The Importance Of Allies

Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

Several weeks ago, I made one of my rare comments on a shared LinkedIn post from a colleague regarding my belief that teams are developed one relationship at a time. Since that time, I have been reflecting, at some length, on the learning that continues to emerge for me from my leadership and team development coaching work, particularly around the pathway of developing strategic interdependent relationships within a team.

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One of the first activities that I ask new clients to do is to identify the five work-related relationships most critical to their success, including why they believe each relationship is important. One of the most important things that come out of this activity, if I am working with a member of a team, is the realization of how many team members may or may not be on each other’s lists. While the number of those whose names are on each other’s lists can give some insight into the initial strength or weakness of the team, it is the nature or quality of the relationships that determine how well the team actually functions.

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Following an initial conversation about the importance of each relationship, I then ask my clients to assess the status of each relationship on two continuums: (1) their level of trust and (2) their level of agreement. The basis of this assessment comes from the work of Peter Block found in his classic book, The Empowered Manager. In his book, Block identifies five different types of work relationships based upon the degree of trust and agreement in each relationship: Allies, Opponents, Bedfellows, Adversaries, and Fence Sitters. Block goes on to describe various strategies on how to increase trust and/or agreement, assuming that one or both of those would be a valuable objective to achieve. On a side note, I found the description of the value of an Opponent relationship (high trust/low agreement) reminding me of Simon Sinek’s Worthy Rival concept in The Infinite Game, but that is for another conversation.

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Although it may appear obvious that for a team to function effectively, it is best, if not essential, that it be made up of Allies (high trust/high agreement). Unfortunately, I have found few teams that are made up of high functioning Allies, even if they describe their relationships as high in trust and agreement. Three of the reasons why teams, even those without overt conflict, underperform is because team members seldom:

1. Let another team member know that they play a valuable role in their success;
2. Let the other team member know exactly what their value is and
3. Ask them how they can best be supported.
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It has been my experience that as individual team members take the initiative to communicate the unique value that each other represents to the other along with offering meaningful support (as perceived by the other), increased trust and agreement, both quantitatively and qualitatively, can occur, no matter the nature of the relationship. The results of such initiative most often translate into an increased team and individual effectiveness. More relationships become Allies and current Allies become stronger more functional Allies.

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Questions for consideration:

1. Who (2–3 individuals) on your team are most critical to your success?
2. What specific value do they or can they provide to you?
3. When was the last time that you told them?
4. What kind of support do they need from you for them to make their best contribution?
5. When is the last time that you have clarified with them the support that they need?