Friday Team Leadership Challenge 9: Spot One Team Pattern and Suggest a Better One
Friday Team Leadership Challenge 9: Spot One Team Pattern and Suggest a Better One
Fast Teams Deliver. Great Teams Reflect.
Most teams are fast.
They hit deadlines, move projects, check the boxes.
But speed without self-awareness?
That leads to repetition. Burnout. Plateaus.
The highest-performing teams
pause — just long enough to learn.
Because it’s not just about
what you did this week — it’s about
how you did it together.
“If you don’t reflect on your patterns… you repeat them.”
The Challenge: Spot One Team Pattern and Suggest a Small Shift
When: Friday Afternoon
This leadership habit is designed for the end of the week — when the wins, missteps, and behaviors of your team are fresh in mind.
Before you log off or shut down:
- Reflect alone, or
- Invite your team to join in
This isn’t a performance review — it’s a pulse check on how your team moves together.
What to Do:
Call out one team pattern you noticed this week — good or not-so-good — and suggest one small, specific improvement.
✅ Examples:
- “We tend to wait till Friday to check in. What if we added a short Tuesday touchpoint?”
- “There were a lot of interruptions in our team call — maybe next time we use a shared doc to organize input?”
- “I noticed we skip retro notes — what if we tried voice notes so we don’t forget the insights?”
- “We handled stress better this week by naming it. Let’s keep doing that.”
Why This Reflection Habit Builds High-Performance Culture
✅ Great Teams Don’t Just Execute — They Evolve
Execution without evolution leads to stagnation.
Reflection is what transforms action into learning — and
learning into growth.
✅ One Pattern Shift Can Save Hours
Most inefficiencies are hidden in habits: how we talk, plan, meet, or follow up.
Adjusting just one of these can drastically reduce stress or rework.
✅ Trust Grows from Observing What’s Not Working
People feel respected when you notice patterns with care, not criticism. Feedback, when done right, becomes a gift — not a threat.
“You don’t need to overhaul the system — you just need to upgrade the rhythm.”
Leadership Skills This Builds
This simple Friday practice strengthens key leadership behaviors that scale across teams and time:
✅ Pattern Recognition
You stop reacting to moments and start noticing trends.
✅ Constructive Feedback
You give input that’s solution-oriented, not emotionally loaded.
✅ Team Process Awareness
You learn how the group functions — not just what it produces.
✅ Continuous Improvement
You model that leadership is about evolving the environment, not just managing the people.
Pitfall to Watch Out For: Silence Disguised as “Respect”
The Mistake:
You see the pattern, but stay silent. You don’t want to rock the boat. Or you tell yourself, “It’s not my place.”
✅ The Fix:
Reframe feedback as a
contribution, not a critique.
Say it gently, specifically, and with curiosity.
“If you say it with care, your team will hear the care — not just the correction.”
How to Build This Into a Weekly Team Habit
🔹 Personal Reflection
At the end of your workday on Friday, ask:
“What’s one pattern I saw this week in how we work?”
“What’s one small shift that could make a difference?”
Document it. Share it if helpful. Carry it into next week.
🔹 Team Ritual
Make this part of your Friday wrap-up. It could be a 5-minute Slack thread or the last 2 minutes of a Zoom meeting.
Prompt the team with:
- “What’s one team pattern we noticed this week?”
- “What’s a small shift we could try next week to improve it?”
🔹 1:1 Feedback
If a pattern involves a specific person, offer it in a 1:1 — with care, respect, and honesty.
“I noticed we tend to overlap in meetings — maybe we could try alternating responses?”
5 Great Pattern Shift Starters
Not sure how to frame what you’ve noticed? Try one of these:
- “I’ve noticed we often [habit]. What if we tried [alternative] next time?”
- “It seems like [pattern] is becoming common. How do we want to handle it moving forward?”
- “I appreciated how we handled [moment] — let’s make that part of our playbook.”
- “Something that slowed us down this week was [behavior] — should we try [new approach]?”
- “I think we missed a chance to [opportunity] — maybe we build that into our process next week?”
FAQ: Reflection & Feedback in Teams
What if people feel like this is just criticism?
Make the tone clear: this is shared growth, not blame. Use “we” more than “you.” Focus on solutions over problems.
What if nothing went wrong this week?
Perfect — highlight something that went well and suggest how to do more of it. Reflection isn’t just for fixing — it’s for strengthening.
What if I’m the only one doing it?
That’s okay. Culture doesn’t shift from consensus — it shifts from consistency. Keep modeling it. Others will join when they feel safe.
What if I don’t know how to phrase it?
Start with:
“I noticed...”
“What if we tried...”
“Could we experiment with...”
You don’t need perfect language. You need intentional presence.
Weekly Leadership Summary: Reflect, Refine, Repeat
You’ve already:
- ✅ Led through pressure
- ✅ Clarified conflict
Now it’s time to optimize how your team actually works.
Because culture doesn’t grow from effort alone — it grows from reflection and iteration.
“Leadership isn’t about changing everything. It’s about noticing the right thing — and shifting it gently, consistently.”
Want a Team That Reflects and Refines Every Week?
At Coach Faisal London, we teach teams how to grow from the inside — by building habits of reflection, feedback, and culture-shaping communication.
Our 7-Day Leadership Trial introduces:
- ✅ Weekly micro-challenges
- ✅ Habits that drive real improvement
- ✅ Communication rituals that stick — even under pressure
These are tools your team will use, not just read about.
📅 Book a Discovery Call
Let’s design your team’s weekly Culture & Feedback Rhythm — starting with one Friday ritual.
👉
Book Now
🌐 Learn more
About Coach Faisal – Where Culture Shifts Happen
We don’t just develop individuals.
We develop
whole-team intelligence — through real-time, real-world challenges that teach people how to:
✔️ Speak up
✔️ Observe without judgment
✔️ Act with care
✔️ Shift the team — from the inside
Because the real culture?
It’s not in the handbook. It’s in the habits.
Let’s build a team that rewrites those habits — together.
