Details

What if the biggest barrier to performance isn’t an individual leader—but the team itself? In this episode of The 90th Percentile, we speak with Paul Leboffe, longtime facilitator of Zenger Folkman’s Extraordinary Team experience. With 25+ years of business and legal expertise, Paul has helped teams uncover blind spots, strengthen trust, and dramatically improve how they work together.

Paul and host Bre Okoren explore why team development is no longer optional in today’s dynamic, digital, and diverse workplace. They discuss why focusing solely on individual leaders can backfire, how benchmarking boosts motivation, and the surprising ways “being too nice” can erode trust.

If you’ve ever wondered whether one workshop can truly shift how a team functions—this episode might just change your mind

Learn more about The Extraordinary Team Development Experience.

Key Points

Teams create collective intelligence. Developing individuals in isolation often fails because the team dynamics don’t change. Real progress happens when the whole team grows together.
Trust issues aren’t always about intent—they’re about impact. Teams that score low on trust are often surprised, especially in “cultures of nice” where unresolved overload and missed commitments quietly damage credibility.
Diverse, dispersed, and digital teams face new challenges. Modern teams need intentional support to overcome communication gaps and longer forming periods, especially when working across time zones and cultures.
Benchmarking motivates change. Teams want to know how they compare. Zenger Folkman’s team assessment provides a research-backed reference point that encourages focused improvement.
The most powerful changes come after the workshop. The team development experience isn’t a one-and-done fix—it’s the strategic pause that sets up sustainable progress, especially when reinforced by leadership and follow-through.

Webinar

Zenger Folkman hosts an exclusive live webinar every month, where you can meet Jack Zenger and Joe Folkman and join in a conversation about their latest research in leadership development. Find out more information and register here.

The post Episode 165: Stop Training Leaders Alone—The Case for Team Development first appeared on ZENGER FOLKMAN.

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