Do You Trust Your Team?

The majority of team leaders and facilitators that I’ve met want to build their team’s capacity. They want to see their team do good work; they want to see teammates thrive. But when I ask them this question: Do you trust your team? They freeze. 

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They look down. And then away. And then sometimes they say, “I don’t know…maybe not.” 

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To be clear: I’m not judging this response. Maybe there's a good reason not to trust their team. Maybe that’s an honest and accurate assessment. And still, the freeze or flinch or flicker of shame comes from the awareness that without trusting their team, they won’t accomplish their goals. 

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Do you trust your team? 

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If not, what would it take for you to trust them? 

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I’ll give you part of the answer to that question: To trust your team as a whole, and to trust individual teammates, you have to trust yourself.

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Do you trust yourself? 

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What would it take for you to trust yourself?

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I’ll give you part of the answer to that question: To trust yourself you’ve got to have a level of competence and confidence, in this case, perhaps as a team leader. 

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Do you feel competent and confident as a team facilitator?