Many of us have heard the phrase “one bad apple can ruin the whole barrel”. This adage has been used for centuries to relate individual behaviour to the ability of a rotten piece of fruit to spoil the whole lot. Many of us have used this word picture to illustrate the need to beware of bringing toxic individuals into our teams and workplaces. This old adage is still true; in virtually every organization there is one individual universally regarded as detrimental to the mission, vision, values and strategies of the organization. This is a person who consistently comes to work with a negative mindset and toxic, disruptive, uncooperative behaviour. No organization needs a team member like this.

If employees exhibit toxic behaviour, the organization will also exhibit toxic behaviour. However the reverse of this principle is also true. Just as if we brought a bad apple into a good barrel, the same result would occur in bringing good apples into a bad barrel. The end result is still a toxic environment, exhibiting dysfunctional and disruptive behaviours. In either scenario, a disruptive work culture is not good for organizational leadership, their team members, nor the clients they serve.

As influential leaders we must have the ability to identify toxic members of our organizations. We must also be introspective enough to recognize if we, as leaders, are creating a toxic environment that is a hindrance to collaborative and cooperative team work. This is why the key indicator of organization effectiveness is individual leader behaviour. We must demonstrate the ability to recognize bad apples in our organizations and at the same time recognize if we, as leaders, are creating a bad barrel.

The key to preventing the bad apple, bad barrel scenario is to instill a culture of corporate harmony where our people are taught the skill of Positive Presence (the ability to adjust and create a positive and energized mindset within our self through conscious thought processes) and the associated behaviours. It is an intentional and purposeful undertaking that takes time and dedication to develop and involves many players….but the payoff is immeasurable.

Whether we have bad apples or bad barrels, we must recognize that negative work place behaviours never drive performance; it harms colleagues and clients, drags down morale and creates a toxic atmosphere. This type of environment will not bring people together to create anything of value. You need a culture of collaboration. Without it, negative competition and conflict reign, staff morale and motivation are low, performance becomes inconsistent and unreliable, and communication and cooperation are non-existent. Who wants to work in this kind environment?

For organizational success in today’s ultra-competitive global environment, we need leaders with the mental and behaviour skills of Positive Presence. If you are looking to create a workplace that promotes organizational mission, vision and purpose you need a systematic, programmatic methodology that will create a culture grounded with the skill of Positive Presence.

We have all heard throughout our lives the importance and value of teamwork. Even as children, on sports teams and in school, we have consistently been influenced by the concept of teamwork. So how do we take these long held beliefs that teamwork is more effective in driving performance and apply it to the workplace? Especially, when we are living in an era where ‘healthy’ competition (the antithesis of teamwork) is rewarded. Is it really possible to bring teamwork to such an environment? The answer is, yes!

So, what is an integrated team? An integrated team is a group of people with different areas of expertise and knowledge, functioning in harmony to contribute their respective technical and behavior skills toward the completion of a task or the accomplishment of a goal. The integrated team employs human performance technology (HPT), also known as human performance improvement (HPI) approach whereby the work is interconnected and the members are interdependent, so low performance in one segment of the system does not have disastrous effects on the performance of the entire system.

Anyone can put together a working group and call it a team, but it takes an influential leader with Positive Presence™ skills to be able to create and sustain a highly functional integrated team. While an integrated team is most optimal during an organizational crisis, it must be developed prior to the crisis. It is the crisis that is the test – and most often results in conflict brought on by behavioral dysfunction due to low trust, communication lapses, lack of accountability, and competing personal agendas. Creating and sustaining a strong integrated team requires the leader to be coach and manager, providing guidance and needed resources and then getting out of the way and staying out of the way. Influential leaders know that micromanagement won’t work.

As leaders, we need to focus on forming teams that can perform amid the complexity and chaos of today’s work environment –a team whose members have behavioral competencies, including interpersonal skills that enhance each other’s’ performance. It has been proven over and over again that technical expertise alone will not suffice to advance the goals of the team. Excellent outcomes are the product of good people working together in harmony; the good “best practices” process is a secondary factor in the success.

Creating and sustaining a highly functional integrated team necessitates developing strong cognitive skills and strong behavioral skills that create strong and lasting relationships. Remember that we rarely get the relationships we want, but we do get the relationships we work for. And working to create an effective team involves the following:
–‐ Asking more than telling
–‐ Expressing thanks and appreciation in both formal and informal ways
–‐ Including the group in brainstorming and problem solving process
–‐ Being approachable
–‐ Rewarding cooperative and interdependent behavior, not “rock star” performance
–‐ Hiring people who value and understand shared responsibility and accountability
–‐ Staying committed to collaboration, not competition and conflict.

The skill of Positive Presence is a ‘must have’ for today’s leaders, equipping them to create a culture of collaboration through improved communication, modeling and teaching a cooperative attitude, and celebrating differing behaviour styles. The skill of Positive Presence is an innovative thought model connecting workplace behaviour to human energy and provides a systematic, programmatic methodology for equipping leaders with the knowledge and understanding necessary for developing and sustaining high-performing integrated teams.