Healthy Teams

Here are some things that I'm learning about having a healthy team.

1. Healthy teams fight! That's right they fight. Just yesterday in our executive meeting, one of my staff members punched me in the jaw. This is the first time this team member has hit me. He has pushed me several times but never hit me. JUST KIDDING! But fighting is a healthy sign of a great team. Behind closed doors, opinions should be aired. Ideas should be thrown on the table. Disagreements should be welcomed. Heated and intense moments should be a part of the process when you are making critical decisions for the organization. Notice that I didn't say you should be a jerk, but healthy teams know how to close the door and throw down so that the best decisions can be made to advance the organization. Sometimes, you even have to throw down so that you can better understand each other’s viewpoints. Healthy teams throw down behind closed doors and then walk out as a unified front. After they walk out of the room, no one else would have ever known that they just had an intense fight because they have each other’s backs. THAT'S HEALTHY!