What Is Your Primary Team?

Here's a question that quietly shapes how an organisation works: what is your primary team — the leadership team you're a member of, or the team that you lead? In practice, most leaders identify more with the team they lead. That's the group they associate with first.

Why your primary team matters

Thinking linearly about 'me and my team' can exacerbate siloed thinking and internal competition. It raises real questions: what is a leader's responsibility to the leadership team they sit on? What relationships do they need to foster with peers to serve a larger, interconnected structure and a shared strategy?

Belonging to more than one team

You can be a member of several teams at once — as long as you identify the contribution and thinking each one requires, and keep an enterprise point of view that serves the organisational strategy. That's what unlocks an interconnected network of high-performing teams.

Frequently asked questions

What is your primary team?

For most leaders it's instinctively the team they lead — but treating the leadership team you belong to as your first team is often what reduces silos and serves the wider strategy.

Why does it matter which team comes first?

Identifying only with the team you lead can drive siloed thinking and internal competition. Holding an enterprise view across teams strengthens the whole organisation.