Team Threat Level: Critical: The Four C’s to Catch Early

I've had the opportunity to lead teams for nearly 30 years, and like most things I do, when I'm unsure of how to do it, I read, study, and practice. While I appreciate key models like Tuckman's stages of a team, I've also started to notice key team behaviors - or teams within teams - that can create dangerous habits.

After a few decades of leading teams and guiding leaders to lead teams well, I have identified four key team behaviors. (And this week, I'm just going to give you a quick overview -- we'll go deeper into why they matter in a future writing. I'll also help with tools to flip the script on each of them.)

Big Idea Upfront: Beware the slow creep of the Four C’s—comparison, competition, complacency, and complaining. When untethered from goals or growth, they can quietly dismantle team trust and performance.

IMPORTANT CAVEAT: In isolation or on occasion, any one or two of these might just be the signs of someone having a bad team or a team going through a tough time. (I've led my way through a lot of both of those.)

Comparison: The act of comparing can take on a critical, divisive, and even harmful tone to a team. When team members are busy looking "across the fence" within their own team (or within a team of teams), their focus is taken from the mission -- from doing the work and doing it well.

Compete/Competition: Healthy competition differs from competition that is at the expense of others. This type of competition might start as small one-upmanship and can devolve within even the smallest of teams.

Complacency: Complacency can happen in a variety of ways and often can show up when people can do a job so well that they don't feel challenged, or they may not be willing to take on new challenges, jump in to help others, or grow. A team that falls into this trap will quickly become one that isn't a place most people want to be. (My reading lately is a lot about meaning, and complacency and meaning don't connect well.)

Complaining: First, there is a drastic difference between providing much-needed, open feedback that might be critical and falling into a pattern of behavior that is focused on dissatisfaction, perceived (or possibly real) unfairness, and/or frustration without constructive intent or a proposed solution.

These four behaviors—comparison, competition, complacency, and complaining—may seem minor or even routine in team environments, but when they become patterns, they quietly unravel trust, engagement, and collective performance. They matter because they signal deeper dysfunction and, if left unexamined, can calcify into cultural norms that sabotage progress. This is more than a checklist of bad habits—it’s a leadership imperative to recognize and reshape what holds teams back. Future writing will unpack each of these more deeply, offering tools, language, and strategies to move from toxic default to intentional transformation.

Lead Well!