How to counter dysfunctional behaviour in a self-sabotaging team

By N. Anand and Jean-Louis Barsoux

The CEO of a European city’s public transit authority recently called us in to coach the organisation’s new head of HR. Having joined the executive committee six months earlier, Jocelyn (not her real name) was having difficulty integrating with the team. According to the CEO, her attitude was holding back its efforts to develop a strategy for meeting the city’s growing transportation needs in a more sustainable way.

In speaking with Jocelyn’s subordinates, colleagues, and boss and with external stakeholders, we were struck by the contrast between her peers’ views of her as withdrawn and uncollaborative and her subordinates’ impressions of her as professional and supportive.