Knightsbridge Blog

You’ve bonded with your teammates; built trust and established open lines of communication. You’re a model of modern teamwork.  That is—until the playoffs pit your favorite team against the favorite of your colleague.  Whether it’s the NHL playoffs and you’re embroiled in an original-six rivalry,...

An executive asked me a really interesting question in a team session recently: “Which should be our first team?” What he was talking about was the divided loyalties of leading one team (your team of direct reports) and participating as a member of another team (the executive team).  It’s a great...

The biggest mistake that teams make is not answering the question “Why are we a team?” It seems the time has finally come when organizations are taking seriously the role of teams in productivity, growth, and innovation.  I’ve been busier than ever.  That means I’ve been meeting new teams and asking...

We've had a few new hires on the team recently and it's inspired me to share some tips for doing a great job of welcoming them and contributing to team effectiveness from the first moment on the job. Most of us have joined a company only to find no desk, no computer, or no one to eat with on day...

In my previous post, I argued that teams should stop trying to reduce tension and start using that tension to propel them forward. Doing so requires that you focus on the tension between what is today and what needs to be for the future. I call this vertical tension. To be effective, the vertical...

Teams are about relationships. Relationship are about communication. Communication is the sender AND the receiver. If there is one fundamental concept that you can apply to making your team more effective, it's to get really good at understanding intent and impact in communications. I see situations...

Over the last year, my colleagues and I at Knightsbridge have been working on building our social media presence. Many of my clients have started to reach out and ask how social media can help with leadership development. But before you can do that, you’ve got to know what social media actually is....

Don't do a team building session that will make things worse! Most team building methods dive into the “juicy” issues at the first session—sometimes on the first agenda item. This is a dangerous approach and makes it just as likely that your team will leave the session more bruised, more hostile, or...

Team building is for new teams and healthy teams. If you’ve got a Toxic Team, it will just make things worse! I’ve often been called into a truly toxic team only to hear that their attempt to fix issues of competence, trust, or decision-making consisted of a two-day offsite where they went...

Meetings are much maligned, but I bet you hate them because you’re talking too much about the wrong things and not enough about the right things. According to the website EffectiveMeetings.com, most business people spend about 25% of their time in meetings. These percentages get worse the higher you...

You might know what they eat for lunch or how they answer the phone, but you probably don’t know what you need to about your teammates. When I work with teams to help them become more effective, I always start with alignment. I shared the Knightsbridge approach to creating alignment in a six part...

Your organization is counting on your team to deliver. Doing so will probably mean changing the way you operate. This is the final post in a six part series on enhancing team effectiveness through better alignment. Step 1 is to connect your team to the outside environment. Step 2 is to orient to...

Knowing what your team needs to do is good. Knowing what it will take to make it happen is even better. This is the fifth in a six-part series on enhancing team effectiveness through better alignment. Step 1 is to connect your team to the outside environment. Step 2 is to orient the team to the...

In his book Trust Me: Four Steps to Authenticity and Charisma Dr. Nick Morgan shows how individuals can present an image of authenticity and respect for their audience - whether it’s a team, an executive meeting or through a one-on-one conversation. Nick’s four-step process is extremely valuable for...

Alignment is about more than a shared sense of purpose within the team. You need to articulate the mandate of your team so everyone knows your role. This is the fourth in a six-part series on enhancing team effectiveness through better alignment. Step 1 is to connect your team to the environment...

Stop wasting time adding value that others can add. You need to figure out the unique value of your team, and make sure you deliver what your organization needs. This is the third in a six-part series on enhancing team effectiveness through better alignment. Step 1 is to connect your team to the...

No team is an island. Figure out what your organization is trying to achieve. This is the second in a six-part series on enhancing team effectiveness through better alignment. In Step 1, I talked about the importance of connecting your team to the changing environment outside your organization....

Most teams are too disconnected from the outside world to know what they should be doing. This is the first in a six-part series on enhancing team effectiveness through better alignment. I’ll take you from the very beginning to a full set of team rules of engagement, with a lot of practical advice...

“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."  Anna Karenina –Tolstoy The same statement could be made of teams. There are an infinite number of ways that teams can be unhealthy. Each team member brings their own quirks and bad habits. Multiply those with the...

In my previous post, I shared my concern that many team leaders are permitting or even participating in passive aggressive behavior that's destroying team effectiveness.  This kind of behavior is extremely destructive because it drives conflict underground where it can’t fuel progress. It’s also a...