According to Julia Martins, writing for collaboration platform Asana, “Group dynamics describe the interactions, attitudes, and behaviors between a set of people who are working together... they grow out of the way people see themselves in relation to and among their peers,” (Martins, J., 2021). Interestingly, Martins notes that while groups are comprised of individuals working together during a project, “they don’t necessarily see themselves as part of a whole,” whereas “… a team is a group of people with a shared purpose and common goal,” (Ibid.).
R. D. Hinshelwood adds a perspective on leadership and followership roles as they relate to group dynamics. Hinshelwood quotes Main’s research in the context of therapeutic communities (TCs), “[The] helpful will unconsciously require others to be helpless while the helpless will require others to be helpful. Staff and patients are thus inevitably to some extent creatures of each other (Main, 1975, p. 61),” (Hinshelwood, R. D., 2020).
This observation isn’t confined to doctor-patient relationships. Hinshelwood observes, “Comparable to the help dynamic discussed previously, a similar dynamic exists in society, in general, to identify alternative roles with respect to the decision-making and responsibility of the leader, on one hand and the acquiescing follower, on the other,” (Ibid.). The author concludes his article with an observation of common characteristics of leaders who founded TCs. Hinshelwood notes, “… they tended to have a significant presence that was both powerful but not dominating. One could say they were enabling rather than directly decision-making. Somehow their presence could bring decisions out of their followers," (Ibid.).
The ability to hold space to enable others to reach conclusions and take appropriate actions sounds simple, which it is, but it isn’t easy. It’s simple in that it’s not complex. It’s not easy because that space often becomes fraught with tensions as complaints surface to leaders from subordinates who are resistant to change.
The best leaders I work with as an executive coach enjoy bringing talented people together and helping them achieve their best work. They tend to do this by creating a compelling vision; clearly communicating that vision; modeling their organization’s values, which often includes transparency around setting goals and holding themselves and their team members accountable to them; and empowering their people to deliver results.
Underlying all of this is trust. If you define the destination, bring together bright people and equip them with the tools they need to get there, leaders have to empower their people and trust them to use what they’ve been provided to deliver what’s expected. It is, however, incumbent upon the leader to ensure the dynamics of her leadership team are healthy so that her leadership team feels safe having honest conversations with one another so they can be accountable to each other.