Time to Review the Health of Your Team

Patrick Lencioni is one of America’s foremost leadership and management consultants. He’s written extensively about how organizations function most effectively. Virtually all of his research, consulting and writings focus on the performance of people and their interactions with each other.

Now that financial incentives to affiliate with one broker over another is climbing, it may be useful to focus on what creates and maintains a healthy organizational culture. When brokerage firms talk about their strong cultures, it’s important to focus on what is at the core.

Lencioni’s’ book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, is where I think it all starts. Here they are in summarized version.

Absence of Trust. The fear of being vulnerable with team members prevents the building of TRUST within the team.

Fear of Conflict. The desire to preserve ARTIFICIAL HARMONY stifles the occurrence of productive, ideological conflict.

Lack of Commitment. The lack of CLARITY or BUY-IN prevents team members from making decisions to which they will stick.

Avoidance of Accountability. The need to avoid interpersonal discomfort prevents team members from holding one another ACCOUNTABLE for their behavior and performance.

Inattention to results. The pursuit of individual goals and personal status ERODES the focus on collective success.

WHY BRING THIS UP NOW?

While aggressive agent recruiting has always been a factor in residential brokerage, no one would contend that this recent wave is more prevalent than at any time in recent memory. The fundamental truth is that it’s not always and only about the commission split. Many other factors enter into an agent’s decision where they affiliate their business. At the heart of this are the features and benefits of a brokerage company, and also the feeling by an agent and a firm’s leadership that there is something unique and special about a company.

We know of many brokerage firms that, although they may have lost agents in this recent wave of aggressive recruiting, are still doing their own recruiting and growing. Their ability to do so is not based solely on financial metrics but on revealing what is unique about their company to the agents who work there.

Lencioni’s dysfunctions are an excellent way to focus you and your team on the fact that the only thing you can control is your behavior and results.