This pandemic has been a great teacher. It helped me understand, how the whole world is a connected system, where the parts are not only interrelated, but also impact each other. Hence solutions cannot be unidimensional

The 60+ days of lockdown, has helped me look at the family unit through a different lens - as my team, with me as their leader. This is about what enabled us to come together and emerge as a high performing team.

As the lock down started, it seemed surreal and soon the realization came about that, it was here to stay for some time. This galvanized the Hero, the leader, which was me, (who had it all figured out), into action. I took decisions, called for actions, led from the front, offered solutions, rescued team members (when required) and ensured that the team functioned smoothly and delivered results. Beyond a very short period of time, it proved to be unsustainable for me, as it took more effort to keep the team motivated, to get them to collaborate and deliver results

It was time to have a dialogue with the team, which lead to realignment and delegation of responsibilities. While such participative discussions enabled me as the leader to shed the cape, it put responsibilities squarely on each family / team member. However, it still required a lot of telling, pushing, prodding to get this team to collaborate to achieve the goals. Again, it was unsustainable for me � the leader, and my family � the team; as the stress got redistributed from; just the leader to leader plus all team members and many things fell through the gaps visible in the collaborative fabric of the team.

The context for the team was also changing rapidly (with news of cases spiking, managing supplies and individual commitments, WFH & online classes), bringing new practices and greater demands on each one�s time.

�I am because we are� (Ubuntu)

Yet again, a dialogue was needed. This time the dialogue was different, due to the change in the context. The threat from the external environment, pivoted the team from a �me� to �we� perspective as the systemic impact of each team member�s action and inaction (Dos and Don�ts to stay healthy and safe) was visible throughout the system (home, gated community, neighborhood). The common, shared purpose of our team evolved to keeping each other safe and enable each other to achieve individual and team commitments. It was different this time. There was no need to push and prod the team. Suddenly the responsibility was a collective one, the interdependencies of goals and actions became clear, there was a spurt in collaboration and adaptability to the changing environment and it truly became a high performing team

Learnings that changed my perspective

�When you�re surrounded by people who share a passionate commitment around a common purpose, anything is possible.� - Howard Schultz

• Hero Leadership cannot sustain in the long run particularly in this rapidly changing world. It is not conducive for development and growth of team members and has a negative correlation with collaboration.
• Directive and Participative Leadership works when there is the predictability of a playbook.
• Emerging realization that actions (& inactions) have a systemic impact rather than being isolated in impact.
• A group of people working together is not a team. A real team is one which has a shared purpose and is interdependent.
• Ownership of the purpose drives collaboration and engagement.
• Speed of change today, requires agility in response, which requires shared leadership.

In conclusion, a high-performance team is one that is driven by shared purpose, demonstrates high ownership by collaborating to achieve that purpose.

Saraswathi G Anand

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