Recognizing the Human System of Teams
Do team’s have heart & will?
Do teams have laughter, joy, celebration?
Could teams feel sad, lonely and estranged?
Firmly believing that a team has each of a human’s vital organs, a system in its own right, expands our view of the human experience at work.
Trusting in this belief is key to building aligned & engaged teams.
Teams have a personality and identity of their own. Each member of the team brings their perspectives, strengths, challenges, voices, actions to impact the entire organization, collectively, towards a shared purpose.
What’s the path to a team’s heart & will? Recognizing the human system of teams. By virtue of being a system in its right, a team brings its own shadow and light. The up days. The down days. The mood swings. The challenges. The revelations and inspirations. The full range! In a busy, thriving organization, a team with heart & will comes with both shadow and light.
Shadow & Light
A team’s shadow and light comes with the full spectrum of possibilities that sparks both heated, and breakthrough conversations.
A team who’s relationship with shadow and light is healthy and strong allows for tough conversations, with straight talk. Conversations that both challenge the status quo and honours tradition. From a systems perspective, voices and actions allow for tradition and disruption to be in healthy debate.
Aptly said by Debbie Ford in “The Dark Side of the Light Chasers”: “We can’t have the full experience of the light without knowing the dark. The dark side is the gatekeeper to true freedom. Each of us must be willing to continually explore and expose this aspect of self. Whether you like it or not, you’re human and you have a shadow… The saintly and the cynical, the divine and the diabolical, the courageous and the cowardly: all these aspects lie dormant in us and will act out if they are not recognized and integrated into our psyche.”
The same goes for teams. With the full range of light and dark, the doorway to team alignment opens for effective teams to have space to innovate, problem-solve and create valued contributions. The gift in the shadow side empowers and changes teams; humanizing and transforming organizations. What's the path to a team's heart & will?
We believe it’s to listen for all the voices, signals, perspectives - particularly the quiet and isolated ones. Explore the full spectrum - the light and the dark, the rational and the emotional, the mind, heart and gut. In doing so, hidden inspirations, insights and creativity are called forth in full spectrum, filling the doorway, the room and the entire organization with much needed freedom to live in light and in shadow.