The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

The role of a school counselor is an intriguing one because they do not work with a specific type of client. While they will always be working with young children or teenagers, the problems their clients come to them with can be so different from client to client. One session might be dealing with questions about career choices. Another might be about dealing with bullying. Some days a school counselor may even have to be there for a child who was a victim of sexual or physical abuse. It is because of this wide range of demands that a school counselor should be well-versed in many types of counseling theories.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni is a leadership fable centered on a fictitious up and coming technology firm called DecisionTech. DecisionTech located outside of Silicon Valley. Patrick Lencioni used this fictitious technology firm and its executive team, also known as “The Staff,” with very diverse characteristics to explain his five dysfunctions of a team. In addition to how each of the dysfunctions can hurt not only the team but also the company.

Throughout the beginning of the book ‘The Five Dysfunction of a Team” by Patrick Lencioni it was apparent that the DecisionTech, Inc. executive team was not a team at all. This group of individuals lacked some of the key attributes that make great teams. One of the most important attributes that was being neglected was that the executive group did not have interdependent members. This attribute was highlighted in the beginning of the book when the author said “Backstabbing among the executives had become an art. There was no sense of unity or camaraderie on the team, which translated into a muted level of commitment” (7). Due to the executive teams lack of interdependence, critical deadlines began to slip and morale deteriorated.

In his book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, recognized analyst Patrick Lencioni (2002), employs the literary style of injecting tales to stretch out a down to earth message of the rights and wrongs of group leaders. Lencioni believes there are five dysfunctions at the focal point of why teams often fall short. Lencioni illustrates, through his fable, the common barriers presented, a dynamic model, and active steps that can be used to build an effective and powerful group.

Andrew Carnegie, the eminent American industrialist and philanthropist, said “Teamwork is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results”. This fuel generates the drive and motivation necessary for a group of people to come together and work towards a common interest. I have always been amazed by the amount of success a cohesive team achieves while pursuing its goal. However, I have experienced it first hand and know that a team can be chaotic and inefficient when influenced by a few factors. Over the last three weeks, I have learned a great deal on various elements affecting an organization. One key lesson among them is the factors which can make or break a team, leaving long-lasting impact on an organization.

As a professional school counselor, I will have both the ability and responsibility to assist children and adolescents in the imperative task of taking responsibility for growth that nurtures self-esteem and effective functioning. I must accept responsibility for improving educational practices through continuing my own education and participating in professional development activities. Providing children with a positive school experience paves the way for a more successful academic career. This is done in a professional manner that fosters personal growth and academic success regardless of race, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, physical or mental ability.

The Five Dysfunctions of a team are absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability and inattentin to results. Each of these items will lead team to failure eventually. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team written by Patrick Lencioni address each of these in detail.

I found the book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team very interesting. I have never really set down and thought about dysfunctions of a business or a team for that manner. This really hit home to me because as I kept reading I found that I had seen some of the dysfunctions that the book talks about in my own personal work experience. After reading this book I know that I will be able to recognize theses dysfunctions in other companies that I am a part of. I really liked how easy it was to follow what was going on in the book. It all took place in a logical order. I think that the pyramid worked really well. I think that if I was part of the company in the book that the pyramid would have got the idea that Kathryn was trying to get across

It is in the interest of the counselor to present with knowledge and a proper understanding of the job he/she has signed on to perform. In doing so, he/she will promote social emotional, career, relational and professional relationships. This will be done by utilizing the practices and theories of counseling to propel students, teachers, and administrators forward. The counselor is the common denominator, so he must keep abreast of all new policies and techniques constructed to engage the students, and professionals ensuring that he is a help and not a hindrance.

I chose to read The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni, this book is a fable about a fictitious company learning about teamwork and becoming unified. Lencioni uses a storyline to attract readers to understand his model of effective teamwork that the audience can relate to. The newly appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kathryn was hired to make these executives into a unified team that can show results using the five dysfunctions model. The model is a simple process but can be difficult to get the all the executives on the same page.

The author, Patrick Lencioni, has experienced great success. He wrote eleven books and sold over five million copies, and his books were translated into more than thirty languages. The author is emphasizing the issues that will make a team come together and build a strong team. As he mentioned in The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, first, the absence of trust; in every team, there should be trust in order to achieve one common goal. For any team that lacks trust, it is difficult to accomplish their goal. In addition, teams experience fear of conflict. When a team fears conflict, it happens because there is lack of trust. Trust brings togetherness to a team. When there is trust, no one fears conflict because every member of the team works on the same understanding. Thirdly, lack of commitment: a team has to be very committed to one another. When a team has a commitment to the company, it makes the team strong. The fourth point is avoidance of accountability. Every member of a team has to be accountable to themselves. Without commitment, it is hard to hold each other accountable for any issues on the team; every member of a team has to be responsible. Lastly, inattention to results: every organization needs a result, as a result of growth in the company, not a personal ego but collectively. These are the five dysfunctions a team that wants to be successful has to focus on. Leaders should be able to bring their best and possible changes into the system of their organization to better the company, just like Kathryn, who does not have any experience in DecisionTech.

Counseling at any level affords a unique opportunity to observe and interact with whatever developmental stage student is at the time. School counselors have a very good connection with kids. When students have someone to talk to about their grades or classes they go to a school counselor most of the time. Having someone to talk to about the position they are facing is very helpful because they get to open up more to someone that understands and can help them in many ways. School counselors arrange classes, keep track of grades, and solve problems so that the issue doesn’t get addressed with the principle. It was very fascinating to me to see how my counselor watched me as I grow up and finish high school in a successful way.

Patrick Lencioni had an interesting and instrumental lecture about the five dysfunctions of a team.

Besides the issues that we were experiencing as a team, we also were experiencing other issues from the entire college. For six years out of ten years no one in the college received a pay increase with their evaluations. This added to the issues within our team, and increased a decline in employee morale. Adding no pay increases or no type of incentive for rewards of doing a great job made many of the team members feel like nobody cared about the type of work we did. Especially, about the work ethic that we were trying to uphold even within our declining work environment. The dysfunctions of our team became apparent to not just the team members but also the students, and some faculty and staff members.

As you stated, Jeff is clearly a talented leader. I think the answer that portrays his leadership the most is the question asking him his approach to communication. I believe that communication can make or break a leader. Having effective communication can make the biggest difference. This answer explains that effective communication may not come easy to him, but he knows it is important, so he works on it (Jagiela, 2001). A leader does not have to have everything already worked out; a leader will revolve and change over time. This is something we have learned in our book, leadership style is not sufficient in effective leadership; but, rather having the ability to adapt to new or changing environments (Ledlow and Stephens, 2014, p. 10). He understands that he most adapts to the person he is trying to lead.