Strategic Leadership Coaching

When Tension is a Good Thing

When I say the word tension what do you think?  If you are like most people you think, "Tension is bad and I need to reduce it in my life" and you turn to any number of so-called stress reducers a bubble bath, a glass of wine, or zoning in front of the television.  And to a certain degree you would be right. Tension out of control can be damaging both mentally and physically.  However, in business and life we need a certain amount of tension to get things done what I call "productive tension". 

 

What sorts of things cause your tension to rise?  Usually it involves some kind of deadline on a task or an obligation to another person or group of people.  Now imagine that all those potential sources of tension just went away with the wave of a magic wand.  Life might feel very different with no tension almost tranquil, but let me ask you how productive you would be?  When you are lying on the beach on vacation it feels great for a few days maybe even a week, but after a while what starts to happen we get bored.  There is no sense of accomplishment while we are lying on the beach; our purpose becomes obscured for a time while we recharge.

 

Productive tension is about finding the appropriate level of stress or anxiety for particular mission critical activities.  Then operating out of an awareness of factors that might move our tension up or down out of the productive range and responding appropriately to stay in the sweet spot.  Are you paying attention to tension?

Fall is Here, Happy Thanksgiving!

Many people see the fall as a time to refocus and get back into the swing of things.  Maybe it has something to do with being conditioned from an early age to buy school supplies in the fall.  Or perhaps it has something to do with football season kicking into high gear.  Whatever the reason, you may be feeling focused and ready for new challenges, but what about your team?  How focused are they?  Still more important are they even functioning like an actual team?  Patrick Lencioni in his book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team outlines the attributes that every team needs to master for a competitive advantage.  The Five Dysfunctions listed in order of importance are:

• Absence of Trust
• Fear of Conflict
• Lack of Commitment
• Avoidance of Accountability
• Inattention to Results

The key starting point to any teams success in these five areas is leadership.  Unless the team leader models the way, no team will fully leverage its competitive advantage.  How well are you modeling the way for your team?  If you would like to find out take our complimentary team leader assessment based on the Five Dysfunctions of a Team model.  The assessment includes a free phone debriefing session to review the results.  We are only offering this free assessment to our blog readers through the end of 2009 so take advantage of this opportunity soon.