How To Build Resilient Teams Through Partnership

The fastest way to break a team isn’t a bad plan, it’s a culture where people feel like they’re just carrying out orders. We dig into what happens when organizations live too long in a top-down model and teams slip into an “effect level” mindset where everything feels outside their control. That’s when you see the warning signs: people losing composure under pressure, getting defensive and blaming tools or other departments, or adopting a quiet passenger mentality where no one wants to step beyond the job description.

We walk through how leaders can shift the tone from reactive to resilient by moving people toward “cause level” thinking: owning outcomes, behaviors, and reactions even when the environment is messy. Greg shares a powerful story from a major newspaper organization facing disruption and possible shutdown, where management and the union stopped treating each other like opponents and partnered around the financial reality. It’s a grounded look at how partnership can change the quality of problem solving when the stakes are real.

From there, we get practical about peer partnering. You can’t command someone to be responsible, but you can build the conditions where ownership becomes normal: intentional pairing, shared deliverables, direct problem solving between peers, and a structure that reduces blame and escalation. We also unpack why psychological safety matters, how cross-training prevents single points of failure, and how teach-back learning makes training stick. Plus, we talk retention, including the idea that cooperative environments can keep employees 20 to 30% more often.

Subscribe for more leadership tools, share this with a manager who wants a stronger team, and leave a review so more people can find the show. What’s one place you could introduce peer partnering this week?

Transcript

Why Partnering Builds Leaders

SPEAKER_01 0:13

Well, hello, and welcome to our podcast, Success, Secrets, and Stories. I'm your host, John Wondolowski, and I'm here with my co-host and friend, Greg Powell. Greg? Hey everybody. And when we put together this podcast, we wanted to put out a helping hand and help that next generation and help answer the question of what does it mean to be a leader? Today we want to talk about a subject that I think supports that concept. So we wanted to talk about the power of partnering and how to build resilient teams. And when you think about a traditional company structure, it usually starts with a pretty familiar setup. The manager gives directions, the employees are expected to carry it out. That top-down

Effect Level Thinking At Work

SPEAKER_01 1:05

model works for a while, but over time, it can create a culture where people start to feel like they're just cogs into machines. If we want to build teams that can handle change, we have to move past the old boss versus employee mindset. Resilient teams do not come from people simply following orders. They come from people taking ownership. And that's really the heart of the MBR kind of process. The idea of helping people move beyond the effect to the cause kind of level.

SPEAKER_00 1:39

So let's unpack that a little bit. When someone is operating at the effective level, they feel like everything is happening to them. Their performance, their attitude, and even their sense of control is shaped by outside forces. At work, that might mean that they see the company, the economy, or even their manager as a reason things are going well or not going well. And when a whole team gets stuck there, you can hear it in the way people talk and see it in the way they respond. Everything becomes reactive. So, John, what do we mean by intensely

Losing Control Blame And Passengers

SPEAKER_00 2:15

reactive?

SPEAKER_01 2:17

Yeah, you know, it's kind of a tricky thing, but it it kind of breaks down to three basic ways. The first would be losing control. We've all seen that, right? The team starts to believe the success depends upon everything around them being perfect. And in MBR terms, they start slipping into becoming victims of their environment. Second example is when people start to just simply get defensive. If a deadline's missed or a project goes sideways, the first move is often to look for somebody that you can blame. Maybe it's the software or the instructions. The timeline was unreasonable. Or maybe it was another department that was affecting your ability to be successful. And once the team gets into that pattern, it takes a long time to build trust up again. The question for leaders becomes: are we trying to help improve people? Or are we just trying to collect paperwork so that we can justify moving them out and firing them? It's not leadership. If leadership falls into that mindset, they're stop taking responsibility too. They're more of the problem than the cure. They start thinking, we just need different employees. That's that's really going to solve our problems. And they'll not really see how the system needs to be addressed in the first place.

SPEAKER_00 3:43

So, third, you get what I would call the passenger mentality. People start acting like they're just along for the ride instead of helping drive what happens next. They wait to be told what to do, how to think, and when to change direction. Sometimes they stay inside very rigid job descriptions and they don't want to step outside of those job descriptions. And let me make one thing really clear here. I've worked with unemployees, and many of them absolutely understand the difference between what the contract needs to protect and what the organization needs to do to survive. The mistake leaders make is turning every disagreement into a contract debate. A better approach is to lay out the real issue, name the responsibility that needs to be addressed, and ask, how would you solve this? That changes the whole conversation. You are no longer talking down to people, you're actually inviting them to the solution.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

Greg, that reminds me of the example that you've talked about before, where leadership has had to change on how they worked with the union. And it was really through a tough period of time. I think that story helps make this idea

Union Partnership That Saved A Newspaper

SPEAKER_01 4:55

a lot more practical.

SPEAKER_00 4:57

Yes, it does, John. Years ago, I was working for a major newspaper organization right as the internet was starting to change the entire newspaper industry. The union had a very established rhythm for how things could work, including overtime, seniority, and how the paper operated from day to day. There were also contractual agreements and work rules in place. But when the company was facing the possibility of shutting down, management sat down with the union in a different way to have a very open conversation about the financial reality. It was not like normal union negotiations between management and union employees. Instead of coming in with an adversarial tone, both parties tried to partner with each other to figure out how to keep the paper going. We were pulling out all stocks to help the company emerge from bankruptcy. In the end, the newspaper was salvaged through a purchase by a local investment group. And even though the newspaper became a shadow of its former self, the partnership was able to create an appealing business package to several suitors. But the bigger question is whether the damage could have been reduced or whether the company could have adapted sooner if that kind of partnership had started earlier. You know, we're never going to know. I did see how powerful it was when management and employees stopped treating each other like opponents and started working together.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

And you know, that really sets up our next piece that we wanted to talk about. What does it look

Cause Level Ownership And Responsibility

SPEAKER_01 6:20

like when people start to operate at the cause level? Operating at the cost level means managers hold people responsible for their outcomes, their behaviors, and their reactions. It does not mean that they control everything around them, but they do control how they respond, how they adapt, and what they do next. And when enough people start thinking that way, the whole organization can start to see that mind shift.

SPEAKER_00 6:45

So, John, one of the first signs of that shift is ownership. The team starts focusing on the goal instead of the obstacle. Roadblocks become problems to solve, not excuses to stop. And that naturally leads to better solutions. So instead of bringing a leader a list of complaints, team members start saying, hey, wait a minute, here's a problem, and here are a few ways we might handle it. It's that old idea, do not just bring me problems, bring me solutions. That is where people start moving out of the victim mindset and actually shaping their own outcomes.

SPEAKER_01 7:18

Yeah, and eventually the teams begin to see the end result as something that they're invested in. And it really comes down to what does the company do for me when they understand what value I can bring to the team that creates a better result? They understand that they're serving others. So let's take a quote from probably some of the most interesting people in governmental history that talked about ownership and partnership. Take Kennedy's quote: Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country. How about Winston Churchill, if I'm going to name drop? The price of greatness is responsibility. And Dr. King's famous quote: Life's most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others? That whole part of stepping back and partnering with people is the essence of trying to get ahead rather than being an individual.

How Peer Partnering Creates Resilience

SPEAKER_01 8:21

Greg?

SPEAKER_00 8:22

So, John, that brings us to peer partnering, because peer partnering can be a real catalyst for moving people towards cause. One thing leaders must understand is that you cannot simply order people to take responsibility. If you tell someone you need to be more responsible, there's a good chance they will get defensive. The management shift has to be modeled and supported. You, as a leader, must demonstrate taking responsibility for your actions. In other words, leadership has to help create the conditions for this type of management shift.

SPEAKER_01 8:55

And that's really the point of our discussion here is peer partnering and how it can be so useful. When you intentionally pair people together and share training, work through key deliverables, deal with normal workplace friction, you change the dynamic. It becomes harder to just run to your boss and complain about that blame game that they normally play. Peer relationships push people to talk to each other, to talk through problems, to use their strengths to find a solution, and to share ownership in what works and what does not work. Exactly, John.

SPEAKER_00 9:33

Instead of having a group of isolated employees sitting at the effect level, peer partnerships help create a network of people who are working from the cause level and pushing the organization forward together.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

And that really is the point of this episode. Working partnerships help move leaders from the traditional boss kind of environment to a more cooperative leader. When people share ownership, they bring different strengths to the table. They stay more engaged. They're more likely to stick around. And in fact, employees in a cooperative environment are 20 to 30% more likely to stay with the company.

SPEAKER_00 10:13

No, I like those kind of retention statistics, John. Some of the biggest benefits of peer partnerships are faster innovation and better problem solving. It really is the old two heads are better-than-one concept. When people from different functional departments work together, ideas start to cross boundaries. You also build more resilience in your staff because people are sharing the load and they're sharing workplace knowledge. And that helps reduce burnout and makes it easier to deal with complex problems. You know, in today's workplace, things move too fast for all the answers to come just from the top.

SPEAKER_01 10:49

And the reason we wanted to talk about partnering is that also helps with engagement. When people feel treated like a team member instead of subordinates, they start to build their trust. They stay committed. They feel connected to the organization. The hard part, though, is changing that leadership mindset. And you are asking the team to take more responsibility for the results. That does not mean that it's going to happen overnight. Peer partnering helps because it gives people the structure for practicing that shared responsibility. But you also own an element of that responsibility as a leader. You need to encourage that communication, to negotiate how to get problems solved, and to hold each other accountable instead of bringing every small issue back to the leadership to find solution.

SPEAKER_00 11:44

You know, that's a good way to put it, John. Peer partnerships can act like a shock absorber in a fast-paced organization. You know, I think that analogy pairs well with concepts in the fifth year of leadership. A thought for another episode, perhaps.

SPEAKER_01 11:57

Yes, I think so.

SPEAKER_00 11:59

So peer partnerships also challenge the idea that one manager should be the single point of direction for everything. When everything depends on one person, that person becomes a single point of failure. Teams have to be agile. When peer partners work closely together, they naturally cross-train each other. They learn each other's workflows. So if one person hits a bottleneck, the work does not immediately stall. That also helps reduce burnout because people are not carrying everything alone.

SPEAKER_01 12:29

Yeah, but for peer partnerships and for the team concept to work, people

Safety Training And Recognition That Stick

SPEAKER_01 12:35

need to have that reinforcement of psychological safety. That's really what you're affecting when you're working with peer partnerships. They feel like they can try an idea, ask a question, admit to a mistake without getting punished for it. That's really significant if you think about it. Most people are comfortable testing a new idea with a trusted peer than taking it straight to their supervisor. You see the dynamic taking place there. It's why the peer concept really does matter. When enough people feel safe enough to contribute, they stop seeing themselves as just another cog in the system. They start to see themselves as part of the solution.

SPEAKER_00 13:18

And you can really see the value of partnering when it comes to training. A lot of frontline work cannot be fully captured in a shop manual. Jobs change, products change, processes change, and people need to keep learning as the work evolves. One way to describe pure partnering is to divide and conquer issues on the job. Partners can split up coursework, technical qualifications, industry research, and then bring that knowledge back to each other.

SPEAKER_01 13:48

Yeah. And it creates a teachback method. If partner A learns something new, they teach it to partner B. And it helps that person retain the information. And it helps each other as individuals working as a team to learn faster and have more of a personal setting. Over time, the partners keep building up each other in that exchange of information. A lot of training fails because there's no follow-up. People attend the class, check the box, and go right back to work without helping anyone apply what they have learned. Peer partnering keeps those new skills active because the partners have to review, practice, and reinforce them as part of that learning process. It also creates a sense of pride because you're not just learning something, you're teaching something at the same time. It's that whole idea of helping your teammate to be better.

SPEAKER_00 14:47

You know, John, another thing I've learned is that recognition really does matter. If peer partnering is helping the team improve, people need to see that connection. Whether the result is something obvious like a better product or something less visible like stronger training across your team, recognition helps reinforce the behavior so that it continues. And as a leader, that means you also need to explain what you're doing up the chain of command. You may be creating real results through peer partnerships, but does your executive team understand how your leadership structure has changed and why it's working? Are there ways for the organization to learn about these accomplishments? Is there a bonus, a pay grade enhancement, something to recognize these exceptional employees?

SPEAKER_01 15:34

So when I think of my career and how many times that I set up this kind of peer environment, it comes up with one example of where I had a remote team and I had a hospital team, and I had a very small electrical support group. And I tear I teamed them up together, and we were using phones that had FaceTime, and they actually could talk to each other and share the knowledge and share examples of what was their problem. It was somebody within that group of four would help each other. Somebody had that background, and they would even walk them through, since they had these cameras. It was a wonderful tool. And to see that dynamic of peer partnering, it is such a powerful tool. I can't recommend it anymore. But when I look back at my career, I think the biggest key here is to treat your staff as peers, not as subordinates.

Trust Gaps Plus Resources And Contact

SPEAKER_01 16:31

I understand the advantages of the MBR lessons, but I also understood the challenges. One of the biggest is trust. Sometimes this approach does not work right away because trust has already been damaged. Maybe leadership roll out too many programs trying to get something to happen and there's no follow-through. Or maybe employers are just frustrated and confused about what management's values really are. What are the goals? So don't just rush to change. Make sure you bring the team along with you. Help them understand why peer partnerships matter and how shared responsibility benefits everyone. And at the end of the day, it's really about teamwork, taking responsibility about what can be achieved as they do it together. I'll close with this. When I start thinking about this podcast, I knew that I didn't want to do it by myself. And if I had, I probably would have turned it into sharing my opinions and maybe sounding too hard like I was trying to impress someone. My goal was to stretch out and help out the next generation of leaders. I needed a partner to help me develop that message and to share their experiences on the same mission of helping others. That's why I contacted my friend and my co-host and a peer that I trusted, Greg. And someone who brings real leadership experience from the human resources perspective. This partnership for this podcast is really what makes it work. And to be honest, peer partnering is a lot more fun when your partner's a friend. So if you like what you've heard, I've written a book called Building Your Leadership Toolbox, and we talk about tools like this. And it's available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble and other sites. The podcast is what you've been listening to. Thank you so much. It's also available on Apple, Google, and Spotify. A lot of what we talk about is with Dr. Durst and his MBR program. If you'd like to know more about Dr. Durst, you can find out on SuccessGrowthAcademy.com. And if you'd like to contact us, please send me a line. It's wando seventy five periodjw at gmail.com. And the music has been brought to you by my grandson. So we want to hear from you. Drop me a line. Tell me what's going on, what you like, and what you would like to hear about. It has always helped us to create content. Thanks, Greg. This was fun. Thanks, John.

SPEAKER_00 19:07

As always. Next time. Yeah.