Stop putting out Spot fires: 3 Steps To Build Lasting TEAM HARMONY

July 28, 2025

What if the ONE thing sabotaging your team’s performance isn’t skill or strategy… but your habit of constantly putting out spot fires?

Leadership coach Liz Murray reveals why even the most experienced leaders end up firefighting, and how to break free with practical steps to build genuine team harmony.

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KEY POINTS 👀 In this episode, Liz Murray explains:

✅ Why “spot fire” leadership drains your energy and keeps your team stuck in silos

✅ The hidden costs of disunity: wasted resources, lost productivity, and leader burnout

✅ The power of a three-minute huddle to boost transparency and alignment

✅ How to shift from reactive to proactive leadership with a simple monthly ritual

✅ Using the Team Harmony Matrix to visualise alignment and make harmony a shared responsibility

⚠️ Caution: Leaders who stay in firefighting mode risk burnout and missed opportunities, while those who invest in team harmony unlock higher productivity, engagement, and lasting results!

⏰ Timestamps ⏰

1:10 The secret is about creating a structure

1:43 first one is in recognising the costs

3:09 A simple tip to have a look at

3:44 The next step I would recommend is you look at proactive and reactive

4:40 have a solid monthly meeting

5:11 team harmony matrix

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Episode Transcript

Do you feel like you're constantly
well you're not alone
most leaders feel like they're
getting pulled from pillar to post
with everyone's different priorities
trying to keep everyone happy
Hi I'm Liz Murray
and after 20 years in leadership
I know what it's like to feel
the struggle and exhaustion
being pulled between different team members
and their different priorities
it's really exhausting
but it doesn't have to be that way
today
I'm going to show you some strategies
to create harmony across your team
and feel that sense
that everybody is rowing the boat in the same direction
toward the same common goal
see what can happen is our teams can form silos
even individual people form silos
where they're not communicating with each other
they're all doing their own thing
and they're all focusing on different priorities
and very rarely
coming together to share what
and we can feel as the leader
like we have to try and keep everyone happy
the secret isn't stretching yourself thin
feeling like you've got to meet everybody's different needs
the secret is about creating a structure and strategy
that allows harmony to grow and flow
in your organisation or business
it's about pulling everyone together
in alignment with your big picture vision
rather feeling like you're getting stretched from pillar to post
with all the different priorities that don't line up
there's three steps that I'm suggesting today
that will really help you
get closer to feeling a sense of harmony
and less stress and frustration for you in your role
the first one is in recognising the costs
the cost to you as a business are multiple
when you don't have harmony and your team are operating in silos
there's obviously the financial cost
because your resources are stretched thin
you're stretched really thin and things don't operate effectively
if everyone's not rowing the boat in the same direction
there's a cost also of your resources because I don't know about you
but often in leadership
when you've got a lot of different team members
the squeaky wheels often are the ones that get the resources
because none of us want drama
and it's easier to throw resources in the way of the drama Queens
so that they quieten down and get on with their work
and we're not bothered so much by them
so uneven distribution of resources costs our bottom line
the other cost is to our overall productivity
because if we're not all working together to achieve one common goal
it's costing us in productivity
where people are doing different things in different directions
rather than having everyone work together for the same
strategic priorities
another huge cost for us is our marketing
if we're spending money in marketing
and it's not fitting with
the overall vision that we're trying to achieve
that's a huge investment of our time energy and finances
the marketing strategy must be part of that
overall plan for the business
a simple tip to have a look at the overall cost to our business
is just to simply do a weekly huddle with everyone
for three minutes stand around a table
and talk about what we're prioritising
and what strategies we're utilising
that way
we all get an overall idea of what's happening in the business
and what everyone is prioritising
everyone also starts to understand what everyone else is prioritising
it's the first step in helping bring us all together
that common understanding of
what's going on
the next step I would recommend is
you have a look away being reactive when you could be being proactive
often when we're feeling exhausted
we tend to get into reactive mode
things just keep happening to us
and we feel stretched in our energy
across the organisation and the people
when we're acting proactively
we've got a clear structure and plan in place
that helps us know what we're doing
and what direction we need to go
and where the priorities need to be
in terms of our own attention and energy
so when we're being reactive
we get caught in the fine details of things
people's problems little issues that come up
we start to micromanage whether being proactive
we're focusing a lot of our time and energy on the big picture
plan and vision and pulling everyone on board with us around that
now the easiest way to have that big picture plan
cohesive across the organisation
have a solid monthly meeting
with all the key stakeholders in your business
coming together
sharing a roadmap of the vision that you're trying to create
and then getting everyone's input
so that everyone sees how they are part of that roadmap
and they all are
identifying what they can do to contribute to moving it forward
a simple monthly meeting can help you save time
pull everyone into alignment
and start to create that harmony that you're looking for
the third strategy I recommend is creating a Team Harmony matrix
where you identify the things that are pulling the team members away
and what sections the team members are being pulled away in
and how you can pull everyone back in alignment with that big picture
when you have a Team Harmony Matrix filled out
you can have a look at ways to represent visually how every individual
or every individual department is working toward the common goal
when you represent that visually
everyone can see the part they're playing
in pulling everything together
and it reunites them around that common goal
takes a lot of the pressure off you
having team harmony isn't just nice
it's essential for you to run your business effectively
and not feel a constant sense of overwhelm
so start by identifying where your silos are
where are those challenges
where are you being reactive rather proactive
and then get that assessment done
get your team Harmony Matrix filled out
so that you can see where your strengths are
and where your gaps are and what you need to focus on
and then represent that visually
so everybody knows what's going on
and everyone can see how they are contributing to the bigger picture
when you take care of your environment
by spending time setting up healthy harmony practices
you will find that your team will collaborate far more effectively
they'll be far more productive
and they'll all be more passionate
and excited about rowing the boat in the same direction
toward that common goal
and that common vision and mission for the organisation
it really does make the world of difference
What's the biggest struggle that you find
with getting your team members to collaborate with one another
and have harmony, I'd love to know
check out those show notes below for my team Harmony Matrix
it's a free downloadable that you can utilise to get started today
my name is Liz Murray thanks so much for joining me today
and prioritising your personal growth
so that you can lead from the EDGE
putting out spot fires
they're doing toward the common goal
and start to break it down and pull everyone together

Stop putting out Spot fires: 3 Steps To Build Lasting TEAM HARMONY

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