What does WINNING mean to you and your team?
More sales and satisfied clients?
More support from co-workers?
More smiles and enjoyment each day?
REGARDLESS of your industry, I guarantee that WINNING will require you to build a more positive and profitable team CULTURE –
And that requires you to value and encourage psychological team safety.
Culture is the environment that your people live in – like water for fish…
But culture is not ping-pong tables or free snacks…
When I define CULTURE for groups in my corporate teambuilding programs and teamwork conference keynotes, I explain that it is nothing more than the behaviors that are allowed and repeated in your organization.
But the culture you allow – the behaviors that you and your teammates repeat – ultimately becomes an environment that will either boost your people to thrive or break them with toxicity.
And according to a famous recent Project Aristotle study by Google, it is PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY that is the single most important element of building effective teams.
HERE IS WHAT IT MIGHT SOUND LIKE ON YOUR TEAM:
- “I need help…”
- “What do you think?”
- “I messed up…”
- “I disagree…”
If you aren’t hearing those phrases every week on YOUR team, that might be a problem…
The truth is that the safety to speak up and be heard and share ideas or concerns is not always created or nurtured intentionally by leaders.
Some leaders and cultures seem to choke out any desire to discuss issues or challenges.
In 2014, GM admitted that it had known about an ignition switch issue for over a decade before it finally issued a recall.
General Motors CEO Mary Barra stated that their corporate culture had hampered the voices of concerned employees and limited their speaking out about the safety issues.
Sharing those kinds of things was not safe in the environment they had created.
Because of their toxic silence, though, at least 54 crashes occurred and dozens of people died.
An internal investigation found that individuals “failed to disclose critical pieces of information that could have fundamentally changed the lives of those impacted by a faulty ignition switch‘.”
GM had somehow become a toxic environment where people wouldn’t speak up.
Groups usually have similar feelings about the team environment of psychological safety.
That influences individual engagement and willingness to risk having tough conversations. But the late General Colin Powell shares the perspective of a leader who wants a healthy culture.
He said, “loyalty means giving me your honest opinion, whether you think I’ll like it or not. Disagreement, at this stage, stimulates me. But once a decision has been made, the debate ends.”
Not every decision will be popular with every team member. But the safety and invitation to be heard – to contribute and feel your voice is valued – is powerful.
And that level of commitment – that sense of safety that is required for teammates to speak up to leaders or to each other – is something that leadership must be intentional about creating.
It doesn’t happen by accident.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor & Statistics recently announced that 4.3 million Americans quit their jobs in August of 2021. That is about 3% of the workforce!
It would be interesting to know how many of those vacancies were the result of people feeling they couldn’t speak out safely when they wanted to share something that could have helped the team…
Creating psychological safety is an intentional process, and it is often the result of building relationships and fostering collaboration.
.So, how do you create a team culture that encourages healthy conflict?
How do you inspire your team to speak up instead of shutting down?
.
Here are three things you can start doing now:
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Invite it
The first thing you can do – in your very next meeting – is to ask questions.
Let your curiosity invite others to share their thoughts BEFORE you share yours as a leader.
Ask the team to come up with possible divergent perspectives.
Give them time to think about “if this wasn’t true, what might be?”
Ask the usually more quiet team members to share their thoughts
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Protect it
This is the most important step.
Because whether invited or not, as soon as someone in your team suggests a problem that others didn’t want to acknowledge… or shares a point of view that is unpopular… or disagrees with something that has been accepted for years… it is YOUR JOB to protect them.
Explain the VALUE of the different opinion.
And invite other divergent ideas by requesting others share their ideas.
But do not EVER let the conflicting idea feel attacked by you as the leader.
Be overly candid about appreciating the candor and courage of the suggestion
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Reward it
And to further emphasize the value and admiration of divergent ideas, find an unexpected way to show your appreciation. Let the person sit near you at the next meeting.
Create an award for ideas that lead to improvements.
Share an encouraging thank you in your next company-wide email.
Do whatever you can to let OTHERS on your team feel that THEIR ideas would be just as welcome and celebrated.
What gets rewarded gets repeated!
If you are intentional about implementing these three tips into your leadership – and making them a clear and obvious emphasis in your meetings, you will soon see an increase in shared opinions.
That will improve collaboration and innovation across your organization.
That will engage more people who were checked out.
That will create more commitment and less complacency.
And people are more likely to be coachable when they feel they have permission to be imperfect on their way to becoming more competent.
If you want a Winning Culture, that begins with creating an environment where great teammates feel safe to share their perspectives and concerns and ideas for improvement.
That is a culture that every leader should strive to build.
