We’ve now initiated and indoctrinated our team and ready to plunge in. Life on our project seems to be going just swimmingly. But, as they say, the devil is in the details. Realities of the project’s rocky spots are becoming evident. As the conversations get intense, the realities of how our team members see courses of actions and causes of issues a bit differently make us wonder how well our team is really glued together. What we’ve stepped into is what is classically called the Storm phase of the popular shorthand for team dynamics – form, storm, norm, perform. Here’s what’s cool. We knew this was going to happen. Our job as leaders is to navigate this storm, and not just to get through it. Joyful project leadership means that we are going to take those hard conversations and lead them from being a place where friendships are strained to a place where trust is reinforced and learning how to move forward is accomplished. Yea, that’s right – we’re using this storm to make us stronger; oh, remember? Joy is strength.