The Labor Debacle:

Failure of Leadership or failure of team?

 

 

 

The Gillard/Rudd farce is more a failure of the team than a failure of leadership. The federal government runs a $1.3 trillion business with the Senior Leadership Team being the Cabinet. It is rare (although there have been examples) of a Senior Leadership Team behaving so ineffectively that it jeopardises the entire organisation.

There are three reasons why the Labor team failed.

First, and most important, they lost sight of their purpose. High performing teams cling tenaciously to why they are there. The ‘why’ unites a team by providing a clear picture of the future. It also keeps the strong ego’s in check.

Second, inconsistent behaviour of MP’s undermined the team’s effectiveness. High performing teams agree on the behaviours that will build trust, conflict, commitment, accountability and results (see Lencioni’s work on dysfunctions of a team). These behaviours are displayed by all members of the team and are firmly enforced. Oh, did I mention trust?

Third, the actual workings of the team contributed to its collapse. The processes and mechanics of a team including decision making and communication rhythm are hygiene factors. In other words if you don’t have them a team won’t perform, but having them won’t guarantee high performance.

Will Team Labor come back from this crisis? Everything occurs in cycles, so yes, they will bounce back in time as long as the focus is on the team not just the leadership.

 
Team trumps ego any day.