009 in New York City, and on March 18 - 19, 2009 in San Francisco. While there is still space available, and as you put together your "to do" list for next year, make sure that "Register for Building Winning Teams with Patrick Lencioni's" is # 1 on that list. For more information and to register, please visit www.hsmglobal.com/us/lencioni.
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