One of the most common mistakes I see leaders make is jumping too quickly into “fixing” individuals on their teams when performance or issues with behaviours arise. It’s a natural instinct—something’s not working, so we look to who we perceive as ‘the problem’. The reality is that, more often than not, what we think is an individual problem is actually a team problem in disguise.
Over the years, I’ve coached countless executive and leadership teams, and a recurring theme emerges: many of the interpersonal frictions and so-called “personality clashes” are really symptoms of a team that lacks foundational alignment. When a team isn’t collectively clear on why they exist, how they make decisions, or what behaviours they expect of one another, no amount of individual coaching will truly move the needle.
It all starts with team alignment.
The Real Roots of Friction
It’s easy to spot team dynamics issues—people aren’t getting along, communication is strained, collaboration is inconsistent. As a leader, you may be fielding complaints, noticing missed deadlines or find yourself complaining that ‘there’s an accountability gap’ in your team. Anytime you bring a group of individuals together with different beliefs and biases, it’s easy for friction to occur. But, when you dig deeper into the issues, what surfaces are rarely a result of personality differences.
At the core, what’s often missing is a shared understanding of the team’s collective purpose and the norms that govern how the team operates. Without this alignment, we see friction escalate around things like decision-making, ownership of responsibilities, and communication flow.
When roles, processes and accountabilities are fuzzy, people start stepping on each other’s toes or disengaging altogether. Clarity is the antidote. According to a study by McKinsey, 97% of employees and executives believe that lack of alignment within a team impacts the outcome of a task or project.
Communication Breakdowns Are Often Process Breakdowns
Most organizational challenges are, at their root, communication challenges. And most communication challenges are rooted in processes that haven’t been clarified. It’s not that your team doesn’t know how to communicate—it’s that they don’t know when, why, or with whom to communicate in the first place. Lack of collaboration or ineffective communication is a typical complaint we hear from the teams we work with.
Trying to address performance issues or invest in individual development before laying a strong team foundation is like renovating a house with a shaky foundation. You’ll make it look better on the surface, but the cracks will reappear in no time.
4 Ways to Build Team Alignment
If you’re a leader—or supporting leaders—looking to build stronger, higher-performing teams, here are three actionable steps to get started:
- Align Around a Shared Purpose
Get the team aligned around why they exist as a collective. What is the value this team is here to create for the organization? This isn’t about individual roles—it’s about the team’s unique contribution. If you asked every team member to answer this question independently, would their responses match? For executive teams, this is particularly important and often a challenge. Gaining alignment around ‘the first team’ vs. representing functional interests requires senior leaders to let go of individual ego and lean into shared success.
- Establish Team Norms
Once you know why you’re here, define how you want to work together. What behaviours will you reward? What are your expectations around communication, collaboration, and conflict resolution? With established norms, you can start building a team environment where ongoing feedback and performance improvement is owned by the collective team – not resting in the hands of the team leader. Keeping norms visible and refining them over time allow teams to be far more resilient and agile when under pressure.
- Clarify Decision-Making and Ownership
Ambiguity is a breeding ground for dysfunction. Map out how decisions are made on your team (e.g., consultative, consensus, directive) and who owns what. This reduces overlap, empowers action, and clears the fog around accountability.
The future of leadership is in our ability to harness the collective strengths and capabilities of our teammates. In a business environment that is under continuous forces of change and uncertainty, there is unquestionable strength in community, connection and shared commitment to drive consistent, superior results.
If you’ve been wrestling with persistent team dynamics or struggling to unlock the full potential of your leaders, consider whether the real opportunity lies in strengthening the team first—before turning your attention to the individuals within it.
These are the kinds of foundational conversations that we facilitate every day at The Roundtable. We partner with organizations to help leaders move beyond surface-level fixes and build strong, aligned teams that can weather change and drive performance.
Ready to explore how we can help? Let’s talk.
Curious about how to help your leaders lean into productive tension rather than tiptoe around it? Our Team Coaching Micro Course is designed to help teams become high performing teams.
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