We’re diving deep into the dimensions of the Leadership Circle Profile®—one at a time—to surface insights, get curious, and explore how each dimension helps leaders move from Reactive to Creative leadership. In this post, we’re unpacking Fosters Team Play—the dimension that measures a leader’s ability to create the conditions where collaboration thrives.
Behind every great team is a leader who knows how to make work feel less like a grind and more like a shared adventure. When leaders cultivate an environment where trust runs deep and people feel free to bring their full selves, something remarkable happens: collaboration becomes energizing, not exhausting. Work starts to feel more like play—creative, engaging, even joyful.
But make no mistake. Fostering team play isn’t about keeping things light or avoiding hard moments. It’s about creating the conditions where openness and honesty can thrive—where conflict is met with curiosity rather than fear, and where success is measured not by individual achievement but by the strength of the whole team.
The future of leadership depends on leaders practicing team play in this way. The complexity of the world has outgrown command-and-control. No single person can possibly hold all the answers. What we need instead are leaders who know how to unlock the collective intelligence of the group—leaders who are willing to admit “I don’t know” and invite others into the discovery.
The truth is, the best teams don’t just work together. They play together. If we are to solve the problems that the world faces, we cannot do so with only grim determination. Big problems are solved by those who play—and play big.
What Do We Mean by Fosters Team Play?
When we talk about Fosters Team Play in the Leadership Circle Profile, we’re talking about more than just “getting along” with others. This dimension measures a leader’s ability to create the conditions for high-performance teamwork—inside their own teams, across functions, and even within groups where they are not the formal leader.
Leaders who score high here are catalysts. They know how to build a climate where collaboration, motivation, and trust flourish. They share leadership, invite diverse voices, and celebrate big swings and team wins in equal measure.
The word play matters, too. Anyone can foster teamwork. But team play signals joy. Exuberance. Creativity. Openness. Teams that truly play together tap into energy and ideas that can’t be forced or controlled. And in that play, they find not only better outcomes, but deeper meaning in the work itself.
The good vibes don’t stop there. Leaders who excel in the Fosters Team Play dimension are simply more effective. They have a knack for cultivating teams in which the whole is far greater than the sum of the parts.
The data backs this up. With a .89 correlation to leadership effectiveness—tied with the Purposeful and Visionary dimension—Fosters Team Play is one of the strongest predictors we have of a leader’s impact. The numbers make it clear: great leadership and great teamwork rise—and fall—together.
Why This Dimension Matters
As the complexity of work grows and it becomes necessary to lead increasingly into the unknown, a leader’s competence, alone, isn’t enough. High performance comes from connection, and leaders who foster team play know that trust is the bedrock of collaboration. When people and teams feel safe, seen, and supported, they do their best work.
In a recent conversation with Bob Anderson, Leadership Circle CEO and Co-Founder Bill Adams talked about the importance of leaders meeting this moment. “As complexity goes up, what helps us match that complexity—both in mindset, as well as the way we work together in the environment in which we work—is [Fosters Team Play],” he said. “That’s the difference maker.”
🎥 Watch the whole conversation.
What It’s Not: Common Misconceptions
When people hear the phrase team play, it’s easy to imagine extremes that miss the mark.
Fostering team play isn’t about being a “yes” person who avoids conflict or agrees with everything just to keep the peace. Nor is it about being the class clown who keeps things light but never gets serious, or the endlessly cheerful leader who believes positivity alone will carry the day.
True team play isn’t about smoothing over hard truths, chasing harmony at all costs, or pretending everything is fun and easy. It’s about creating the conditions where people can bring their full selves—seriousness and humor, challenge and support, confidence and vulnerability—and know that all of it belongs.
From Reactive to Creative: The Role of Fosters Team Play
When a leader struggles to foster team play, the causes are often more complex than they first appear. Low scores don’t always mean someone is unwilling to collaborate. More often, they reflect gaps in experience, habits that worked for individual success but hinder teamwork at scale, or defensive patterns that pull teams apart.
Some leaders simply haven’t managed or participated in a team that models good team play, so the skills haven’t been developed. Others continue leading with decisiveness, drive, and independence—the same behaviors that once made them successful as individual contributors—without realizing that these habits can shut down collaboration in a group setting.
The data points clearly to the Protecting dimension of the Reactive structure as a major barrier—especially Distance, Critical, and Arrogance. These patterns actively limit a leader’s ability to cultivate collaboration:
- Distance drains relational energy and keeps people at arm’s length.
- Critical injects judgment and friction into interactions.
- Arrogance shifts focus away from the group and toward the self.
Control dynamics can also undermine teamwork:
- Too much control stifles input, creates dependency, and erodes trust.
- Too little control leaves teams adrift, avoids conflict, and diminishes accountability.
The good news is that change is possible—and transformative. When leaders soften defensive patterns, people lean in, energy once spent on protecting gets redirected toward collaboration, and the team begins to operate at a higher level. Trust deepens, communication improves, and creativity starts to flourish. In short, this is where Fosters Team Play comes to life—when leaders move from Reactive behaviors to Creative, it is relational leadership that unlocks the team’s full potential.
Leveraging Fosters Team Play Leadership: Practices + Prompts
At its best, leadership is relational. Power doesn’t come from having all the answers, but from creating the conditions where the best answers can emerge. Often that shift begins with vulnerability—the simple, courageous act of saying, “I don’t know—what do you think?” From there, collaboration deepens, trust builds, and the team’s capacity expands.
This expansion is essential to meet the demands of leadership today and into the future. “We have to be able to think together beyond what we know—and that takes an unprecedented level of trust and teamwork and stepping beyond our Reactive Tendencies,” said Leadership Circle Co-Founder and Chief Knowledge Officer Bob Anderson in conversation with Bill Adams. “We have to come together and move together into unknown territory. That’s a collective intelligence that’s required of us now.”
🎥 Watch the whole conversation.
If you’re looking to strengthen your ability to foster team play, try experimenting with practices like these:
- Create a climate of trust. Begin team meetings with a quick personal check-in. Authenticity builds connection.
- Invite input. Before finalizing a decision, ask: “What perspectives are we missing?”
- Share leadership. Rotate facilitation of team meetings. Let different voices set the tone.
- Address issues directly. Don’t let tensions linger. Approach conflict as a pathway to clarity and growth.
- Play. Build in moments of levity, creativity, and even fun. High performance doesn’t mean joyless performance.
Prompts for reflection:
- When was the last time I said, “I don’t know” to my team?
- How do I respond when conflict arises—avoidance, control, or curiosity?
- In what ways am I sharing leadership, and where might I still be holding too tightly?
Curious how this dimension shows up in leadership and coaching moments? 🎥 In a recent webinar, Leadership Circle Principal Mark Burrell shared insight into how Fosters Team Play influences leaders’ daily behaviors—and how embracing this mindset fuels trust, helps built resilient teams, and inspires inclusive leadership.
Recommended Reading
Want to dive deeper into the art of building great teams? These books offer timeless lessons and practical tools for leaders who want to cultivate true collaboration.
- The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership by Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman, and Kaley Klemp
A practical guide to shifting from fear-based to trust-based leadership, with commitments that transform how leaders show up in relationships and teams. - The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
A leadership fable that reveals the common pitfalls teams face and how to build trust, accountability, and results-driven collaboration. - Team of Teams by General Stanley McChrystal
Drawn from military experience, this book illustrates how adaptability and shared purpose can replace rigid hierarchies in complex environments. - The Wisdom of Teams by Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith
A foundational text that unpacks the essential ingredients of real teamwork and why collective performance outpaces individual effort.
Final Thoughts: The Heartbeat of Creative Leadership
The Fostering Team Play dimension is about more than shaping how people work together today—it’s about preparing them for the complexity of tomorrow. When leaders lean into trust, vulnerability, and shared ownership, they don’t just improve performance; they build resilience, adaptability, and capacity for what’s ahead.
This is the heartbeat of Creative leadership. Strengthen it, and every team, every organization, every leader grows stronger.
