How Power Struggles in Critical Partnership Teams Threaten Company Survival

High-performing teams are critical to organisational success. When a leadership team, project group, or mission-critical partnership team functions smoothly, the entire organisation thrives.

Yet even teams filled with capable individuals can quietly implode. These implosions are driven not by incompetence or malice but by subtle, unspoken emotional conflicts. If your team is experiencing this subtle but persistent tension, please know it’s entirely common—and addressing it openly can create profound change.

In my practice, everpath, I frequently work with critical teams—triads, quads, or even larger groups. Often, their unresolved interpersonal tensions have started to threaten company survival. The root cause of these tensions is rarely professional disagreement. Rather, it lies in the suppression and avoidance of uncomfortable emotions like fear, shame, or sadness.

The Hidden Dynamics Behind Team Implosions

When teams form, members often avoid open emotional expression to protect themselves or maintain harmony. While this avoidance initially feels safe, it inevitably leads to underlying frustrations and unmet emotional needs. According to my strategic framework, the Skotidas Model, consistently suppressed primary emotions—such as fear of rejection, sadness from feeling unvalued, or shame from perceived inadequacies—resurface as secondary emotions: anger, resentment, jealousy, or contempt.

For example, a team member who fears their ideas will be dismissed or criticised (primary emotion: fear) might consistently interrupt colleagues or respond defensively (secondary emotion: anger). This creates unnecessary friction and escalates tensions. Similarly, someone feeling overlooked and ashamed may disengage or silently sabotage initiatives, quietly eroding team trust.

Three Common Patterns of Emotional Avoidance in Teams

At everpath, I've observed three consistent behavioural patterns when critical teams engage in emotional avoidance. Each pattern moves the team away from their collective Best Self—a purposeful, aligned, and resilient state driven by shared values and impact.

1. Indirect or Passive-Aggressive Communication: Team members express frustrations subtly rather than directly. Comments become veiled criticisms or jokes, creating ongoing friction. For example, sarcastically remarking about someone being "always late" instead of openly discussing punctuality issues.
2. Superficial Consensus and Harmony: Team members prioritise superficial agreement over honest dialogue to avoid conflict. This often results in false consensus. Individuals outwardly agree but inwardly remain resentful or detached, undermining genuine commitment.
3. Power and Control Struggles: When emotions are consistently suppressed, individuals may seek to regain control or status by exerting dominance. This manifests in rigid thinking, micromanagement, territorial behaviour, or withholding vital information from other team members. Such behaviours further erode trust.

These patterns emerge not from bad intentions, but from deeply ingrained emotional coping strategies learned earlier in life. These strategies were once useful but are now maladaptive in high-stakes team contexts.

How Critical Teams Can Transform Their Dynamics

At everpath, my approach to helping critical teams transform performance and restore trust is grounded in experiential psychotherapy models. These include Chairwork Therapy, Gestalt Therapy, Interpersonal Psychotherapy, and Emotion-Focused Therapy. Here’s how teams can break the cycle of emotional avoidance and power struggles:

1. Identify Avoidance Patterns Together: The first step is recognising which avoidance strategies your team uses. In facilitated team sessions, we name and discuss patterns openly. This transforms vague tensions into clear, actionable insights.
2. Practise Authentic Emotional Expression in a Safe Environment: Team members need opportunities to express suppressed emotions safely. I use experiential methods like Chairwork and Gestalt experiments to simulate real interactions in a low-risk environment. These exercises help team members safely articulate feelings of fear, shame, or sadness. This uncovers the true dynamics beneath surface conflict.
3. Rewrite Outdated Emotional Templates: Teams, like individuals, carry deeply embedded beliefs and emotional scripts shaped by past experiences. Many teams unconsciously follow outdated scripts such as “showing vulnerability equals weakness” or “disagreement equals rejection.” Therapeutic intervention helps teams rewrite these outdated beliefs to healthier ones, such as “vulnerability builds trust” or “open disagreement strengthens decisions.”
4. Rebuild Behavioural Trust Through New Experiences: Once emotional awareness and new beliefs are established, teams practise new, aligned behaviours in controlled simulations. This includes explicitly articulating concerns in structured sessions and openly addressing performance and relationship issues without blame. It also involves expressing vulnerability in ways that build genuine trust. Repeated practice embeds these new behaviours deeply, enabling them to become the team’s default pattern.
5. Apply the New Behaviours in Real Time: With increased emotional awareness and practical experience, teams then apply these healthier behaviours in real-world interactions. Regular structured meetings provide safe contexts to openly address tensions, reinforce healthier interactions, and swiftly handle emerging emotional conflicts before they escalate.

Protect Your Critical Teams Before It’s Too Late

Power struggles and emotional suppression silently threaten even the most promising teams. If your critical team exhibits patterns of emotional avoidance—passive-aggressive communication, superficial harmony, or escalating power struggles—consider seeking focused psychotherapeutic intervention.

By consciously confronting hidden emotional dynamics, critical teams don’t just survive. They actively cultivate an aligned, purposeful state, enabling each member to consistently express their Best Self.

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