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

Seeing with Fresh Eyes

Many leaders find it helpful to end each day in gratitude by writing down what they are thankful for. Over time, this practice shifts attention to what is working (vs. what isn't), what is accomplished (vs. not) and how precious life is (vs. isn't). Rachel Remen in her book "My Grandfather's Blessings" suggests 3 questions to experience life with fresh eyes:

1. What surprised me today?
2. What moved me or touched me today?
3. What inspired me today?

Try it each night for a month and notice what happens to how you sleep, wake up, move through your to do list, interact with others and evaluate your impact. You may find your work is filled with more meaning and humanity than you realized!

For more info check out: Rachel Remen

Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean in your leadership?

"A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them boil for twenty minutes. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.

Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me, what do you see?" "Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied. She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft and mushy. She then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hardened egg. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its deep flavor and inhaled its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What's the point, mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity - boiling water - but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin, outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.

The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water they had changed the water. "Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?"

Think of this: Which am I in my leadership? Am I the carrot that seems strong? But with pain and adversity, do I wilt and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid Spirit but, after adversity, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water - the very circumstance that brings the adversity, the pain, the hardship – into something quite wonderful. When the water gets hot, it releases its fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better, and change the situation around you for the better." --Author Unknown

Thank you to Clint for the resource!

Resilience

"More and more I have come to admire resilience," writes Jane Hirshfield in her poem "Optimism." Not the simple resistance of a pillow," she adds, "whose foam returns over and over to the same shape, but the sinuous tenacity of a tree: finding the light newly blocked on one side, it turns to another."

Where can you be more like a tree in your leadership?  How grounded are you? What are you reaching for? What is moving you?

Thanks to Rob Brezney for the resource Jane Hirshfield

Unspoken Rules?

Teams tend to implicitly follow the rules of a dominant operating system but rarely discuss what that structure is and if it is serves their goal achievement. David Kantor's research illuminates the structural dynamics in human systems. One element he asks us to consider is the unspoken rules (or ways of operating) that influence team performance. They are:

Closed: Prescriptive. Stability through control. Clearly defined roles. Strong, formal leadership. Emphasis on planning & execution. Top-driven decision making. Policy-oriented. Leader centric. Think Military.
Open: Freedom within Structure. Egalitarian participation. Everyone making a contribution. Shared leadership. Emphasis on collaboration. Process-oriented. Self-Directed. Think Montessori. 
Random: Generative. Exploration through improvisation. Lack of formal structure/process. Autonomy & individuality. Spontaneous bursts of energy. Emphasis on innovation. Transformation-oriented. Think Chaos Theory.

Which operating system do you prefer? What is the dominate system on your team? In your organization? Does each align or clash? How do these archetypes help or hinder results delivery?

Try not to judge or make one structure better than the other, as each has a time and place. Seek first to understand then consciously choose what system is optimal!

Source: Kantor Institute, Natarsha Hearn

Change vs. Transition

The pace of change is accelerating. Doing more with less is the norm. Teams must learn to welcome change and work with constraints to deliver winning results. One of the key differences in successful companies is the ability to anticipate and execute team changes as quickly and efficiently as possible.

How can you remain competitive when team membership constantly changes, new leaders come and go, initiatives change daily, mergers are on the horizon, revenue pressures are persistent, etc. etc.?

Transition expert William Bridges states, "It isn't the changes that can do you in, it's the transitions. Change is not the same as transition. Change is situational: the new boss, the changing team members, the new policy, the new law, the layoff. Transition is the psychological process people go through to come to terms with the new situation. Change is external. Transition is internal" 

We tend to spend our time on what's next and miss the opportunity to close out the past consciously and address the 4 D's of an ending; Disengagement, Dis-identification, Disenchantment, and Disorientation. 

Next time your team is in the midst of a transition (large or small), start with these questions to move from an ending, to the neutral zone and your new beginning:

1. What is changing?
2. What will actually be different because of the change?
3. What are you going to lose (or believe you will lose)?

4. What do you need to grieve, resolve, thank or let go of to move into the neutral zone?

5. What do you believe is possible now?

DISC stressors and triggers

It is said that our greatest strength can be a blessing and a curse. At our best we are choosing the optimal strength for a given situation. Using DISC as a lens, we can apply direct, influencing, steady or conscientious action to achieve a desired result. During challenging times however, something changes in our inner world so a strength may express in an extreme or opposing manner.

When we are triggered by a situation, person or experience our emotional body is no longer being guided by our higher self and so we behave in seemingly confusing ways. Normal stress behaviors such as autocratic (for the D), attack (for the I), acquiesce (for the S) or avoid (for the C) don't provide the relief we seek and so we may apply a more dramatic strategy. We no longer care about our long-term desired result but are focused blindly on self-protection or preservation.

The D who is normally decisive and bold may move beyond the "normal" stress behavior of overbearing and exhibit the S's passive/aggressive tendency. The I who is wants to be involved may not attack but instead clam up like the C stressor tendency. The S who desires harmony may become agressive like the D under stress and the C who values respect and expertise may lash out like the I in stress. It seems that the stronger the trigger, the greater the opposing preference or reaction.

If we recognize that when we are triggered, we are actually in an altered or unconscious state (and in that moment are not able to recognize what is going on or what we really need) we can rely on awareness, understanding and humble pie to get back to center where answers are available and everything is possible.

Thanks to Lyndee for this insight!

Be Kind in Thought

Water crystals change from beautiful to distorted based on what is communicated with thoughts and words according to the work of Masaru Emoto. So what does our limiting self talk do to us and what could shift with a little appreciation?

"Be kind to yourself, and your mind will become kind as well. That's how it works." Adyashanti

Change Roles

Any change that is happens on a team seems to elicit a bell curve response. 20% will champion the cause and leap into the change effort with full engagement. 20% will challenge, resist or actively disengage. 60% will hang out with caution on an invisible fence waiting to see what happens or move back and forth between champions and challengers.

While all choices are valid and have wisdom (the champions are often energetic path finders, the challengers strong tradition holders and cautionary great road builders), it's interesting that leaders tend to focus most of their energy, attention and effort on the dissatisfied and wonder why change efforts fail or take so long.

If you want to inspire productive change (and keep your star players in the process) experiment with another strategy. Enable the champions to rock and roll. Identify ways to get the fence sitters moving from indifference to engagement. Set clear expectations and firewalls for the actively disengaged.

Address the key questions on everyone's mind - What is it? Why is it important? Can I do it? Do I want to? Include team members in the process and be clear what decisions they can and cannot influence. Then keep your attention on those willing to explore or move with the change.

Those who cannot adjust will become disturbers, leave or be fired. Once the majority is enrolled most of the rest will follow (by inspiration not fear)!

What's Your Job?

Most people respond to the question, “What is your job?” with a title or position description. According to Fred Kofman author of Conscious Business, “Your job isn’t what you do but the goal you pursue.” It's the difference between:

• Teaching or helping students learn
• Leading a team or bringing humanity back to the workplace
• Programming computers or enabling clients to get work done faster and better
• Driving a taxi or assisting people to get where they want to go
• Playing quarterback or helping a football team win
• Managing projects or improving patient care
• Delivering flowers or bringing a smile to others
• Running a company or making the world a better place

If your response gets to the essence of your real work it enlivens! Click here for more from Mr. Kofman.

Thanks Lyndee for resource.

Tips for Moving Up

If you are wondering why you haven't been promoted or are proactively seeking a bigger leadership role, The Leadership Pipeline provides some common transition traps to anticipate and mitigate. Here are a few to get you started:

Manager of Managers

• Don't exhibit uncertainty or delay decisions. Learn to make choices that are directionally correct.
• Expand alliances outside comfort zone. Rely less on previous team members and friends. 
• Seek differing opinions and views. Value diversity.
• Hold direct reports accountable for leading and developing others. Inspire and feedback.
• Embrace new ideas. Explore new ways to achieve results.

Functional Leader

• Align function with enterprise. Move beyond tactical focus.
• Don't rely too much on expertise.  Develop broader knowledge and experience to drive innovation. 
• Build positive climate within the team. Focus on employee engagement.
• Trust others to do the work. Coach and mentor.
• Don't allow a few trusted colleagues to influence views and decisions. Expand your network and promote your "wins".
• Develop strong cross-functional working relationships. Invest time here.

Business Leader

• Balance and align regional/business leadership with enterprise. Focus on longer-term strategy.
• Understand all aspects of the business. Focus on how growth and profit will be achieved.
• Trust others. Make your thinking transparent and encourage others to do the same.
• Invest in people. Accurately assess and manage talent.

Formula for Change

Gleicher's Change Formula D X V X F  > R asserts, “Three factors must be present for meaningful change to take place. These factors are D= Dissatisfaction with how things are now. V= Vision of what is possible. F= First, concrete steps that can be taken towards the vision. 

If the product of these three factors is greater than R= Resistance, then change is possible. Because D, V, and F are multiplied if any one is absent or low, then it will be harder to overcome resistance to change."

To test it out consider a significant change that lasted on your team, in your leadership or with your organization.

• What was irritating you? What wasn't working anymore?
• What was your desired future state? What did success look like, sound like, feel like? How did the aspiration benefit all?
• What was first? What baby steps did you take physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually? How was each action aligned with the dream?
• What did you notice about the creative tension between the dissatisfaction, desire and action and resistance as you progressed?

If the formula worked, apply what you learned in another category.