Space to Team: Creating Space for Collective Success
Teams, at their best, are dynamic systems—complex, adaptive, and filled with potential. But high-performing teams don’t emerge from strategy alone. They are cultivated through intentional space: to reflect, realign, and re-engage. That’s the essence of Space to Team.
As leaders, many of us have embraced the S.P.A.C.E. to Lead model—Stillness, Perspective, Assess, Clarify, Engage—as a way to build the internal capacity needed to lead with intention. But what happens when we bring that same lens to our teams?
Teams, too, need S.P.A.C.E. Not just the physical or time-bound space to meet and execute—but psychological, relational, and systemic space to thrive. Let’s explore how the model translates when we shift from the individual to the collective.
Stillness: Make Room to Pause Together
In fast-moving environments, teams often leap from one decision to the next without truly stopping to process. Stillness for teams isn’t about inactivity—it’s about intentional reflection.
How often do your team meetings allow for quiet thought, processing, or sense-making?
Moments of stillness allow space for collective emotional regulation, quiet wisdom, and deeper listening. Build these into your rhythms—not just during conflict, but as part of regular practice.
Perspective: Surface and Expand Collective Insight
Teams are made up of diverse experiences, roles, and lenses. Perspective in a teaming context means surfacing differing viewpoints without collapsing into conflict.
What perspectives are not being voiced in your team conversations?
Encouraging curiosity and seeking understanding across functions, personalities, and power dynamics helps teams shift from assumption to alignment. This is where innovation is born.
Assess: Examine Team Dynamics Systemically
Assessment in teams isn’t just about KPIs—it’s about interpersonal trust, shared accountability, and purpose. Using models like PERILL, the Experience Cube, or even your own team agreements can help.
What patterns are emerging in how your team communicates, decides, and resolves?
This phase invites teams to look not just at what they’re doing, but how they’re being—together. I often reference a former CEO I worked with, and the process he introduced at the end of each executive meeting to “reflect and correct.” How is the team working, how did today’s conversation(s) go? Is there anything that could be improved on or enhanced going forward? This brief and intentional space is very effective for better understanding the teams internal dynamics and how these can influence their effectiveness, as well as external dynamics.
Clarify: Define Shared Intentions and Roles
Without clarity, even the most talented teams falter. Clarify is about articulating what matters most: roles, goals, expectations, and ways of working.
What needs to be made explicit in your team right now?
Many team tensions come from misalignment that is not voiced. Creating clarity doesn’t require a perfect process—it just needs intention and honesty.
Engage: Take Purposeful, Coordinated Action
Engagement is the visible tip of the iceberg—what teams do as a result of the deeper work. When a team has created space together, their action is sharper, more coordinated, and more values aligned.
Is your team engaging in ways that reflect its true potential?
This is where strategy meets culture. It’s not about doing more—it’s about doing the right things, together.
Why Space to Team Matters Now
In today’s world of hybrid work, change fatigue, and competing priorities, teams don’t just need more direction—they need more depth. Leaders who create space for their teams to reflect, realign, and recommit are building more than just short-term performance—they’re cultivating adaptability, resilience, and trust.
When you give your team S.P.A.C.E., you give them more than just time to think—you give them room to grow.
David LeBlanc is the founder of LeBlanc Leadership Group and the creator of the S.P.A.C.E. to Lead model. He works with teams and leaders across Canada and globally to build dynamic, reflective, and high-performing cultures. Learn more at leblancleadership.ca.
