It Can't be Me

As I sit here in my very messy office, listening to Sufjan Stevens I am reflecting on the possibility that I might be the problem. This morning I finished reading Patrick Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable. It's one of those books that almost everyone involved in leadership or on a team of any kind talks like they read it but in reality they've only heard other people talk about it (I was one of those people until this morning). I think everyone who is not a monk with a vow of silence should read (or listen to) it. It is entertaining, thought provoking, challenging. I laughed, I cried... anyway, it did get me thinking about the 5 dysfunctions: 1)Absence of Trust, 2) Fear of Conflict, 3) Lack of Commitment, 4) Avoidance of Accountability, and 5) Inattention to Results. I am pretty sure that I have never actually been on a healthy team. Regardless of the venue (church, school, work, and even individual relationships) there is a struggle to follow through on any one of these areas. Sherri and I had a conversation recently and dysfunction number 2 came up. My comment was that anyone who is not willing to tow the line of a healthy team cannot live in my house. She ignored me because she knows how I get with an exciting new idea. Anyway, the question I am wrestling with is this, if I have been on teams that are heavy laiden with these dysfunctions, am I the reason? As much as I can identify with the hero in the story, I think I am much more like the dysfunctional teammates. Hopefully that feeling will go away because it just can't be me.