Next week my Chiefs team is complete. My new CFAO starts, and after that every seat on my senior team is filled. It is a milestone I have been looking forward to, and it also means the real work of building a high-performing team is only beginning.

I have been reading Patrick Lencioni’s book The Advantage, which pulls together ideas from his earlier fables, including The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. His core argument is that a healthy organization starts with a cohesive leadership team, and he defines cohesion through five behaviors: trust, healthy conflict, commitment, accountability, and results. He stacks them in order for a reason. Trust is the foundation. Without it, teams avoid real conflict. Without real conflict, people do not fully commit to decisions. Without commitment, accountability breaks down. And without accountability, the team drifts from focusing on shared results toward protecting their own piece of the organization.

Reading this gave me a real framework to take stock against, rather than a vague sense of how my team is doing. So I am doing exactly that as the team completes.

On trust, the team behaves as if it is high. People seem comfortable with each other, and the day-to-day dynamic looks healthy. But Lencioni is specific about what trust means in this model. He calls it vulnerability-based trust, and it is not the same as believing your colleagues will do what they say. It is whether people are willing to say “I made a mistake” or “I need help” in front of each other without worrying it will be used against them later. A team can look cohesive in the room and still fall short of that bar. I want to confirm where we actually stand rather than assume, so I plan to use Lencioni’s own assessment tool to get a real read instead of relying on how things feel.

On conflict, I see healthy signs. We disagree, and it does not feel personal or avoided. I think we are headed in a good direction here, though it is still early to call it settled.

On commitment, we are doing the work of creating it, but there is more to build. Decisions need clear buy-in, not just agreement in the room, and I do not think we are fully there yet.

On accountability and results, I have less visibility right now. Those two sit further up the stack, and it makes sense that they are harder to assess before the foundation underneath them is solid. That is something I will keep watching as the team settles in.

When you are new to an organization, it takes time to assess a team accurately. I am about at the six month point now, and it feels like the right time to shift from mostly observing and participating to taking a stronger leadership role in shaping the culture. I am excited to have a full team in place and to work with them to build the organization even stronger.