Author: kennethpostelnek

There have been countless articles written about team dynamics. Just about every self-help business primer talks about the importance of team culture in leading business growth. What has always struck me about team dynamics, is that in the end, it is about building commonalities among diversity – many of whom may not have any interpersonal chemistry. People that under other circumstances, would not necessarily strive to engage or interact – let alone work in unison toward a common purpose.
It was a few years back, when I was working through some challenges among one of my teams, that I happened upon my own revelation of team dynamics.
I was invited to a Jewish synagogue for a Saturday morning service. What was different for me, was that this service was at an orthodox temple.
Having been raised as a conservative, I was not sure what to expect.
In the services of my youth, all would read along with a Rabbi, who stood up front directing the way. He would read, we would respond. To an outside peering in, it would have appeared as we were lost without the Rabbi telling us what to do.
As I entered the Orthodox temple, it wasn’t the separation of the men and women that caught my eye, nor was it the numerous children running around and playing noisily in the back of the temple (something you would NEVER have seen in the temple of my youth), what caught my attention was what I can only describe as the chaotic harmony of the prayer service.
Everyone was reading aloud in their own way, their own passages, at their own rate. Chanting, bowing, bobbing seemingly out of synch, and yet still in unison. Yes, there was a Rabbi “leading”, but he was a peer among the many men and women.
As I watched the group go through the morning service, it occurred to me that this group, this team, was getting exactly what they wanted from the service, without having to be led. They were working toward a common goal, with a common purpose, each in their own way.
I thought to myself, this is what my teams needed. They needed clarity of purpose and a common means to get there. My job was not to direct them, but to accompany them on their journey leading by example. It was not in the best interest of the team for me to micro-manage them, but to insure that each and every team member was clear on their role in the team and in the organization.
Of course I have always known this, it is Organizational Management 101. But, I had never seen it so clearly as I did that one Saturday morning. A unified team is not built on free bagels or “Thirsty Thursdays”, it is established by giving everyone clarity of purpose and goal that they can support both individually and as a group.