Effective team leadership. Five guiding principles.

At the Tavistock we believe that every group and team has a double life and that understanding this better can help leaders with the complex task of leading a team.

Sometimes teams seem capable of meeting together effectively to get on with a task – reviewing a strategy for example, or solving a dilemma.  At such moments teams feel energetic, creative, effective.

But there is also the shadow side of each group or team.  When this is to the fore, the team seems to have a different purpose - more primitive, more disruptive.  This shadow team may seem more concerned to make its members feel better, through humour for example. They may struggle to get through agendas.  They make it difficult for leaders to lead effectively.  They could be described as ‘avoidant’.

Here are five guiding principles to help leaders better understand group dynamics and lead effectively when a team is in the grip of avoidant behaviour.