Work Matters S5E2: Gordy Curphy - Building Effective Teams

WorkMatters

In today's Work Matters, Thomas talks with Gordon "Gordy" Curphy about effective teamwork. Gordy is the Managing Partner at Curphy Leadership Solutions, where he helps business leaders implement major change initiatives, develop and promote leadership, and build high performing teams.

With over 30 years of leadership expertise, Gordy has written numerous articles and 25 books, including the number one selling textbook, "Leadership: Enhancing the Lessons of Experience (11th Ed.)." He is also the architect of the Rocket Model, a framework for building high performing teams.

Gordy starts off by differentiating between a "group" and a "team" before discussing the Rocket Model and why it is filling critical gaps in previous leadership models. Gordy brings teams and their organizational context to the forefront and shares his eight components for team effectiveness.

• Context: What are our critical assumptions?
• Mission: Why are we here?
• Talent: Do we have the talent we need?
• Norms: What are the rules?
• Buy-in: Are we all committed to success?
• Resources: Do we have the resources needed?
• Courage: How do we work through disagreements?
• Results: Are we achieving our goals?

Revealing that 95% of leadership models don't take teambuilding competency into account and only one out of five teams are high performing, Gordy stresses the importance measuring leadership effectiveness. He explains how his Team Assessment Survey tool provides benchmarking data that allows teams line of sight into their performance so they can have the right conversations.

Gordy concludes by sharing what today's leaders can do to make teamwork more effective including measuring their performance and learning teambuilding tools. Spotlighting examples from current military operations, Gordy explains how highly trained, self-contained, and specialized units like the Navy Seals operate with more autonomy for greater impact. He advises this is a good model for modern workplaces - and remote work - because it allows teams to be more agile, responsive, and adaptive without top-heavy support.

To learn more about the Rocket Model of effective teamwork, go to www.therocketmodel.com. To learn more about Gordy's and his work, visit www.curphyleadershipsolutions.com.