How will you work with others?
The final RGT Celebration Ride — a group who worked well with its customers
I hope your goal is to work well with your team, your shareholders, your vendors, your partners, your clients, and your customers.
I remember my earlier working days where I soon learned how easy it was to get things done by myself and how there were easier ways to get things done with others.
One memory still alive and well: I was working in an office as a clerk in the vice president academic and provost office. The secretary asked for my help in securing a 10-minute chat for the vice president and president. I promptly headed over to the president’s office and approached the executive assistant. The conversation went something like this.
“Hi Catherine. Do you have a moment?”
She looked up and smiled. “Hi Tammy. What can I do for you?”
“Thanks so much! The vice president needs 10 minutes with the president. Is there any chance we can make that happen today?”
Catherine looked at the schedule. “I can fit him in here. Will that work?”
“That is perfect – thank you!”
I brought the good news back to the vice president’s secretary. “Success!”
She looked up in disbelief. “She actually gave you the time?”
I nodded.
“She never gives me what I ask for!”
I didn’t say much more at that moment. I knew there were requests made with a sense of entitlement and the results were not surprising. I just took away my learnings to use again and again.
What are the steps necessary you need to take to ensure you can work well with your team?
I’m going to give you a hint.
You need to ensure an organizational culture grounded in psychological safety and trust. Do you know the difference between these two?
I like Amy Edmondson’s description:
“... trust is about giving others the benefit of the doubt, and psychological safety relates to whether others will give you the benefit of the doubt when, for instance, you have asked for help or admitted a mistake.”
What leads to psychological safety and trust? Here are a few practices to strive for:
Consistency. Consistent doesn't mean showing up the same every day. Consistency means your team will know when you are at your best and when you are not at your best. They should know what to expect from you in different situations.
Sharing what is important for everyone to know (which is usually more than what you give them credit for), and listening at all other times. In fact, you should listen more than you talk with the goal to learn.
“When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new.”
― The Dalai Lama
Shared values. Understanding what values are important for each member of the team and for the team as a whole and allowing space to live these values. For example, Morning Star, a teal organization, follows two basic social values which inspires every management practice: “Individuals should never use force against other people, and they should honor their commitments.”
Working agreements or seeking alignment on important practices such as advice processes, conflict management and sharing roles and personal and professional development – or whatever your team needs.
Using an issues management framework to help broaden everyone’s perspectives on a problem – because we all have our blind spots.
Keeping promises and commitments, like the shared values example above. Do I really need to expand further on this?
Personalizing feedback and recognition. There is no one size fits all here. What works for one person may not work for another. For example, some people don’t need recognition while others might like financial rewards, a public thank you or a handwritten note (my personal favorite!). Be clear on what you are recognizing in another person – make it specific and make it personal.
Treating others and yourself with dignity. Regardless of the situation, don’t lose sight of that dignity. Another way of thinking about this comes from The Art of Possibility by Zander and Zander, who proposed that we give ourselves and others an “A” as if we were being graded:
“Giving yourself an A is not about boasting or raising your self-esteem. It has nothing to do with reciting your accomplishments. The freely granted A lifts you off the success/failure ladder and spirits you away from the world of measurement into the universe of possibility. It is a framework that allows you to see all of who you are and be all of who you are, without having to resist or deny any part of yourself.”
If we start by giving ourselves an “A”, then imagine how much easier it is to treat others like they are an “A”.
Being competent in the areas of your strength and being quick to acknowledge when mistakes are made. We all have the things we can do well, but nobody is infallible.
Demonstrating courage, loyalty, kindness, understanding, forgiveness, and unselfishness. All of the qualities you desire in others are the qualities you should strive to demonstrate yourself.
These are just a few practices which will help lead to psychological safety and trust. You might find other practices which really work with your team. I really hope you find these soon.
Just remember:
“Our thoughts and our behavior are influenced, much more than we know or want, by the environment of the moment.”
Daniel Kahneman
So, maybe you should pay attention to what is happening right now and go from there.
Resources
Edmondson, Amy C. 2018. The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. p.79 of 657.
Laloux, Frederic. 2014. Reinventing organizations: A guide to creating organizations inspired by the next stage in human consciousness. Brussels, Belgium: Nelson Parker. p.556 of 1238.
Kaufman, Peter. 2018. Peter Kaufman on the Multidisciplinary Approach to Thinking. Transcript of a talk given on latticeworkinvesting.com, April 6, 2018. http://latticeworkinvesting.com/2018/04/06/peter-kaufman-on-the-multidisciplinary-approach-to-thinking/.
Brave New Work by Aaron Dignan includes numerous practices which help lead to a positive organizational culture and is worth the read. The very first chapter just might blow your mind. Source: Dignan, Aaron. 2019. Brave new work: Are you ready to reinvent your organization? New York: Portfolio/Penguin.
Kahneman, Daniel. 2011. Thinking, Fast and Slow. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p.128.
Image: My Issues Management Framework mentioned in point #5
