Most teams aren’t high performing — and it’s not because they lack talent or resources. It’s because they haven’t tackled the dysfunctions quietly sabotaging their success. Real performance starts with real trust — and most teams skip that part.
It’s rarely about lack of smarts, resources, or strategy. The real killer? Interpersonal dysfunction. According to Patrick Lencioni, five hidden blockers—starting with a lack of trust—quietly sabotage even the most talented teams.
When people don’t feel safe to speak up, admit mistakes, or challenge each other respectfully, performance suffers. What looks like harmony is often just avoidance. Tough conversations don’t happen, commitments stay vague, and accountability slips. In the end, individual brilliance gets lost in collective confusion. It all starts with trust—and that takes brave, vulnerable leadership.
A team without trust is a little bit like a car without wheels—no matter how powerful the engine is, it simply can’t move forward.
Real story. Real shift.
A few years ago, I worked with a startup leadership team—smart, driven, full of ideas. On paper, they looked like a dream team. But underneath? Tension. They smiled in meetings, nodded along, but the real conversations happened inside chats and whispered frustrations. They avoided conflict like the plague.
The turning point came when the founder finally said what everyone was thinking: “I don’t think we’re being honest with each other.” It was a moment of courageous vulnerability—and it cracked the surface. We ran a simple exercise: each leader shared one thing they needed from the team to feel more supported, and one thing they were struggling with.
What followed was messy, raw, and honest—but it shifted everything. They started calling out unspoken tension. Disagreements weren’t shut down—they were explored. Decisions became clearer. Accountability stuck. Over time, trust wasn’t just a buzzword—it was built, one real conversation at a time.
The data backs it up.
According to Salesforce research, 86% of executives and employees cite lack of collaboration and poor communication as the top reasons for workplace failure. Not strategy. Not market conditions. Communication and collaboration — exactly what breaks down when trust is missing.
And that’s the heart of Lencioni’s model. Without trust, people don’t speak up. Without healthy conflict, teams don’t get to clarity. Without clarity, commitment is shallow. And when no one’s really committed, accountability becomes optional—and results suffer.
The message is clear: if you want performance, you need to build the conditions for open, honest communication. And that starts with trust.
–“Teamwork begins by building trust. And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability.”
– Patrick Lencioni
Build Vulnerability-Based Trust
When people feel safe to be real — to admit mistakes, ask for help, and be honest — trust forms. This is the foundation. Without it, the rest crumbles.
Engage in Healthy Conflict
With trust in place, teams can debate, challenge, and disagree productively. Conflict becomes a way to sharpen ideas, not avoid tension.
Gain Real Commitment
When all voices are heard and decisions are made transparently, people commit — not just comply. They own the direction.
Hold Each Other Accountable
Real commitment opens the door to peer-to-peer accountability. Teams step up and call each other in, not out.
Focus on Collective Results
With clarity and accountability in place, egos shrink and shared goals take centre stage. People stop playing solo and start playing as one.
How can leaders use the model?
Practical Moves for Team Leaders (to build a high-performing team)
1. Build Vulnerability-Based Trust
Trust starts with you. Leaders who model openness—owning mistakes, asking for feedback, sharing uncertainties—give permission for others to do the same.
✅ Try this:
· Kick off a team session with a “failure share” – everyone shares one thing that didn’t go to plan and what they learned.
· Run a trust-building workshop using tools like DISC or StrengthsFinder to explore differences.
· Hire a team coach to facilitate a Team Health Check or psychological safety diagnostic and guide follow-up conversations.
2. Encourage Healthy Conflict
High-performing teams don’t avoid conflict—they engage with it constructively. But most need help learning how to do this safely.
✅ Try this:
· Set ground rules for disagreement: “We challenge ideas, not people.”
· Use structured debate tools like the “red team/blue team” method for key decisions.
· Bring in an external facilitator to support a conflict conversation when stakes are high or the team is stuck.
3. Drive Genuine Commitment
Buy-in doesn’t come from consensus—it comes from clarity and contribution. Even if not everyone agrees, they can commit if they’ve been heard.
✅ Try this:
· Summarise decisions at the end of meetings and ask each person to confirm their commitment.
· Use decision-making frameworks like RACI to clarify roles and expectations.
· Run an offsite to align on team vision, priorities, and what success looks like in the next 90 days.
4. Hold People Accountable (the right way)
Accountability isn’t about micromanaging—it’s about clarity and courage. And it starts peer-to-peer, not top-down.
✅ Try this:
· Create shared team KPIs and review progress weekly or monthly—together.
· Introduce “commitment rounds” where each person states what they’ll deliver and when.
· Encourage team members to call out missed commitments in a blameless, forward-focused way.
5. Focus on Collective Results
Make the team’s success more important than individual wins. Revisit what “good” looks like—often.
✅ Try this:
· Start meetings by revisiting the team’s #1 goal or priority.
· Celebrate team milestones, not just individual achievements.
· Engage a team coach quarterly to review progress and reset goals, roles, and rhythm.
Where to Start
If you’re a team leader, don’t wait for dysfunction to show up in performance reviews or exit interviews. Start where it always begins—trust. Build the conditions for honest conversations, healthy challenge, and shared ownership. The rest follows.
You don’t have to do it alone. Our skilled facilitators or team coaches can help you create the space for the real stuff—the conversations that move a team from polite to powerful.
Want support building a high-performing team? Let’s talk. Whether it’s a trust-building offsite, a conflict-ready reset, or a full team development journey, we help teams do the real work—together. Contact me on jessica@intactteams.com
