🧩 From Dysfunction to Trust: Building Teams That Thrive

Every leader has faced it — that invisible tension that creeps into meetings, slows down progress, and drains energy from even the best teams.
No one says it out loud, but everyone feels it.

That’s the world Patrick Lencioni described in The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.
It’s not about bad people or poor intentions — it’s about what happens when fear replaces trust.

The Five Dysfunctions (and What Healthy Teams Do Instead)

Lencioni’s model is simple, but profound: five layers that either build trust and collaboration — or erode them from the inside out.

Here’s how dysfunction shows up — and what strong leaders do differently.

1️⃣ Absence of Trust → Vulnerability-Based Trust

The foundation of any great team is trust.
Not the polite kind that keeps conversations safe, but the real kind — where people can admit mistakes, ask for help, and say “I don’t know.”

Trust begins when leaders go first — when they model openness instead of perfection.

“When a leader admits vulnerability, it gives everyone else permission to be human.”

2️⃣ Fear of Conflict → Healthy Debate

Without trust, conflict feels dangerous — so teams stay silent.
But silence doesn’t mean alignment; it means disengagement.

Healthy teams disagree openly because they care deeply.
They debate ideas, not people.
They fight for each other, not with each other.

3️⃣ Lack of Commitment → Shared Clarity

When teams avoid conflict, they never reach real clarity — just polite compliance.
People leave meetings nodding yes but thinking no.

Commitment doesn’t come from consensus — it comes from being heard.
When everyone’s perspective is on the table, people buy in, even when they don’t win.

4️⃣ Avoidance of Accountability → Peer Accountability

Once there’s clarity, accountability follows — not as punishment, but as partnership.
Healthy teams hold each other to the same standard the leader does.
They don’t wait for the boss to step in; they step up for each other.

That’s what Lencioni calls peer accountability — when people care enough to challenge and support one another in equal measure.

5️⃣ Inattention to Results → Collective Results

At the top of the model is purpose — the reason the team exists in the first place.
When individual agendas outweigh collective goals, results suffer.
But when trust, conflict, commitment, and accountability are strong, results come naturally.

High-performing teams measure success not by who gets credit, but by what gets accomplished together.

The Leader’s Role

Leaders don’t fix dysfunction by force — they heal it by example.
They go first in vulnerability.
They welcome healthy tension.
They reinforce clarity.
They model accountability.
And they keep the spotlight on shared wins.

“Trust isn’t a team-building activity — it’s a leadership habit.”

The Takeaway

Every team has tension — but not every team has trust.
When leaders build from the inside out — trust before tasks, people before process — dysfunction gives way to unity.

Because great teams aren’t born.
They’re built, one conversation at a time.

Build a Healthy, High-Trust Team

If you’d like to explore how to strengthen trust and accountability within your team, let’s connect for a conversation about building healthy, high-performing culture.