Pat MacMillan > Quotes

“No team can communicate successfully without highly developed listening skills among team members. Most experts would agree that listening is the most overlooked and underused component of communication. Although listening comprises about 45 percent of the communication process, we have little or no formal training in this important skill.”
― Pat MacMillan, The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork

“Groupthink stifles the possibility of suspending one's assumptions. In fact, its whole purpose is to elevate and protect those assumptions from any assault by logic. Creative and synergistic communication is doomed within groups infected with the symptoms of groupthink. Any new or unusual notions quickly fall victim to the group's terminal sense of certainty.”
― Pat MacMillan, The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork

“High performance teams have six characteristics that allow them to consistently achieve exceptional levels of results: Common Purpose Crystal Clear Roles Accepted Leadership Effective Processes Solid Relationships Excellent Communication”
― Pat MacMillan, The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork

“Trust is extremely fragile, and although building it can take extensive amounts of time over the course of many personal interactions, it can be destroyed (withdrawn) within seconds.”
― Pat MacMillan, The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork

“Differences in personal style can impose formidable barriers to communication.”
― Pat MacMillan, The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork

“Clear communication always leads to conflict, and the clearer the communication the faster we arrive at it. Most people sense this intuitively. When there is the potential for disagreement, they create a gap between how they feel versus what they say. If we see conflict as a negative force to be avoided, and most people do, then we tend to “murk” up the communication.”
― Pat MacMillan, The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork

“The biggest problem with communication is the assumption that it has taken place.”
― Pat MacMillan, The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork

“Solid team relationships (trust, respect, acceptance, courtesy, and mutual accountability) are the glue that holds the team together.”
― Pat MacMillan, The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork

“Further, we often make the mistake of treating listening as merely waiting for our turn to talk. While other team members are making their points, we're preparing our rebuttal. It takes practice and discipline to withhold the urge to jump in with our opinion and really concentrate on what the other person is saying.”
― Pat MacMillan, The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork

“It's all too easy to hit the “send” button before we've really had the chance to think about the effect on the audience.”
― Pat MacMillan, The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork

“It's virtually impossible to build a team-based organization without the necessary levels of trust, acceptance, and respect among co-workers that will allow them to be open to interdependent relationships.”
― Pat MacMillan, The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork

“Discipline. All is for naught if the organization, specifically leadership, doesn't enforce the values. It may be a subtle reminder, a rebuke, even a warning that includes clear consequences if behavior is not changed.”
― Pat MacMillan, The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork

“Effective team leaders work creatively with each team member to ensure they understand the following issues: Why this task is important to the organization. Why this team task is important to them personally. Why they (their role) are important to the team. Who the other team members are and why they are important to the mission of the team.”
― Pat MacMillan, The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork

“When prejudice between team members is present within the team, it's as though a hockey team voluntarily decided to place one or two of their members in the penalty box, and attempted to compete effectively against the opposing team with fewer players.”
― Pat MacMillan, The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork

“Confused communication and unity of purpose cannot live together.”
― Pat MacMillan, The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork

“If I had to add anything, it would be that team leadership may be the most challenging of all leadership roles. In this arena, the team leader must lay aside his or her mantle of positional leader and take on the role of a servant leader, serving the task of the team as well as the individual members.”
― Pat MacMillan, The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork

“Our behavior may be the most critical factor used by others in their decision to “lend” trust to us, as our actions reflect our character. When we honor our commitments and do what we say we will do, others will be inclined to deposit their trust with us.”
― Pat MacMillan, The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork

“Teams need a sense of identity and esprit de corps, but not so much that they cut themselves off from those they serve or need to accomplish their mission. That's the key: the mission. When clearly defined it should be the gravitational force that holds the team together, not merely the camaraderie. It takes a balance of both, and when team leaders sense that the team is becoming more important to team members than the task for which the team was formed, he or she must bring the needs and nature of their mission back to the forefront of team thinking.”
― Pat MacMillan, The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork

“Within the team you must balance demands, sometimes conflicting, between individual team members and the task, between individual team members and the team, between the team and the task, and between the team and the larger organization. Again, you're a juggler. And if you drop one of these balls, you must invest in damage control.”
― Pat MacMillan, The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork

“When all is said and done, when it comes to organizational barriers, teams and team leaders must learn to cope—to change what can be changed and do the best they can in those situations that can't be changed. Realistic expectations, positive attitudes, and creativity at the team level can ameliorate the effects of significant organizational barriers to high performance teamwork. There are plenty of examples of the highest levels of team performance occurring in tough organizational environments.”
― Pat MacMillan, The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork

“Five rather small dogs can be very powerful. If you can get a team pulling together in one direction, you can get enormous power out of them.1 What a great illustration about cooperation in the face of contrast and difference.”
― Pat MacMillan, The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork

“Trust is a measurement of my sense of safety with you.”
― Pat MacMillan, The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork

“If the organization doesn't invest resources in the development of the team, it will be more difficult to convince the team that their task really is relevant.”
― Pat MacMillan, The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork

“The more different a team is, the smarter it is.”
― Pat MacMillan, The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork

“They perform well, not because they like one another or even know one another, but because they know how to work together.”
― Pat MacMillan, The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork

“Communication is the very means of cooperation.”
― Pat MacMillan, The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork

“Trust is difficult to define, for it is more an emotional and intuitive concept than a concrete one. It is more than simply confidence based on calculation and experience.8 Sometimes we trust another person without any evidence they are worthy of trust. Our intuition or instinct tells us this person is trustworthy. Occasionally our instincts are misguided, and the object of our trust proves unworthy of the gift. And that's what trust is, a gift. We can decide to give, to withhold trust, or even to withdraw it if the recipient is undeserving.”
― Pat MacMillan, The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork

“Leadership in a team environment is all about serving, facilitating, and releasing rather than taking charge and being in control.”
― Pat MacMillan, The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork

“In a team relationship, as in any relationship, we trust people because we are comfortable with both their character and competence. By character“, I mean our perception of another person's motives, values, honesty, or moral fiber. Competence, on the other hand, refers to the capability, knowledge, and skill of a team member in general, and specifically as it impacts his or her assigned role. If we don't trust both a team member's character and competence, it is unlikely that we will put our desired goals, performance appraisal, compensation, or career into that person's care.”
― Pat MacMillan, The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork

“Creating alignment is one of the most important roles of leadership. It often falls to the team leader to ensure the purpose of the team is defined, clear, and communicated. He or she must make sure the team mission meets five criteria:”
― Pat MacMillan, The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork