My colleague and I were working with a senior management team from a well-known technology company. We were in the afternoon of day one of a two-day session.
The team was engaged in important conversation about low team scores for Trust and Accountability — except for two team members who were clearly not taking this seriously.
In fact, they were creating a distraction — at least in my mind — a distraction that was undermining the team’s effort.
I could feel myself losing patience and I had already zeroed in on one of the two main troublemakers.
My tone was getting sharper. I was hooked. This team member’s behavior was at the root of a lack of responsibility that infected the team, in my judgment.
Fortunately, my colleague, my co-coach, had the dear presence of mind to see this as an issue for the team as a whole, not just about one or two team members’ actions.
She picked up on the theme of the question I asked about responsibility and took it to the team. It was deftly done and engaged the team in the topic.
There was relief in the air. On the break, we talked about it and my appreciation for her intervention.
This experience illustrates one of the key benefits of team coaching in pairs: a lifeline when one of the coaches is lost. Read the full article to learn more.