Once upon a time there was a manager who was trying her hardest. Let’s call her Michelle. Overall, Michelle was a good manager because she really cared about her team, doing everything she could to support them and to give them a good working environment. But somehow it was never enough.
The Ask:
The team were assigned a project that was critical to the business and they all really wanted to do well… but somehow it just wasn’t working. They were a great team, but they were just stuck and couldn’t make any progress, which was making everybody frustrated - the team, Michelle, her manager.
The team tried to figure it out, but the pressure was mounting to deliver results, and they decided to try and get some external support to help them figure it out. It just so happens that figuring out team blockages is one of our specialities!
We sent in experienced team Coach Dee to help the team unblock. She started with a half-day workshop with the full team and it went… terribly. During this initial session though, Dee was watching how they worked together and noticed something interesting. She would ask the team a question and the answer would come from Michelle. The more challenging the question, the more likely it was that Michelle would step in and answer for her team.
Was this typical of their team meetings? Each person was an experienced professional who was bringing a lot of value to the team, so why did Michelle feel the need to speak for them? What impact was this having on their performance?
The Answer:
After that first workshop we took some time to speak with Michelle privately to discuss what had happened. During that call we challenged Michelle to reflect on her interactions with the team and it turned into an mini coaching session where Michelle realised that her style of leadership was unconsciously stifling progress.
It emerged that whenever conversations veered into uncomfortable territory – whether it was about external pressures, missed deadlines, or internal conflicts – Michelle as team leader would quickly shut them down. She wanted to protect the team from stress and issues beyond their control so it was coming from a good place but inevitably this would push problems down the line or accept progress delays as out of their control. In addition, whenever colleagues expressed frustration or concern, instead of addressing these feelings head-on, Michelle would implement quick fixes or temporary solutions without explaining why to the whole team. This approach left team members unclear about their roles, responsibilities and expectations of them, which diluted their sense of commitment and accountability.
The impact of her well-meaning attempts to support and protect her team was to block team progress and as trust eroded, psychological safety tanked. Without transparency, misunderstandings and miscommunications festered, leading to interpersonal conflict within a fractured and unproductive team dynamic. Michelle’s attempts to avoid conflict merely hid it.
When we come across teams where psychological safety is low, especially when it comes as a surprise as it did in this case, we find that one of the most beneficial things a coach can do is to hold the space so that people feel ok expressing their pent up feelings and concerns. As we listen, we are looking for patterns in thinking and behaviour that are creating blockages. This helps us ask the right questions.
It was difficult for Michelle to realise that she, as team leader, was the blocker but that also came with the realisation that it was within her power to solve. She recognised the need to change and was committed to breaking the cycle. To break the cycle of avoidance, the team needed a culture of greater transparency and open communication. In our development sessions, the team came together and agreed that more honesty was essential to their progress. They wanted to support Michelle and expressed a willingness to engage more directly with her to tackle their issues in an open, honest way. It was also decided that each team member would have a one-on-one conversation with her to honestly appraise the current situation.
The shift was transformative! As the leader and team members began to have more open and honest exchanges, a sense of trust began to rebuild. Team members were finally able to voice their frustrations, clarify their confusion, and genuinely contribute to the project.
By identifying and naming the issues that were causing friction, the team started the process of healing and building a more resilient, effective team culture. They moved from stagnation to progress, becoming more aligned, committed, and effective in achieving their goals.
Michelle still struggles with conflict-avoidance, but she is getting better at not letting it hold her and her team back the way it used to. Further development support for her as a leader is helping her to address her tendency to shield the team from uncomfortable realities and to actively foster a culture of psychological safety and transparency.
So What?
If you’ve read this far you might have noticed that none of what we did was about the critical project. The team already had the solution to that within their power, but they needed help to address the underlying dynamics and team culture that were unintentionally blocking their ability to deliver results.
In this case, it was the team leader’s behaviour but there are a range of reasons why a team might be blocked from delivering results for the business. So, if your team feels stuck or your project is losing momentum, remember:
Lean into the difficult conversations. Transparency is your friend. The breakthrough you're looking for might just be on the other side of an honest dialogue. We know it’s hard, and we’re here to help.