Leveraging Operations in Leadership
Most small business leaders are great at what they do but nobody taught them how to build a team around it.
Leveraging Operations in Leadership is the podcast for entrepreneurs and small business leaders navigating the shift from solopreneur to team. Hosted by Tonya D. Harrison, Founder of Cignal Partners, each episode blends practical leadership development with the operational systems you need to grow a small team sustainably without burnout or overwhelm.
Whether you're hiring your first employee or learning to delegate as a business owner with a growing team, you'll learn how to:
• Strengthen your decision-making and leadership systems
• Improve team communication, accountability, and performance
• Build business operations that reflect your values and scale with your vision
Great leadership starts with values but it's sustained through systems.
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Leveraging Operations in Leadership
How to Build a Cohesive Team That Actually Works Together
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Is your team full of capable people but still struggling to work as one?
Do you find yourself constantly stepping in to fix miscommunication or put out fires?
In this episode of Leveraging Operations in Leadership, we break down why cohesive teams are the true performance advantage—and how to build one from the inside out.
Looking for a safe space to learn, grow, and connect with other leaders like you? Join us for the next Leadership Collab ➡️ https://go.cignalpartners.com/collab
Free live workshop, Oct 29: The Capacity Shift: Automate. Systems before software. Save your seat: https://go.cignalpartners.com/capacity
Welcome and Episode Introduction
Speaker 1Hey there and welcome back to another episode of the Leveraging Operations in Leadership . This is a podcast for leaders who want to build powerhouse teams and lead with clarity , confidence and strategy . In today's episode , we're going to be talking about something that all leaders of teams say they want , but sometimes we struggle with how to build it . That is , a cohesive and collaborative team . Because here's the truth no matter how brilliant your strategy is or how great your leadership skills are , without a united team , execution will fall short . So today , I'm going to share with you signs that your team lacks cohesion , which , if you're in this situation , you are probably already feeling it Three powerful benefits of building one , and then I wanna share with you three things that you can do today to move in the right direction . So let's
Three Signs of Team Disconnect
Speaker 1go ahead and get started . I want to start with the three signs I'm going to share with you , three signs that your team lacks cohesion and collaboration . Again , if this is you , you are probably really feeling it , because it all comes back to you , meaning that you become stuck in the middle . Now you are the one that have to pick up the pieces when this happened . The reality is , when your team lacks cohesion and collaboration team lacks cohesion and collaboration . It's tough . That's the reality . It is tough . It's additional work for you and you're already busy and have a lot going on . We definitely want to make sure we can take care of this , if we can .
Speaker 1So sign number one your team is going to be in silos and there's going to be miscommunication . So you're going to have your team members . They're doing their own thing . They're unaware of how their work impacts others . They're going to be siloed . So if you have a team of five to 10 people , two or three will be on one side . Two to three will be on the other side . They'll be doing their own thing . They're not cohesive , they're not working together and they don't fully understand how their work impacts the other group . They're one team but because they're doing things individually or in silos , they're not considering the full picture . Information gets lost , priorities get misaligned and tasks fall through the cracks . That is sign number one silos and miscommunication . Sign number two is conflict and blame . Yeah , they're going to start playing the blame game . You're going to have people that are going to point the finger at other people because tasks are falling through the cracks . They're going to point the finger . Oh , I thought Sally was doing it . Oh , mark was supposed to do this . Shared understanding and trust they're going to result to again the finger pointing , and sometimes what happens is you end up with this passive resistance . That's not my job , I'm not supposed to do that . He's supposed to do that type of thing . This is going to wear you out , if it's not already wearing you out , and it slows everything down and then morale gets low . So that is sign number two conflict and blame .
Speaker 1The third flag is they become more dependent on you . Instead of talking to each other and resolving things on their own and brainstorming together , now they're funneling everything back to you because they don't really trust each other , they don't really have a connection or relationship , and they come back to you . So they're going to be asking you for reassurance of things . And now , because you got all of these other things on your plate , you now become the bottleneck because you have to resolve things and they are waiting on you Again . That slows things down and it causes you additional stress and work . That's not something that we want . Stress and work , that's not something that we want .
Speaker 1If any of this sounds familiar , know that it's not a reflection of your leadership ability . It's a sign that your team needs structure , clarity and connection . And also , if you are navigating these challenges , understand that . Number one you are not alone . Okay , you're definitely not alone , but if you would like support in this area , this is one of the reasons why I created the leadership shift coaching experience and it's also one of the things that we tackle during this time right , so , if you're navigating these challenges and you want to lead more with more confidence and delegate more effectively and build a truly connected team that's getting the work done and not having you caught in the middle all the time , you definitely wanna check out the Leadership Shift at signalpartnerscom . Slash the shift , check it out . I'll also share the link in the show notes , but this is one of the things that we tackle during the six weeks .
Speaker 1If this is something that's specific to you . There's other things that we talk about . However , because it is an individual coaching experience , it's based on your needs as a leader . I'm here to support you in the way that you need to be supported . It's a program that basically meets you where you are . So those are the three signs .
Speaker 1Again , number one silos . They're going to be in silos , which is going to cause miscommunication . Number two , conflict and the blame game . And number three , they are now going to be more dependent on you . So leader dependency and ultimately burnout for you , okay , and we don't want that . But let's talk about the flip side
Benefits of a Cohesive Team
Speaker 1. So it doesn't have to be that way . That may be the way it is right now , but it does not have to be that way . There are things that you could do to make it better , but I want to share with you the brightest side of things .
Speaker 1The flip side of all of that is when your team is more collaborative and more cohesive , you're going to experience better results and you're going to have less micromanaging because a cohesive team they move in alignment , they are synchronized , they trust each other , they take ownership , so you're not constantly in the middle and in the weeds , you're not the bottleneck . The second thing is that you'll experience is increased innovation and problem solving . They're like off doing things on their own because they feel safe and connected . They are in an environment where they're open to contribute more ideas and they challenge each other in healthy ways . Right , it's not this fight , but it's kind of like . You know , they challenge each other , they respect each other and it's healthy and you want that within your team , and that leads to smarter decisions and faster progress . They are getting things done better . Now you are getting the best of your team because , collectively , they're bringing all of their skills and talents and ideas to the table and you get the best of the best ideas and everybody brings something , you know , a unique value to the team . That's why they're on the team and we want to hear from them . So you're going to get increased innovation and problem solving .
Speaker 1Also , because your team feels valued and connected , you usually end up with a higher retention rate and more engagement . There . There's a higher retention rate and more engagement . There there's a higher engagement rate . A strong team culture makes your company a place people want to be . They want to show up fully and they know that they can be authentic themselves . One of the things that I experienced is , even if they weren't totally loyal to the organization , I found that I had team members that were loyal to the team and they wanted to be a part of the team . So it's definitely a lot of benefits and we can go on , but these are the three that come to that are top of mind that I experience . And let me tell you something . It is absolutely amazing when you go from one side to the other , but how do you get there ? So let's talk about some of the ways that you could build a cohesive team , and I'm going to talk about three ways .
Three Ways to Build Team Cohesion
Speaker 1This is the point where you want to go ahead and get your notebook out If you haven't already pen and pencil and let's dig into it . The first way is to build it is . You have to set clear expectations . Everybody needs to understand what's going on . They need to know what the goals are , what the values are , the team norms . All of this needs to be up front . Here's what our goal is . So say , for instance , you are a call center . Here's what our goal we want to reduce wait time to XYZ . And then goal we want to reduce wait time to X , y , z , and then so everybody knows what it is that we're going after , regardless of what your job title is , we know what our goal is in this department .
Speaker 1And then the other thing that you want to do is be really clear on what your values are and what those team norms are . Everybody understands what we value as a team , and you can do this as a group exercise , which is really awesome to do Come up with what those values are , but you want to put the norms with it , right , because you could say you know we value collaboration , but you want them to fully understand what it looks like to walk that out . So If we say we value collaboration , your norm could be that means we loop in team members early when a decision impacts them , because you want to be specific about how it looks to walk this out . Everybody may be working with a different definition , so you want to be extremely clear about what it looks like . That's step number one set your goals and your values and your norms and make sure everybody understands it . We're all working from the same definition . We know what it looks like and when you do this , you're going to reduce friction . There's no if and buts are supposed because we're all on the same page . Friction there's no if and buts are supposed because we're all on the same page . Eventually , you'll increase trust and then you avoid the silent resentment that often builds when expectations are not clear , right ? So this kind of clarity it eliminates the confusion and it's going to help your team show up in a way that you need them to . It's not just about what we do , but it's how we do it together . That is step number one .
Speaker 1The second thing you want to do is create opportunities to collaborate . You have to create this space for them to do it . Don't depend on them doing it Initially . You are going to have to facilitate this . Many teams they work side by side . They could be sitting next to each other , but they're not working together . They're off doing their own thing . You have to be intentional about how you build collaboration into your flow . This may mean specifically having cross-functional projects . This person you know , because you may have two people that have a title and they're doing the same thing . Two people may be doing something else , one person may be doing something else and you create these cross-functional projects that include all of them .
Speaker 1Another opportunity is to have brainstorming sessions or team problem solving huddles , and when you do this , even if whatever the problem is may not directly touch somebody in your department , you have them in there , because one of the things that we've learned is it's nice to have people and we used to call them out of the box members that we would invite to our meetings , because these are the people that are outside of the process , because sometimes what you find is is that when you are in it , you are down in the nitty gritty . You don't see some things that other people from the outside would be . They have a different perspective and they have a lot of questions , and the better we become at answering those questions , the better we become at providing a solution that actually works . So invite everybody , give them an opportunity to participate . Not only will they participate , but they'll also learn something and have more respect for what the other person does and how they do it . A lot of times they don't know what's going on . We're in the same department , but you have a different role , so I may not know exactly what it is that you do , but when we start shining light on all of the different positions and roles within the department , now it's like oh okay , I didn't know you do that . They may even come up with ideas of how they can do their job differently in order to help another role . So you have to create that space . When you create the space for people to collaborate and I'm talking about really collaborating with some of the examples that I gave when you do that , you strengthen their ability to co-create and then they're going to communicate and then they begin to trust each other more .
Speaker 1The third thing that you do to build this collaboration and cohesiveness is by fostering trust , and you do that through consistency Sounds simple , extremely powerful . You have to be the kind of leader that your team can count on when you go down this road . You have to be consistent . If I am saying that I'm going to bring everybody to the table to have these problem solving huddles or these brainstorming sessions or whatever it is , I have to consistently do that and you're going to do it until they pick it up or until you delegate it to somebody else . But you have to be consistent . Say what you mean , do what you say , follow through and don't forget to acknowledge the wins .
Coaching Offer and Episode Wrap-up
Speaker 1Follow up when you say you're gonna follow up and create the space for your team to speak up . This is what helps them to be more engaged Over time . That consistency builds trust and trust builds cohesion . Just remember this . Cohesion is not a nice to have . This is a performance multiplier . If your team isn't working with each other , then they're working against each other and they're working against the potential of the department .
Speaker 1If you're ready to build a team that's aligned , connected and capable of growing with you check out the Leadership Shift Coaching . It's my one-on-one experience designed to help leaders like you build clarity , capacity and confidence . If you enjoyed this episode , don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a leadership lesson . And if you found this valuable , leave me a quick review . It helps more leaders like you find the show and you can also share it . Also , I'm going to drop a link , so if you want to subscribe to the Team Navigator newsletter , this is a newsletter that I send out every week . You'll get weekly tips and you can apply them right away . So until next time , keep leading forward .
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