First Team by Patrick Lencioni — Michael Vizdos
BlogLeading ScrumManaging Scrum
Written By Michael Vizdos
Who is
your First Team?
TRAINING | CONSULTING | MENTORING
Subscribe
ImplementingScrum.com
START | PRACTICE | COACH | LEAD
Leadership and the First Team Concept
During my regular consulting with people on teams around the world, an “old” concept (2012) has started re-surfacing again around the topic of, “The First Team.”
A First Team – articulated by Patrick Lencioni – is the idea that true leaders prioritize supporting their fellow leaders over their direct reports. Patrick recommends they are responsible to their peers more than they are to their individual or “Second” teams.
This sounds really cool and modern agile leaders are probably thinking, “YES! THAT’S WHAT WE DO!”
First — no pun intended (smile) — watch the following video from Patrick Lencioni (2014).
Watching this video takes less than 3 minutes and I guarantee you’ll notice something important in that short amount of time.
First Team Concept – Watch the Short Video
A video summary of the “First Team” concept by Patrick Lencioni (2014).
Video Reference: first_team_video.mvizdos.com
First Team: C-Level, VP’s, & Senior Management Team
If you are on a senior leadership / management team and you are talking about your own “First Team” as something that exists, you might notice the following things happening:
As a C-Level executive, I spend time working with people who report to my direct report who report to their direct report (read as: I get into the weeds)
As a Vice President, I spend time working with people who report to my direct report (read as: I get into the weeds)
As a Senior Leader, I spend time working with my direct reports (read as: I get into the weeds)
Some variation of the above….
[ spolier alert for you / your senior leadership team ]
You’ve missed the point of the “First Team” concept.
Who is YOUR First Team as a Senior Leadership Team Member?
Your “First Team” includes your peers on the Senior Leadership Team.
So, if you are a C-Level, your first team includes the other C-Level executives.
And. If you are a Vice President, your first team includes your peers at the VP level.
And. If you are some other “Senior Leader” in your organization, your first team includes your peers at that level.
Why the First Team Concept is Important
Your may hear the words, “It’s Fractal” (sounds cool… but that’s for another post on another day) being thrown around the management buzzword bingo world.
When throwing around the concept of the “First Team” being fractal, consider this:
For Senior Leaders
[ tough love movie guy announcer voice ON ]
In a world where you are a C-Level Executive, Vice-President of Very Important Stuff, or other type of a Senior level person within your organization… PLEASE put on your big-kid pants and act like a First Team if that’s what you call yourselves.
The people on the teams that “report” to you need this to happen (Patrick calls those teams “Second Teams”).
When you — yes YOUR senior leadership team members — are dysfunctional, your team knows.
[ tough love movie guy announcer voice OFF ]
For Team Members Working FOR Senior Leaders
If you are a team member who is witnessing your senior leadership team members walking around and just saying they are on a First Team, and it seems completely jacked / dysfunctional — you know it when you see it — pass the link first_team.mvizdos.com on to them to read and review.
Remember: As a team member working on the “Second Team” (your team)… the fractal idea is that your team can also be a “First Team.”
Mind.
Blown.
Yet?
THAT’s the “Fractal” super-power available to YOU, your team, and organization right now.
Think of what’s possible!
BONUS: First Team Book – The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni
Book Reference: first_team_book. mvizdos.com
If you are one of those rare people who loves reading (as much as I do!), please take a look at first_team_book.mvizdos.com.
While it was published back in 2012, it still has some great material that can help you, your team, and organization successfully implement “The First Team” concept!
Move it to the top of your “to be read” management / leadership / business book list!
What Next?
In my regular Saturday morning emails (subscribe here) around Implementing Scrum in the Real World, I usually have a call to action near the end.
Since we are nearing the end of this current blog posting, I want to issue the same challenge / call to action to YOU (as a Senior Leadership Team Member or a person on a team in an organization that hears your management team talking about the “First Team” concept:
Watch the video from Patrick Lencioni (by yourself first) at first_team_video. mvizdos.com.
Discuss this blog posting as a team — either as a Senior Leadership team, a team who is reporting to senior leaders who talk about this concept, or even better… discuss this all together! Share the link this this blog post [you are reading this now to do it now!]: first_team.mvizdos.com.
Either of those two options can be tough to actually accomplish.
Here’s the reality my friend…
For people who are Implementing Scrum and it looks nothing like Scrum (see scrumguide.mvizdos.com), this anti-pattern of calling yourself (or your leadership team doing this) a “First Team” in name only is not doing you, your team, or your organization any favors.
Really.
Just stop and move on (join the #GreatResignation and take a look at dream_job.mvizdos.com for some ideas around that topic).
I know… in reality you will most like read this and stay where you are until it hurts enough to move on (warning: you may be on the career hamster wheel of ughhhhh and remember that time flies!).
And.
I can help with the conversation.
Really.
Contact me (with feedback) or connect with me on LinkedIn to discuss this more together.
FREE BONUS
You can listen to a free podcast (about 45 minutes) with more details about WHY this is an important concept and HOW you can have these conversations as leaders — or with your leaders — in order to get better working together as a First Team.
Learn more now (for free) at drunkenpm_23.mvizdos.com.
One more thing… please check out AgileMentoring.com while you are here; it’s a great community of agile practitioners from around the world who are figuring things out together!
One final thing…
Subscribe to my weekly Saturday morning emails about Implementing Scrum in the real world. And get an “every two week” check in from me too.
What could be better?
Subscribe
This is an accessibility text description of the “First Team Concept Scrum Chicken and Pig Cartoons” conversation in the one panel of the Scrum comic strip above:
Panel One
Pig: Wouldn’t it be easier to drink 8 glasses of water throughout the day?
Chicken: That’s such a waste of time. This way you get everything at once. It’s called being resourceful.
About the Author
My name is Michael Vizdos and I’ve had the privilege of working with thousands of people and many agile teams from around the world.
I do have one of the best jobs in the world and I appreciate people like you reading — and sharing — this information with your team and organizations.
Remember… this is all FREE information for you to use and apply in the real world when Implementing Scrum today!
Michael Vizdos
https://www.michaelvizdos.com
Thoughts from the Field – Issue #9 – What is Your First Team?
Imagine a group of professionals who meet virtually every day to try and resolve the biggest problems our society faces. Now, imagine that same group of people more concerned about the people they represent and their own self–interest than they are about society’s most pressing concerns. This is what often occurs in places like Congress and the United Nations. Officials advocate for their own political interests first and foremost, and the greater good takes a backseat.
Team #1
With the best of intentions, this very same phenomenon occurs within companies. Executive teams are comprised of leaders from various functions – e.g. operations, sales, marketing, technology, human resources, finance – who are often more concerned about what’s going on in their own area than how the executive team as a whole is performing. Surprisingly, this is natural and something we often see in our consulting work.
To explore this idea, I always pose this question to executive team members, “Which team is your first priority, your Team #1?” Unfortunately, the answer is not always easy to admit. But, if you really want to ensure your leadership team is working as cohesively and effectively as possible, the question can’t be ignored or glossed over. Because most members serve on two teams that are both important (the team they lead and the team they are a member of), they need to prioritize their leadership team (Team #1) first, for the good of the organization.
Consider the Five Dysfunctions of a Team model for a moment: Absence of Trust, Fear of Conflict, Lack of Commitment, Avoidance of Accountability, and Inattention to Results. To truly be a cohesive team, members must pay attention to the collective results of the team over anything else, including the results of the groups that they may manage personally. This is often a difficult proposition for many leaders because they see it as being disloyal to their direct reports. Remember, a leader’s direct reports are the people they hired, the people with whom they spend most of their time, and the people they enjoy leading. However, if every member of an executive team is more concerned about how decisions will impact their own group rather than the overall organization, it is inevitable that collective decision–making will suffer.
Collective Versus Siloed Decision–Making
For example, if a leadership team is debating how to best allocate a budget surplus, the perspective of each team member will affect their suggestions and ultimately decision–making. A group who believes the team they lead is their Team #1 will usually engage in debate with a strong departmental focus: engineering needs more developers, marketing needs more advertising budgets, etc. At the end of the day, this jockeying for position and resources can cause frustration and peer resentment.
When a team approaches the same budget question with the leadership team as their first team, the debate completely changes. Instead, the team is evaluating each of the potential investments in light of what would be best for the overall organization, and not just their own group. As obvious as this sounds, clarfying the distinction about Team #1 can make all the difference.
In Pat’s forthcoming book, The Advantage, one of our consulting clients points out the power of Team #1 by saying, “The concept of Team #1 has created a common language and sense of identity for our team. It provides the mindset that individual goals, issues and interests are set aside to focus on what’s best for the organization. I truly believe it is the one thing that keeps us from busting apart at the seams as we deal with the challenging issues of managing in a complex business environment.”
Make it Stick
To ensure that your leadership is adhering to the Team # 1 concept, I recommend reviewing the following with your team:
- Point out the priority of Team #1 prior to making any key decisions. This will put leaders in the correct frame of mind. When entering an executive meeting, team members need to remove their functional hats, and put on their executive team one.
- Demand that team members prioritize the executive team over all others. When the executive team is truly cohesive and prioritized appropriately, their ability to face difficult challenges with confidence further bonds the team and models unity to the organization. This requires an absolute, unwavering commitment to Team #1.
- Explain how the team’s direct reports will be impacted. We all know that if there is any daylight between executive team members, it ultimately results in unwinnable battles that those lower in the organization are left to fight.
Like many of the concepts we consult on, Team #1 is as powerful as it is simple. We have seen highly–educated leaders with vast experience have an “aha” moment about this concept resulting in immediate impact on their team’s cohesion and their organization’s ability to succeed.
Portal of Ukrainian national football news
Interview
06/24/2023 10:03
Andriy Tlumak: “Rumuni for victory over Ukraine put everything on the map”
Photo UAF
On 24 June in Bucharest, the youth team of Ukraine played another match of the final part of Euro-2023 (U-21) with Romania.
The largest head coach of Volyn, Karpaty, and the other victorious director of the Lviv club Andriy TLUMAK, in an interview with a correspondent of TEAM1, shared his opposing. ..
06/21/2023 11:02
Oleg Fedorchuk: “The choice of Ukraine will have the strength to break through to the EURO pivfinal”
This year the youth team of Ukraine with a match against the team of Croatia will start at the final part of the European championship. About the prospects of Ruslan Rotan’s supporters in this match, she vzagali, in the tournament site zbirna.com after talking with the coach, led by football expert Oleg FEDORCHUK.
Photo UA…
06/20/2023 10:02
Ivan Getsko: “The best for the national team of Ukraine, there are no forwards to score”
Ex-forward of Chornomortsya, Carpathians, Dnipro and selected Ukraine Ivan Getsko commenting on the fights of our team against Pivnichnaya Macedonia and Malta
Ivan Getsko
The national team of Ukraine has won a friend, I can sleep at the selection for EURO-2024. For the first time on a neutral field in the Slovak Trnav over the Malts…
06/19/2023 09:02
Sergiy Kovalyov: “In the match against Malta, Rebrov should change two or three positions”
Photo by Pavel Kubanov
This year, the Ukrainian national team played their final match of the season. Within the framework of the selection tournament of EURO-2024, Sergiy Rebrov’s subsidiaries will play with the team of Malta. About the prospects of the blue-yellow squad in this duel, the site zbirna.com spoke with a large pivzakhist of the choice …
17. 06.2023 10:02
Ex-gravetes of Dynamo and Shakhtar: “The English and Italians don’t get such a number in the chosen Ukraine”
Viktor Tsigankov. Photo UAF
The national selection of Ukraine in the other round of the selection tournament of EURO-2024 won a wildcard in Skop over the team of Pivnichnaya Macedonia — 3:2. Volodymyr KOVALIUK, the great grave-bearer of Dynamo and Shakhtar, in a conversation with a correspondent of TEAM 1 shared his hostile…
16.06.2023 10:02
Oleg Shelaev: “Ukraine’s team scored two balls…”
Photo by Pavel Kubanov
This year, the Ukrainian nationals held a match against Pivnichnoy Macedonia within the framework of the EURO-2024 selection tournament. Oleg SHELAYEVIM, a big player of the head team of the country, spoke about the prospects of blue-zhovtyh at the zbirna.com website.
— Olezhe…
Themes
06/23/2023 11:03
Legionnaires of the UPL among the elect: less than one goal, but still another (video)
What did the legionnaires of the teams award to the championship of Ukraine in the red matches of their national teams?
Photo fco.com.ua
On the eve of the heart of the international wіkna zbirnі held different official games and comrade’s matches. How many times the Ukrainian championship was represented by 12 legionnaires out of five…
06/22/2023 10:03
Yarmolenko near the choice of Ukraine maє cіkavі vzaєmini with the gates of supernikіv
Let’s guess, like Andriy Yarmolenko, having scored a penalty at the warehouse of the national election of Ukraine
Photo UAF
At the borders of the EURO-2024 selection, the Ukrainian team beat Malta not without problems – 1:0. The islanders helped the blue-zhovtim, bringing two penalties at the vlasny gate. Yakshcho Andriy Yarmolenko from “…
06/20/2023 16:02
Luhanska Zorya i її sample number five at European Cups
How many times did Zorya from Lugansk compete at the group stages of European Cups?
Photo zarya-lugansk.com
Behind the sub-bags of the season, black and white for the fourth time in history became the bronze medalists of the UPL. Zorya also took away a ticket to the play-off round of the European League qualifiers. If the Luhansk people don’t fix this bar’er, then the per…
Blogs
11/17/2022 09:01
Everything about the world championship-2022 in Qatar: store all the selected and current calendar with an hour of TV broadcasts in Ukraine
Already in the week, 20th leaf fall, the start of the final part of the world football championship 2022 will start in Qatar until 18 December.
We have selected for you the official applications of the selected selections (by 9.00 17 leaf fall), as well as the calendar of news with the Kiev hour on the cob of live broadcasts on…
25.03.2022 07:41
“Dziuba scores in Muhosransk.” Letter to a Russian fan…
The best teams in the world and their loyal fans are ready to dump a large sum and send it to FIFA as a token of gratitude for the fact that it has deprived the World Cup of a spectacle called “the game of the Russian team.” It will not be in Qatar – and this is a great victory for the entire football world. Because look n…
05/08/2018 19:01
Ukrainian batsmen clashed at Manchester with Oleksandr Zinchenko (photo)
Mykola Vasilkov, who works no less as a journalist, and now as a helper of Andriy Shevchenko, having begun a new project with the name of the hashtag: #UkrTribuna
Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City and Ukrainian soccer players from Great Britain took part in the first under the new era of undertakings. ..
Newsline
Our team – CHG №1
Head coach
Aziza Shavkatovna Raupova
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Anastasia Mikhailovna Antipova
Read more
Coach in rhythmic gymnastics
Alina Gennadievna Bagdasarova
Read more
Coach in rhythmic gymnastics
Alexandra Ivanovna Gerashchenko
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Yulia Aleksandrovna Efimova
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Olga Vyacheslavovna Zabanova
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Anastasia Sergeevna Rinks
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Alisa Andreevna Shramko
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Alina Dmitrievna Alyokhina
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Yulia Sergeevna Aryuseva
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Anna Konstantinovna Bystrova
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Alina Dmitrievna Veksha
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Victoria Andreevna Gondurova
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Tatyana Sergeevna Gustova
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Alena Vyacheslavovna Zharikova
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Yana Vladimirovna Zakharova
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Maria Sergeevna Ilyina
Read more
Coach in rhythmic gymnastics
Valeria Dmitrievna Isaeva
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Alina Vadimovna Ismailova
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Sabrina Vyacheslavovna Kamradenova
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Kamila Kharisovna Karimova
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Lebedeva Olesya Romanovna
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Olga Anatolyevna Korovina
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Irina Alexandrovna Koroleva
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Valentina Vladimirovna Krylova
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Evgenia Sergeevna Kudashkina
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Daria Nikolaevna Kudryavtseva
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Ksenia Vadimovna Kulikova
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Alisa Dmitrievna Kunyaeva
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Margarita Andreevna Martynova
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Elizaveta Sergeevna Maiko
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Elizaveta Alexandrovna Mainovskaya
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Daria Konstantinovna Medvedeva
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Tatyana Vladimirovna Melyushina
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Violetta Semyonovna Nikiforova
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Ekaterina Alekseevna Nichiporovich
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Arina Sergeevna Nosova
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Arina Konstantinovna Peskova
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Anastasia V. Petrova
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Tatyana Olegovna Petrova
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Anastasia Sergeevna Pirogova
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Anastasia Gennadievna Popova
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Alexandra Alexandrovna Potapova
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Ksenia Alekseevna Rabinova
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Diana Yurievna Romamentyeva
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Valeria Olegovna Romanova
Read more
Coach in rhythmic gymnastics
Yulia Vladimirovna Ruchiy
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Victoria Evgenievna Sapozhnikova
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Daria Alexandrovna Sidorenko
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Daria Sergeevna Starichenkova
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Anna Vladimirovna Tishina
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Ruslana Sergeevna Tochilkina
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Kristina Vladislavovna Fadeeva
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Ekaterina Ivanovna Kholodova
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Zlata Yurievna Khomutinnikova
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Yana Feliksovna Tsogoeva
Read more
Coach in rhythmic gymnastics
Elena Rudolfovna Cherepanova
Read more
Rhythmic gymnastics coach
Radmila Orazalievna Eminova
Read more
Choreographer
Ekaterina Nikolaevna Belyaeva
Read more
Teacher-choreographer
Polina Maksimovna Golub
Read more
Choreographer
Irina Aleksandrovna Goldina
Read more
Choreographer
Anna Aleksandrovna Gusenkova
Read more
Choreographer
Maria Aleksandrovna Evteeva
Read more
Choreographer
Victoria Sergeevna Kuznetsova
Read more
Choreographer
Natalya Vladimirovna Perevoznikova
Read more
Choreographer
Maria Alexandrovna Peretyatko
Read more
Choreographer
Yulia V.