Finding the Courage to Be a Leader
by Ram Charan

Posted on Wednesday, February 28, 2007, 12:00AM

Maybe you're sold on the idea that behind every great leader there's a great team. You're confident enough to hire the best people you can find, and have a keen eye for spotting individuals with top-notch skills and abilities. You do a good job of matching people's strengths to the non-negotiable criteria of their various jobs.

Now, can you get those high-caliber individuals to work well together?

Molding the Team Dynamic

Assembling a team of strong individuals is not the same as molding a team. And if your direct reports aren't working as a well-synchronized team, the rest of your organization won't either.

Your direct reports should be collaborating, communicating, and working across silos ordinarily and spontaneously. They should be able to work out their differences as they arise, without having to involve you every time.

If that kind of collaboration isn't occurring, you have work to do. It's your responsibility to control the team dynamic, just as you are ultimately responsible for its output. As the leader, you have to shape how the various members of the team interact and work with -- or against -- each other. In short, you have to master the know-how of molding a team of direct reports.

No More Divide and Conquer

Many leaders think they're building a team because they have strong relationships with each of their direct reports. They have frequent conversations with their people one-on-one, often behind closes doors, where the leader makes decisions and allocates resources and maybe seeks advice from a few confidants.

There's a problem with this approach. Other team members don't know what their peers have discussed with the boss, or the reasons why decisions and resources went one way or the other. Suspicions and jealousies are easily aroused, and nobody sees the total picture of where the group is going and how their goals and priorities interconnect.

All this has a chilling effect on the team dynamic. You simply cannot mold a team by dividing its members.

Why Leading a Team Takes Guts

You need self-confidence and intestinal fortitude to mold a team of direct reports, so that you:

• Aren't afraid of open discussion

You should assemble your team frequently to bring decisions and issues into the open, to focus on the common ground, and so that everyone hears the same thing at the same time.

Transparency builds a team, but leaders are often afraid of it. Your direct reports are likely to be very successful, highly motivated individuals, which is partly why you chose them in the first place. When you seek their input, therefore, you are dealing with smart, opinionated people.

Will they be unhappy if they don't get their way? Will you be able to retain your authority, or will the most domineering personality prevail? Will they gang up on you in a kind of palace revolt? If so, will you be able to hold your ground? You have to wrestle with your unconscious fears.

You have to have the guts to draw conflicts to the surface without knowing how they'll be resolved, to present ideas without knowing how they will be received, and to invite input without knowing if it's what you want to hear. If you don't demonstrate openness, your people won't either. And they'll see through leaders who fake it -- espousing openness but immediately shutting down contradictory views.

• Don't hesitate to make the final call

Some leaders embrace the spirit of openness and participatory management to a fault. They essentially relinquish their decision-making authority to the group.

While you'll want to hear out the views of your team members, when decision time comes, you have to be prepared to make -- or force -- a decision. You have to ensure every debate has closure, and what's more, you have to ensure that the decision is correct.

Accountability ultimately falls to you, and you alone, as the leader. If you believe the decision of the group is wrong, you must have the courage to override it and withstand the group's reaction.

• Stand up to a team member who's not a team player

When an individual behaves in a way that undermines the team, a strong leader won't shy away from nipping the situation in the bud by confronting him or her. Addressing the individual in a group setting sends a clear signal to everyone about what behavior is and is not tolerated.

I've seen gutsy leaders redress a high-powered, high-ego team member who was taking potshots at a colleague, saying things like, "I'm sure Bob will seek your input if he needs it."

Direct, one-on-one discussion with the person can also be effective. When the head of a bank got wind that one of his direct reports was telling people in the field that the agreed-upon strategy was wrong and was going to change, the leader immediately stepped in. He called a meeting with the direct report and confronted him about his behavior, explaining how criticism was undermining the group's trust and focus and questioning whether the person really wanted to be part of the team. It was an awkward conversation, but one the leader neither postponed nor avoided.

• Act swiftly to remove team members when necessary

It can be hard to assemble an effective team, and even harder to face the fact that a talented member is a chronic disrupter. You must have the guts to pull the trigger on a direct report whose inability to work as part of a group outweighs his individual contribution.

It also takes courage to make the judgment to hang in there with a direct report who's mildly disruptive but whose expertise is simply too valuable to do without.