Why Your "Team" Might Not Be a Team at All

5-minute read | Read post in browser 

"We’re a team." It’s a phrase thrown around in every workplace. But is it true?

Not every group of people working together is a team. If you’re leading without clarity, you might just be managing a collection of individuals—not a team.

It Starts With You: The Role of Personal Clarity in Leadership

Before we talk about leading teams, let’s talk about leading yourself.

Your leadership style—your strengths, blind spots, and decision-making patterns—sets the tone for how your team functions. Whether you realize it or not, the way you lead determines:

• Whether your team trusts you.
• How they handle conflict and accountability.
• If they’re aligned and committed or working in silos.

If you’re not clear on how you show up as a leader, your team will feel that uncertainty. That’s why team dysfunction—or success— starts at the top.

Not Every Group is a Team—Let’s Get Clear on the Difference

There’s a difference between a collection of talented people and a team that truly operates as one.

Think about sports. In some games, one exceptional player can carry the entire team. In others, success depends on every player executing their role—one mistake can derail everything.

The same is true in leadership. If your team is only functioning because of a few key players, it’s not really a team.

In The Wisdom of Teams, Jon Katzenbach defines a true team as a small group of people committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and mutual accountability.

So before we talk about leading a team, ask yourself:

📍 Do you have a team—or just people working alongside each other?
📍 Are you fostering shared commitment or simply managing tasks?

Because here’s the truth: If you don’t have clarity in your own leadership, your “team” will remain a collection of individuals operating in silos.

How Leadership Blind Spots Fuel Team Dysfunction

Lencioni’s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team highlights five core reasons teams fail:

1. Absence of Trust
2. Fear of Conflict
3. Lack of Commitment
4. Avoidance of Accountability
5. Inattention to Results

But these dysfunctions don’t just happen—they’re often caused or reinforced by leadership blind spots.

Leadership Blind Spots That Undermine Teams

1. Inconsistent Leadership → Erodes Trust
   When leaders change expectations, operate unpredictably, or withhold transparency, trust deteriorates. Teams need to know what to expect from their leader to feel secure enough to engage fully.
2. Overly Hands-Off Leadership → Avoids Necessary Conflict
   Leaders who step back too much in the name of empowerment often create uncertainty instead of ownership. Avoiding difficult conversations doesn’t build safety—it creates avoidance and misalignment.
3. Micromanagement or Lack of Direction → Weakens Commitment
   Some leaders over-control; others provide too little clarity. Both approaches make it difficult for teams to feel invested in decisions. True commitment comes from a balance of structure and autonomy.
4. Overemphasizing Team Wins → Undermines Individual Accountability
   If accountability is only addressed at the team level, individuals may disengage, assuming their personal contributions don’t matter. Recognizing both individual impact and collective results is key.
5. Prioritizing Individual Wins Over Team Success → Creates Silos
   When a leader focuses more on their own success than the team’s, misalignment follows. Personal agendas take priority, and the team stops operating as a cohesive unit.
   
   

The Transition: From Personal Clarity to Team Success

Lencioni makes it clear—trust isn’t built through team-building exercises. It’s built when leaders model vulnerability first.

When trust is missing, dysfunction takes over.

So how do you move from personal clarity to building a team that truly works together?

Here’s the shift:

• From control → to delegation (building trust)
• From self-preservation → to candor (enabling productive conflict)
• From personal wins → to shared success (ensuring commitment and accountability).
  
  

If you want a high-performing team, you don’t just lead the work—you lead the people doing the work.

Challenge: What’s one area where you need to shift your leadership approach to strengthen your team?