Well, let us assume this practice and commitment contains two root operative words: enable and collaborate. A quote from Kouzes and Posner’s book is most appropriate here:
“To be successful, teams must adopt a www.com (we will win) mind-set, and not an imm.com (I, me, myself) mind-set.”
—Lily Cheng, PACE Learning and Consultancy, Singapore
When a leader enables a team, the activity does not suggest giving permission. Enabling infers official power and authority to implement and enforce. A leader provides the team with the means, knowledge, and opportunity to achieve a particular outcome. The leader is accountable, but the team is responsible.
Can a leader create an environment that stimulates collaboration, or does the leader actually collaborate with the team? Most definitions of collaboration encompass a number of commonly accepted non-trivial actions that works toward a common goal: brainstorming and idea generation, communication, conflict resolution, cooperation, coordination, deep critical thinking, information sharing, knowledge transfer, negotiation, and problem solving.
As Margaret Thatcher once said: “Consensus is the lack of leadership!” This begs the question: “Is collaboration simply a way to gain consensus?” (http://thefuturevalueofbusiness.com/part-2-collaboration-definition-expanded.htm). Scott Felten has proposed 13 Statements about Collaboration (http://scottfelten.wordpress.com/2008/06/12/collaboration-expressed-in-a-microblogish-format/) that would be useful to review with Kouzes and Posner’s practice and principle; and mesh very well with principles.
You will only be able to build collaboration if you create a climate of trust. This is a critical success factor, and if you are not honest and transparent, almost everyone will see through you. You must exhibit and DEMONSTRATE a framework of authentic trust. Now, you ask, "How does one build trust"? First, you need to construct a safe environment where your team members are comfortable asking tough questions. Unless the individual team member is exhibiting pathological characteristics, you must embrace the questions either that you do not know the answer to, or that make you squirm. If you surround yourself by YES folks, you are doomed to failure. Your team members must be able to ask “why,” and if you cannot honestly answer the questions, be candid but brief, and indicate that you will find an answer?
Next we will touch upon Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of process flow and study Kouzes & Posner’s Practice # 4: Enabling Others to Act – Principle 2: Strengthen Others. Your feedback would be greatly appreciated for some of the topics I am trying to convey.
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