Via Patrick Lencioni

"When every member of the leadership team is prioritizing the team they lead over the leadership team, the executive team becomes like the United Nations or Congress, where everybody is getting together to lobby for their constituents, rather than to come together to make decisions that are for the good of the whole organization."

— Team #1 by Patrick Lencioni, at 1:09

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Patrick Lencioni identifies a critical but counterintuitive principle: "One of the most important things that members of a leadership team have to do is understand which team that they're a member of is their top priority." Many leaders naturally prioritize the team they lead over the executive team they're a member of—but this instinct, while understandable, creates organizational dysfunction.

When executives make the department they lead their top priority, they approach executive meetings as representatives lobbying for their constituents rather than as executives making decisions for the good of the whole organization.

The reversal requires intentional effort because leaders naturally:

• Spend more time with their department members
• Have often personally hired their team
• Enjoy leading their functional area of expertise
• Feel direct accountability to their direct reports

Despite these natural pulls, leaders must overcome this tendency and recognize that prioritizing the executive team is essential for organizational health. Executives must leave departmental interests behind and become true organizational leaders.

The transformation from departmental advocate to organizational executive requires a fundamental mindset shift. Leaders must "come into this room, leave their departments behind and become Executives for this company and this team." This doesn't mean abandoning their departments—it means representing the whole organization first.

Without this shift, organizations can never achieve true health. The ability to set aside functional expertise and departmental concerns in favor of organizational priorities separates effective executives from functional managers.

Learn more: Building a First Team Mindset