068: Gordon Curphy, PhD: The Rocket Model: Practical Advice for Building High Performing Teams

Does building a high performing team require knowledge of rocket science? Tune in to this week’s episode of The Team Coaching Zone Podcast to discover the answer with guest Dr. Gordon Curphy--the Managing Partner of Curphy Leadership Solutions. Dr. Curphy is the author of 19 books including The Rocket Model: Practical Advice for Building High Performing Teams released in 2012. He is also the creator of Team Assessment Survey (TAS-II) based on the Rocket Model. Dr. Curphy has 30 years of experience working with more than 1500+ leaders, 200+ teams and consulting to a long list of leading organizations in a diverse array of industries and sectors.

Themes explored in the podcast include: Gordon’s journey from being a professor in the United States Armed Forces, to joining PDI, to working with the Blandin Foundation and then to setting up Curphy Leadership Solutions; Gordon’s 2012 book The Rocket Model: Practical Advice for Building High Performing Teams; why high performing teams tend to be more the exception than the rule; the importance of having a team model; a compelling story about two ship-wrecked crews in the Antarctic; 8 elements and 3 stages of the rocket model: 1) Context, 2) Mission, 3) Talent, 4) Norms, 5) Buy-in, 6) Power, 7) Morale, 8) Results; the Team Assessment Survey (TAS-II); using the Rocket Model and TAS in team coaching and in leadership development programs; a story coaching a leadership team in a $billion retail organization facing a critical turnaround; lessons learned about when team coaching fails; resources for extending learning on the Rocket Model and utilizing the TAS-II; certification in the TAS-II; thoughts on future trends in teaming and more.

This is a rich episode laden with “value bombs” that all team leaders, team members and team coaches will surely not want to miss!