The Attributes is a consulting firm founded by former Navy SEAL Commander Rich Diviney focused on empowering teams to become masters of uncertainty. Learn how our training curriculums can help your company reach new heights here.

There are a lot of different ways that people think about teams. The common assumption is that a team is always a group of people, specifically designed, highly trained, and focused on a distinct and tangible goal. Military teams are for combat, athletic teams are for winning the game, and business teams are for generating a profit. These assumptions are not incorrect, but they don’t tell the full story. The true definition of a team is; a group of two or more people working together towards a common goal or objective.

That’s it.

Which means that certainly a SEAL Team, sports team, or business team qualifies. But a team is also a marriage, a group of friends on a trip, or some community volunteers. A team can be two people, twenty people, or one hundred people. And the goal doesn’t necessarily have to have a finish line like “winning” or “more profits”. In fact, the goal doesn’t have to have a finish line at all. A married couple working together to be happy, healthy, and enjoy life doesn’t consider that endeavor to be finite. Nor do the church volunteers who are helping the community on a consistent basis. For some teams, the goal is to continue to play the game.

The real point however is that we are all on teams. Every single one of us, at some point, is part of a group of two or more people working together towards a common goal or objective. Which means that if that is what a team is, it’s also important for us to understand what a high-performing team is; a team that performs not only when things are going great - but also when things are going poorly - when challenges, problems and issues arrive to disrupt progress.

This is when, in any team, leadership matters. Although each team has a different set of needs, good leadership can always help the group. But leadership within high-performing teams manifests itself in a very specific way - and it’s different from the usual ways that we think about it. I’ve learned that some of the classic styles of leadership are not always the most helpful or fitting in helping a team achieve success.

The Pyramid model  (“I am your leader, you work for me”)

This is the style that we see (and think of) most often. The classic pyramid with the leader at the top and widening layers of subordinates below. This style is very bureaucratic, very military, and also very limiting. With one person at the top, this implies more of a “driver” vs. “leader”. Communication is slow and cumbersome, as it weaves all the way to the top and back down again. There is very little trust in this model as it’s designed for more of a “I say, you do” environment. This model relies on rank and hierarchy - and in a high-performing team, contribution has little to do with rank or position.

The Flat model (“We all work together”)

The flat model is a bit of a mild rebellion to the pyramid. It eschews rank and hierarchy - placing everyone on the same level (theoretically). The problem with this model is that it’s often difficult to determine who is actually “in charge”. Decisions are often delayed - as they bounce around with no one sure who’s supposed to make them. Additionally, because it’s a flat line, actions can be taken at one end of the line that are not necessarily seen by the other end. Silos can happen quickly (and inadvertently). In a high-performing team, communication & information is fluid and transparent to all, allowing for rapid adjustment and contribution by all members.

The Upside Down Pyramid (“I am your leader, I work for you”)

Robert Greenleaf was famous for pioneering “servant leadership” in which he essentially flipped the pyramid over. He described a philosophy that required the person in charge to reframe their mindset about those people on the team. The leader exists to inspire, enable, and serve team members - in order to maximize their contribution and growth. While this can be considered the most preferred model, and probably the best one to adopt if forced to choose between the three, it still doesn’t accurately represent leadership in a high-performing team - where burden is distributed, and not resting all on one member.

Ultimately any of these styles of leadership may help a team function, but high-performing teams don’t just function, they thrive. That requires a whole different approach. An approach that I call Dynamic Subordination.

Dynamic Subordination (“The leader is where the leader needs to be in the moment”)

The Dynamic Subordination model implies that for any team, problems, challenges, and issues can come from any angle at any moment. When one does, the team member who is closest to that problem, and the most capable, immediately steps up and takes the lead - and everyone else follows and supports. As soon as the situation changes again, a new person steps up and takes lead, based on proximity and capability. Dynamic subordination is this constant swap between leader and follower position - I also call it alpha swapping. It’s a style of leadership that is defined by conditions on the ground - in real-time. This model also allows each team member’s Attributes and skills to be used to their full extent, and in the proper context. It fosters respect, trust, and speed, all while allowing each member a chance to perform & recover while the team is still operating at full capacity. This is how a high-performing team operates in the long game, the game that is constant and neverending, like business, relationships, and life.

As we become familiar with our Attributes, it makes us realize that every person can contribute with different strengths. With Dynamic Subordination, each individual’s best Attributes contribute to maximizing a team’s performance.

It’s by properly recognizing and developing our own Attributes that makes Dynamic Subordination possible. Being familiar with our strengths, and our teammates’ strengths is critical to making this style of leadership work for our team. When we are aware of our Attributes, we know when and how to step up and act. The same goes for our teammates. Clearly defining and recognizing our Attributes on a team enables high-performing results.

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My wife and I have been married for over 20 years. We have two children whom we have raised through some very intense ups and downs - especially with me having to deploy to combat so often. We consider ourselves at this point to be a high-performing team. This is because we now understand each other's strengths and weaknesses so deeply. We know exactly what Attributes we each bring to our lives. For example, I am an inherently patient person, my wife is inherently impatient. This works out beautifully for us because when patience is required in our lives - I step up and take the lead. When impatience is required, she steps up and takes the lead. Neither of us considers ourselves “the leader” - we are both leaders and/or followers - depending on the situation. This is Dynamic Subordination in action.

How do we set up Dynamic Subordination?

The answer to this question is found in one word: trust.

As we learn to identify our Attributes, it will become more clear to us what our strengths are and what our weaknesses are. This allows us to understand much more clearly in what capacity we can really contribute to our team. It doesn’t stop there though - because just knowing ourselves isn’t enough - our teammates need to know it also. We need to be vulnerable and share/display for our teammates all of our strengths and weaknesses - basically wear it all on our sleeves. This is where trust begins to form - with our ability to be fully transparent. If you are the person in charge, if you want to be a leader, you must go first in this process. That means you model and encourage the behaviors that both lead to trust and manifest Dynamic Subordination.