[Myung Daesung's True Colors of Communication] Do Not Divide Your Team in...

[Photo Source = ChatGPT]

[Columnist Myung Dae-sung, Korea Lecturer News] Wherever people gather, divisions naturally form. Some relationships are closer than others, some more comfortable, others less so. This, in itself, is human nature.

But the moment those divisions begin to split team members from one another, it becomes a problem. It may sound obvious, but a team must function as one under its leader.

A team leader must be able to read this clearly. Performance may be measured in numbers, but fractures begin in relationships. A quietly divided atmosphere, small cliques forming around certain individuals, and someone gradually becoming isolated. most organizational problems begin as these subtle, invisible cracks.

Let’s be honest. Leaders are human too. There are team members they naturally favor, those they pay less attention to, and those they trust more deeply. On the other hand, there may also be individuals who feel uncomfortable for reasons that are hard to explain. These emotions cannot simply be eliminated.

However, one thing is certain:

the moment those feelings become visible, leadership begins to collapse.

A leader’s preferences are perceived faster than expected. Tone of voice, eye contact, reactions in meetings, even subtle differences in task assignments—team members pick up on all of it with precision. And in that moment, the team splits in two. It stops being a team driven by work and becomes one driven by alignment with people.

Most importantly, there is not a single advantage to having factions within a team.

From that point on, leadership no longer functions. No matter how strong the strategy is, no matter how much fairness is emphasized, a team that has already experienced division will not believe it. In the presence of division created by the leader, words lose their power.

This is why the issue must never be taken lightly. It comes before incentives, KPIs, compensation, and accountability. Because the true standard of an organization is not built on systems, but on attitude.

It is problematic when divisions form among team members. But it becomes far more dangerous when the leader creates those divisions.

The moment a leader subtly favors someone, intentionally excludes another, or allows the team to revolve around certain individuals, teamwork begins to collapse rapidly. And the damage appears not first in performance, but in trust.

Leadership is ultimately about trust. Trust is built on fairness, and fairness is created through visible behavior. What matters is not who the leader treats better, but whether team members feel, “At the very least, this leader does not treat us carelessly.” That is the standard.

There will be employees a leader finds difficult. Some may underperform. Others may have poor attitudes that make them hard to work with. But the moment a leader uses those feelings as justification to divide the team or isolate someone, they forfeit their qualification as a leader.

To be blunt, that is amateur leadership. It is not the behavior of someone leading an organization, but of someone being led by their emotions.

Being a team leader is not easy. It requires controlling emotions, managing relationships, and repairing fractures. It is exhausting and difficult. But if one is unwilling to take on that responsibility, the title “leader” carries no meaning.

There is no perfect answer. No one can create perfect relationships within a team. But one thing is clear: the atmosphere of an organization where a leader strives not to create divisions is fundamentally different from one where they do not.

In the end, organizations reflect their leaders. When leaders divide people, team members divide as well. When leaders uphold standards, team members follow them.

A leader must be different. That is the condition of leadership.

Columnist Profile

Myung Daesung is a columnist and leadership expert specializing in communication, organizational culture, and workplace relationships. His work focuses on leadership, communication that moves people, the power of attitude, wise workplace life, semi-retirement strategies, and writing.

He has delivered lectures and corporate training programs for organizations such as Samsung Group, KB Securities, NH NongHyup Bank, KG Group, and Sungkyunkwan University, sharing insights on empathetic leadership and communication that bridges generations.

As a writer with over 15 years of experience, he explores human relationships and finds meaning in creating new connections through conversation. Observing people, asking deeper questions, and refining the essence of relationships into language have long been both his habit and his greatest strength.

Based on these insights, he continues to write books and also serves as the CEO of Book Hero, a publishing company with the mission of creating “words engraved in the hearts of one million people.”

His major works include The Power of Attitude That Makes Me Stronger, Harvard Discussion Class, Workplace Etiquette Matters Too, Starting Tomorrow as a Team Leader, The Art of Keeping the Right Distance, Workplace Etiquette, and Semi-Retirement Revolution. Some of his books have also been published in Thailand.

주요

기사