Can a Team Builder be a leader?
Written by a Team Builder / Luminary
Let’s say you manage a team. If you had to pick between having a team that performs perfectly but hates you OR a team that’s just okay but loves you, which option would you choose?
Niccolo Machiavelle famously expressed, “It is better to be feared than loved…”. Maybe to some roles this is the case, but to the Team Builder, love always wins. The manager that plays Team Builder the most would take the just okay team knowing that strength-based coaching and unity could result in performance too.
Many people who play Team Builder say they’re worried it makes them weak. Team Builders are not as assertive as Prophet, structured as Organizer or strategic as Investor.
How could a Team Builder lead well if a negative opinion from others can crumble them?
What if they can’t address conflict because of obsession with protecting relationships?
What if empathy is valued over rules and the company fails?
The questions themselves can be defeating, and yet despite these considerations, Team Builders have unique superpowers when it comes to leadership.
Superpower #1: Establishing Purpose
We’re in a war for talent. One in four employees are actively looking for a job in North America and 80% of the global workforce express a lack of engagement in their profession. There’s a global resignation in the face of the pandemic and one could argue it’s rooted in a desire for more meaning in our work.
Why do people leave? The most common reasons expressed by employees are disgruntled relationships with their manager or team, lacking purpose or direction in their role or the desire to work in an inclusive and diverse environment. Even though it is one of the most sought after companies in the world to work for, Google experiences high turnover. It takes between $65,000-$185,000 to onboard an employee, and yet the company only retains them for an average tenure of 2.3 years. This is precisely where the Team Builder’s Roleset becomes so crucial. The Team Builder’s superpower of establishing purpose helps employees identify the ‘why’ behind what they do. They start with their why and prioritize emotions above results. Team Builder’s take thoughtful time to understand motivators and help employees design their own purpose-driven path.
Superpower #2: Creating harmony
The trust quotient from Harvard Business School highlights that the numerator of trust includes time, credibility and reliability. The denominator of trust is genuine care. Roughly 20% of the people we work with at Google have never met their team in person. Some may never meet in real life. How do they develop real trust with large teams that are remote, and often geographically, displaced?
Team Builders seek to genuinely care about their employees by creating an atmosphere of trust. If someone is unliked on the team, a Team Builder leader will try to understand why and then create a space of harmony. Think of the Team Builder as the emotional conductor to the team — helping all the instruments to see one-another and sync into place. Any discord in the team, directly and powerfully impacts them to make some change. Team Builder leaders will not tolerate gossip or conflict as they do not contribute to long-term effectiveness and cohesion. This role is essential in creating a unified force where everyone’s voice is heard, yet only in the correct manner.
Superpower #3: Leading diverse teams
30 years ago, the workforce and teams tended to be geographically and culturally bounded. Today, the majority of the workforce not only are remote, but also multicultural as well as spread across the world. Different opinions, ideas, perspectives and backgrounds meshed into a team. This is a great thing and it also increases the need for the Team Builder Role. An example of this in practice is a personal one: Hadas, an Israeli manager at Google for a dispersed team shared something during our first meeting that I’ll never forget. “Erin, I can tell you spend a lot of time before these calls to prepare, that’s very kind of you and must take a lot of work.” It was a deliverables meeting to bring her value, yet she weaved in a heart-warming and genuine compliment. This moment of affirmation and acknowledgment demonstrated the Team Builder role and as a result, makes me look forward to anytime I know I’ll see her in a meeting.
The Team Builder role is emotionally curious about who their teammates are. Not just what they do or what they’re good at. Emotional curiosity helps the Team Builder unify a diverse team and help the teammates understand each-other better.
They are also very emotionally curious individuals which drive empathy. Emotional curiosity is a critical precursor for empathy. We can’t feel if we don’t wonder. Therefore, team builders exemplify strong empathetic character traits that reach out to anyone despite differences in background.
Team Builder Leader Warnings
As a comfy Team Builder player and a company leader, I can come up with far more warnings than superpowers, but here’s a few…
Warning #1: Adjust if your team is low Team Builder.
If the team collectively ranks low in Team Builder then it’s important that the leader does not overplay the role. Employees who play Investor, Organizer or Implementor higher may be turned off by too much Team Builder leadership. Not every meeting has to be relational. Results focus just as much as relationship focus.
Warning #2: Know how to play Prophet
Be comfortable playing Prophet or partner with a Prophet. Prophet’s are effective at leading confident direction, being blunt, and saying an opinion that’s not popular. It is important for Team Builder leaders to be able to do these things when it comes to performance reviews, confronting a problem or driving organizational change. It is also important for the Team Builder to be able to make decisions in isolation.
Warning #3: Engage in healthy conflict when needed
If a Team Builder avoids the problem too long, it may cause bitterness to grow, outrages to occur or apathy. None of which contribute to team productivity, harmony or wellbeing.
So… can a Team Builder lead?
Many of the team’s we work with at Google are high in Team Builder. It’s no surprise as they dominate the workforce (and the world if we’re being real). Team Builders at Google really protect their employees, inspire trust, and cultivate inclusivity. Not only is the Team Builder an excellent role to play as a leader — but learning to play this role is required for anyone who wants to lead with longevity, harmony and unified results.
Hint hint…. Learning how to play all the roles is required if you want to be unstoppable. We’ll show you why through this series.
Lumiere Sciences is a tech-education company providing collaboration-focused sessions and executive coaching around the 7 Roles Framework. We help your team’s boost productivity, be empowered in their strengths, and achieve goals through 7 critical Roles!
We help team’s understand each-others Role strengths and weaknesses, create efficiencies and build harmony. Managers are well-equipped to lead, hire and retain top talent. Our family-owned company, My Team Role, can give you a brief overview of the roles, let you access our assessment, and allow you to schedule individual coaching sessions with one of our executive coaches.
