IN OR OUT - What's your status within the team?
by Sharon Feltham, Excellerate
Every Team has an In Crowd and an Out Crowd. Who determines the membership and which one do you belong to?
Have you ever noticed how some team member’s have a closer relationship with their leader?
Has it ever been so obvious that it caused tension within the team?
And how would you classify your status?
Are you one of the chosen few or just one of the (out) crowd?
Leaders will often develop a special relationship with selected members of their group. They create an inner circle of trusted advisors through a process of tacit negotiations where privileges are traded in return for loyalty and respect.
These unspoken agreements are more likely to occur between people who are similar to the leader e.g. same gender, age and culture. And the more the leader and team member perceive that they are similar, the more likely they will feel comfortable and interact with each other. This increases the level of trust, which in turn improves the quality of their relationship.
Leaders will reward their inner circle (bestow privileges) by consulting with them on decisions and delegating more authority and responsibility. These actions contribute to creating two classes of team membership, the In Crowd and the Out Crowd. While members of the In crowd enjoy more status, influence and power, remaining team members are relegated to the Out crowd where they have less influence, fewer choices and a lower quality relationship with the leader.
SO WHAT
This dynamic is called the Leadership Exchange Theory.
In extreme cases it can create tension and divisiveness within the team. Out crowd members feel neglected, marginalised and resentful. They experience less job satisfaction and may withdraw from the team eventually resigning from the organization. However, while the privileges of in crowd membership can be beneficial the price of admission can be high. The inner circle work must harder to maintain their membership. The leader expects their loyalty and commitment; any breach of trust is seen as betrayal and membership is cancelled.
NOW WHAT?
Team Members:
If you are a member of the out-group you can learn to live with it. Accept there will be members in the group with more power. In many teams, where the leader maintains commitment to team members outside the inner circle, it generally doesn’t cause a problem.
Where this causes a division within the team you can discuss the issue with other members of the out group.Together you can draw it to the attention of your leader. They may be genuinely unaware of the problem so can make adjustments.
If you find the situation untenable, and unchangeable, then move on to another team.
If you want to “apply” for membership to the In Group then recognise that the negotiation process (the leadership exchange of privileges for loyalty) usually occurs on entry to a group. However, by volunteering for extra duties, demonstrating your loyalty, seeing things from your leaders point of view, being supportive and reasonable in your challenges you can work on gaining their confidence, trust and respect. (This is not to be confused with sucking up to the boss!)
Team Leaders
Increase your awareness. Do you have an inner circle? Is this having a detrimental effect on other team members or the team as a whole? How will you know? Is there someone outside the team who can give you an objective appraisal?
Choose your inner circle with care and bestow “membership privileges” with consideration.
Minimise divisiveness by maintaining your commitment to other members of the team
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