Is your team really a team? Or is it just a collection of individuals? It doesn’t matter how many skills you have represented in your working group, or how talented each member is. Unless they work as a cohesive unit, you will not achieve the maximum effectiveness of the group or enable each individual to realize their full potential. Here are three ways to get your team moving together in the same direction.
Give your team a powerful reason to connect.
We are hard-wired for connection. But don’t for a second think that our innate drive for connection is sufficient to create a connection in the workplace. The competition for our “connecting energy” is huge. You are up against a wide range of affiliative competitors like sports teams, clubs, alumni organizations, philanthropic causes, and more. Unless you offer your team something meaningful and powerful to connect to, before you know it, you will have become simply a paycheck.
According to Gallup, only about one-third of US employees strongly agree that the mission or purpose of their company makes them feel their job is important. First, you as leader must feel that they and their jobs really matter, and then express your true belief in them in clear ways that they can hear, see, and feel. This will likely result in higher employee engagement, higher customer satisfaction, and greater creativity and innovation – all factors creating competitive advantage.
Of course, all of this assumes that you understand why your organization really matters. In recent research conducted at the Opus College of Business, University of St. Thomas (MN), when asked to describe the purpose of their businesses, 93% of CEOs failed to state why their company is in business.
Connect to your team on a human level.
None of us want to be thought of as cogs in a machine producing the products and services your organization offers. But all too often, we build boundaries between our work selves and our whole selves, limiting our connection to the work we do.
Start with yourself. Don’t be afraid to open up and be seen in all your own complexity and humanity. Our research shows that vulnerability is one of the hardest emotions for leaders to show, fearing that it will make them appear weak. In fact, the opposite happens. Showing your full self makes you appear more human, likable, easier to connect with, and a stronger leader.
Connect to your team beyond the bounds of work.
Having opened yourself up a little bit, actively seek to engage with the unique life circumstances of each individual on your team. Authentic concern and interest in what they do beside produce spreadsheets and measurable outcomes will go a long way to enhancing their enjoyment of work and your ability to tailor your management style to what works best for them. We are all simply human, and when we treat each other with a recognition of that fact, we will create deep bonds and relationships that transcend the workplace.
One of our core principles at the Center for Compassionate Leadership is to lead from the inside out. Let’s remember to be fully connected to ourselves before we connect and engage with others. Bring awareness to what’s happening within your inner landscape – your emotions, feelings, thoughts, biases, conditioning, values, and expectations – without judgment or attachment. Only then can we treat everyone and everything, including ourselves, with kindness and compassion.
This is one post in a series of posts about creating a culture of compassion. The other posts in this series are:
Transform and Thrive Through Compassionate Leadership