Finishing Patrick Lencioni’s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team is a big achievement. The book lays out the challenges that hold teams back, from a lack of trust to putting personal success over shared results. It is clear and powerful, but it leaves many readers wondering: what do we actually do next?
Most teams recognize themselves in the dysfunctions. Yet identifying the problem is only half the battle. Building a strong, healthy team requires new skills — and that is where developing emotional intelligence (EQ) makes all the difference.
Let’s walk through each dysfunction and explore how EQ development helps teams overcome them.
How to Build Trust and Overcome the Absence of Trust
The first dysfunction, absence of trust, happens when team members are unwilling to show vulnerability. They avoid admitting mistakes, asking for help, or sharing concerns. Instead, they stay guarded, making real collaboration nearly impossible.
Emotional intelligence helps build trust by improving self-awareness, emotional regulation, and empathy. When team members understand their own emotional responses and can respond thoughtfully to others, they create an environment where vulnerability feels safe. Trust grows when individuals are willing to be honest — and when their teammates respond with understanding rather than judgment.
How Emotional Intelligence Reduces Fear of Conflict
Fear of conflict leads teams to avoid honest discussions. Meetings stay surface-level, important issues go unspoken, and frustrations build quietly under the surface.
Teams with high emotional intelligence handle conflict in a much healthier way. EQ helps individuals stay calm during disagreement, listen without becoming defensive, and express their views clearly and respectfully. With those skills in place, conflict becomes productive instead of personal. Teams can tackle tough conversations head-on, solving real problems instead of working around them.
How Developing EQ Increases Commitment Across the Team
When there is fear of conflict, commitment also suffers. Without honest debate, people leave meetings uncertain or disengaged. They may agree publicly but act differently when it is time to execute.
Emotional intelligence plays a key role in building commitment. High-EQ teams create space for everyone to share opinions and feel heard. Even when decisions do not go everyone’s way, individuals are much more likely to support the outcome if they trust the process was fair and respectful. Strong emotional intelligence helps teams achieve true buy-in, not just silent agreement.
How EQ Development Encourages Accountability
Avoidance of accountability is one of the most damaging dysfunctions. When people are unwilling to call out poor performance or missed expectations, standards fall and resentment grows.
Developing emotional intelligence gives team members the tools to hold each other accountable in a respectful, effective way. Instead of ignoring issues or letting frustration simmer, individuals learn to address problems early, clearly, and constructively. Accountability becomes a shared responsibility rather than a top-down enforcement.
How Emotional Intelligence Shifts Focus Toward Team Results
When personal agendas take priority over collective goals, teams struggle with inattention to results. People worry more about their own success than about the team's success.
Emotional intelligence helps teams stay focused on shared results. It builds empathy and perspective-taking, encouraging individuals to think beyond their own roles and consider the broader impact of their actions. Teams with strong EQ celebrate collective wins and support one another in reaching shared goals, creating a much stronger foundation for success.
Emotional Intelligence Development Brings The Five Dysfunctions to Life
Reading The Five Dysfunctions of a Team is an excellent starting point. But building the kind of team Lencioni describes requires more than awareness — it requires skill-building.
That is why we developed The Emotional Intelligence Journey™ at The Metiss Group. Our program focuses on helping teams build real emotional intelligence skills that support trust, healthy conflict, true commitment, shared accountability, and a focus on collective results.
If you are ready to move beyond understanding the dysfunctions and start building the team you want, the next step is to consider whether you’d be a good fit for emotional intelligence development.
