I’m Curious about the Relationship between Obama and Harper

I spent much of today watching our Canadian news coverage of the visit by President Barack Obama to our nation’s capital to spend some time with our Prime Minister, Stephen Harper. By most accounts, the visit was a success – certainly in terms of PR! I am very taken with the new US President (as many of us in Canada are); he seems very ‘real’, down to earth, and very personable. We loved that he chose Canada for his first visit as President, and a moment that I believe spoke volumes about the man I expect him to be was when he made a point of acknowledging the crowd that had gathered and waited (quite a while, in the cold) for him to arrive.

 

I am curious about how the relationship that is developing between our two leaders (and their respective teams) fits in with the model that I’ve been reviewing, from Patrick Lencioni’s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.

 

Trust: This seems to me to truly be the basis of everything, and I think that’s the message from the model. If these two leaders don’t feel that they can trust each other (as has happened between some of our respective leaders in the past), we would end up with politicians unwilling to open up to each other about what’s important to them, and it seems unlikely that anything productive will ever happen.

 

Conflict: There’s bound to be conflict on some common issues, and our leaders have to be willing to put the issues and their thoughts about them on the table for discussion and debate. Otherwise, we’ll end up listening to veiled discussions and guarded comments. How refreshing it would be to have leaders who are willing to genuinely engage each other and discuss important issues without partisan politics!

 

Commitment: Each leader has to be able to rely on the other to be committed to an agreed-upon solution. One of the strongest points that came out of today’s meetings is that both leaders are wholly committed to the security of both countries; Canada is not less committed to the fight against terrorism than the US. I’m certain that both leaders will be wholly committed to a solution once they’ve fully discussed the issues.

 

I’ll discuss the fourth dysfunction, Avoidance of Accountability, in more detail in my next post, but for purposes of this discussion, we might see an avoidance of accountability if President Obama and Prime Minister Harper move forward without real commitment and buy-in to solutions. If they are able to achieve clarity and buy-in, they will each be in a better position to hold the other accountable for their actions.

 

 

Finally, the fifth dysfunction is Inattention to Results. It seems obvious that without accountability, the results don’t really matter. If individual needs become a priority over the collective goals of the team (our countries together, in this case), our leaders won’t really be paying attention to what’s going on over border.

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A Coaching Moment:

• What kind of ‘team’ do you think our leaders are creating?
• Where will they be challenged?
• What will be easy for them?

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Are you curious about what Organization and Relationship Systems Coaching can do for you and your business partnership or team? Send me an email at trilogy@pathcom.com to request a complimentary sample session.

Warmly,
Jennifer