Psychological Safety = High Performing Teams

Psychological safety is the foundation of high-performing teams because it invites vulnerability-based trust that is necessary to take risks, have healthy conflict, innovate, make good decisions and deliver collective results. With it teams thrive!

A recent Harvard Business Review article shares some research on how to engender psychological safety from a study on high-performing teams at Google:

1. Make friends with conflict as a collaborator, not an adversary. Ask yourself, what is trying to happen here vs. what is wrong.

2. Speak human to human. Meet each other as equals in your humanity regardless of title, class, gender, culture. Instead of thinking you are higher (better) or lower (worse) ask how is this person just like me?

3. Anticipate different perspectives. Focus on content not identity.

4. Replace judgment with curiosity. Go for understanding vs. being right.

5. Invite and give feedback. Illuminate blindspots productively. Capture lessons learned. Correct vs. punish.

6. Create team agreements on how you will handle conflict and mistakes.

Click here for the entire article "High Performing Teams Need Psychological Safety" by Laura Delizonna

The Path of Realization

David Whyte, who brings poetry to corporations explores his experience of the "conversational nature of reality" in a recent Ted Talk.  

He lyrically asserts that what we desire of the world and what it desires of us will not happen as we would like because we tend to follow "three abiding manufactured illusions." 

If we believe that "we can somehow construct a life in which we are not vulnerable, will not have our hearts broken and can plan enough and arrange things to see our path from end to end" we are bound to miss the magic and the point. 

Yet as we are willing to meet ourselves and people, places and things  authentically, walk in presence fully grounded in our Being and in choice and release that which no longer serves, each step is revealed and we realize that we already are that which we seek.

Check out David's recent Ted Talk for more.

Cultivating Gratitude

If you want to cultivate appreciation as a leadership practice reflect on this 10-minute Ted Talk called Gratitude by time-lapse photographer Louie Schwartzberg.

Thanks Kath for the resource!

Re-Union

I was reminded of the value of human connection in a workshop with www.crrglobal.com. That we yearn for and deeply appreciate a sense of relatedness (especially at work) is profound.

So, we may miss the point in all our efforts to learn and apply communication, conversation and feedback skills. While important, what seems to matter most is the intention or attitude that we bring to our interactions with others.

If we say all the right things in the perfect order but miss the stance (or metaskill) of respect, inquiry, genuine curiosity, understanding or awareness, we miss giving (and receiving) the gift of our humanity and what springs from it.

To experience the tone or energy of connection for yourself, check out this 3 minute ad called Reunion.