Yesterday we spoke about fear at the top of organisations and leadership teams that are more of a workgroup than a team. If there are no teams, there can be no psychological safety and in the absence of psychological safety, there can be no performance.
In this video, we go one step further and offer some advice on what any one leader that’s part of that group could do to reverse this and to build this team. We have seen some leaders do precisely this with amazing results so we know it works.
As with every other HumanDebt task that appears gargantuan, this one too feels impossible to grasp if we leave it at the theoretical level and leaders already have a full plate of commitments they have to tend to so simply reflecting ad nausea on a topic won’t serve any purpose.
Instead, we propose – breach the subject with your peers “If this is a continuum starting with “Workgroup for reporting purposes only, no real communication, collaboration or shared goodwill and purpose” on one end and then on the other end we have “Super-tight-knit, psychologically safe, open, innovative, creative, emotionally invested in a common vision and goal team” where do we think we are at?”
Once the penny drops that you are not nearly as invested and close-knit or able to solve problems or co-create together as you thought you were then what?
Then invest some time and effort into doing some teaming.
This is not a theoretical to-do but a very practical one. Heidi Helfand has practical suggestions and exercises in her book, Amy Edmondson has practical suggestions and exercises in her books, we have practical suggestions and exercises in both the book and in the plays in the Dashboard.
It’s doable, it can be done and it’s needed and worth doing.
The closer you get to the real team side of the continuum the better it is for everyone not only the enterprise but each of the leaders in the team themselves because life without impression management and fear in a team that has the safety and passion to move mountains is ten times better than the alternative.
Lastly, this is urgent in light of the big shift from command and control to servant leadership because once leaders start realising line-of-sight and micromanagement in a physical office is never to return, they do need to embrace a service-driven mindset and a lot of the work will be around people, relationships, dynamics and empathy and all of those are so much more easily accomplished when you’re part of a team and have support.
Everyone in a leadership position today has the brains and the heart, there’s no doubt about that, they simply have to find the way not to let circumstances and the massive HumanDebt wear them down to where they are no longer invested enough to show them.
Start in your next leadership meeting. Ask the question “Are we a real team or a workgroup?” and let others come along on this journey of teaming for everyone’s benefit.
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The 3 “commandments of Psychological Safety” to build high performing teams are: Understand, Measure and Improve
At PeopleNotTech we make software that measures and improves Psychological Safety in teams. If you care about it- talk to us about a demo at contact@peoplenottech.com
To order the “People Before Tech: The Importance of Psychological Safety and Teamwork in the Digital Age” book go to this Amazon link