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Importance of Psychological Safety

7/24/2018

 
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July 24, 2018
Clear Confident Leader Weekly Observer, Issue #75
From the Greenbelt of Boise Idaho, Summer heat
 
Psychological Safety provides a foundational element for Team Success. Google researchers found it to be the most important dynamic of their effective teams.
 
Unfortunately, during times of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity, people can resort to reactive tendencies that make it difficult to maintain. It requires constant tending by teams and leaders committed to providing the necessary conditions for team success.

The term Psychological Safety describes a climate in which people feel free to express relevant thoughts and feelings without fear of being penalized. Although it sounds simple, the ability to ask questions, seek help, and tolerate mistakes while colleagues watch can be unexpectedly difficult.
– Amy Edmondson
 

In her book Teaming, Edmondson outlines seven benefits of providing Psychological Safety:
  • Encourages Speaking Up
  • Enables Clarity of Thought
  • Supports Productive Conflict
  • Mitigates Failure
  • Promotes Innovation
  • Removes Obstacles to Pursuing Goals
  • Increases Accountability
 
Here is a quick check you can do:
  • Are your team meetings dominated by one person speaking, or do all team members take turns with the time spread more evenly?
  • Are people empathetic to the challenges and issues team members are experiencing, or not?
 
Taking turns speaking and having empathy creates bonds between team members, providing Psychological Safety, the cornerstone of effective team norms.
 
I assist teams and leaders to create better results by developing the practice of team leadership, including Psychological Safety. To learn more visit here. Let’s create a better future today!
 
Previous Posts in the Series:
  1. Generating Effective Teamwork
  2. Leverage the Team Lifecycle
  3. Clarify the Context
  4. Assess Team Effectiveness
  5. Set Teams Up for Success
  6. Our Collective Leadership Challenge

Letting Go of Thinking I Know

1/23/2018

 
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January 23, 2018
Clear Confident Leader Weekly Observer, Issue #62
From the Greenbelt of Boise Idaho, Blustery weather
 

Being at ease with not knowing is crucial for answers to come to you.
– Eckhart Tolle
 
Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. – Gilda Radner
 
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing. – Socrates
 
Last night I missed a phone call from my brother, and he didn’t leave a message. I made up a story about why he called. When I talked to him, I learned he had an entirely different purpose. Fortunately, I started by asking what was on his mind, rather than launching into my story. It made it easier to let go of my “knowing” and respond to him.
 
The problem is, when “I think I know” I become invested in my conclusions, and less able to discover and create with what’s really happening. I compound this when I insist "I’m right”. Trained through school to know the answer, and as an engineer to come up with the best solution, I’ve spent a lot of my life focusing on “knowing” and “being right”.
 
Here’s an experiment to consider. Think of a time when you went into a conversation with a team or group, or someone you care about, and you knew what was going on, and had an answer for what to do about it. How did that conversation go?
 
I’ve come to realize that I never see the whole situation, and that "thinking I know" gets in my way. Instead, it helps me to imagine possibilities, and curiously explore, expecting new discoveries and options to emerge.
 
It’s our common human response to react to a situation, construct an emotion and create a story using our lived experiences. Our body and brain react to stimuli, predict and act unconsciously to keep us alive. When that’s all we do, we create consequences with those we live and work with. It requires conscious practice to deliberately engage with the intention to discover and create, improvising in the moment together instead of reacting alone.
 
I work with teams and leaders to create better results through the conscious practice of leadership. Let’s create a better future today!

The Gift of Coaching

11/15/2017

 
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November 15, 2017
Clear Confident Leader Weekly Observer, Issue #55
From the Greenbelt of Boise, Idaho, Gray skies and rain
 
It used to be that having a coach was a sign of failure or under-performance. Nowadays, having a coach is seen as a sign of commitment to improving your performance. – Richard Barrett
 
We define coaching conversations as those that expand the other person’s awareness, thinking and capability.
– John Zenger & Kathleen Stinnett
 
Coaching is a personalized vehicle for supporting people in ‘stepping up and into’ their own development.
– Neil Stroul & Christine Wahl
 
Last week I was co-facilitating a program with 34 leaders, developing their skills in coaching others. In the middle of the second day, one person not feeling well stepped out of a couple of practice sessions. I was fortunate to join in to practice with two leaders with coaching requests of my own.
 
I had two separate events coming up, and I was concerned I was not ready for them.
 
One leader helped me think through preparing for a presentation later that week. I was worried my co-presenter who led the last time might not be available. In ten minutes they helped me clarify my fear, and create a clear action plan to navigate the situation. The next day I discovered that indeed he was not available. I found a new partner, revised the content and we delivered an effective presentation on Friday.
 
The second leader helped me prepare for setting up an exhibitor table at an event where I’m volunteering. I was all over the map, and didn’t have a clear idea of what I would put together.  Again, in ten minutes they helped me clarify my intentions, and establish a clear pragmatic plan. Now, I’m ready to set up my exhibit table tomorrow morning.
 
I’m grateful to help leaders develop their coaching skills, to assist themselves and those around them. And as it frequently happens, I was the beneficiary of the coaching skills they developed.
 
Coaching provides a gift of learning and growth, and supports us in preparing for challenging situations in a complex world.
 
Let’s cultivate our leadership capacity to coach, and create better results today!

Our Words Create Worlds

9/13/2017

 
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September 13, 2017
Clear Confident Leader Weekly Observer, Issue #51
From the Greenbelt of Boise, Idaho, Leaves turning colors
 
Language is primarily generative and creative.
– Chalmers Brothers

Language helps us both to interpret and make meaning of the world around us.
– Doug Silsbee
 
Whether you think you can, or think you can’t – you’re right.
– Henry Ford
 
I was in a conversation regarding the world we live in today. Here are some views:
  • The world is flat. No, the world is round.
  • The earth rotates around the sun. No the sun travels around the earth.​
  • The earth is a dynamic living sphere traveling in an elliptical spiral as it follows the sun moving through an expanding universe.
 
The words we use in the narrative of our minds and in what we express to those around us create and reflect our perspectives.  I share the examples above as a metaphor for many conversations that occur today, in which arguments arise from taking a simpler point of view and holding firm that it is “RIGHT”.
 
Reality it seems is more complex than we’re willing to consider and discuss. Yet finding ways to discuss the complexity, and create generative approaches together, are what we need most urgently to address the challenges we face.
 
To paraphrase Einstein, we can’t solve today’s problems with the same level of thinking that created them. We must evolve our sense-making and conversations to survive and thrive. I encourage:
  • Acknowledging and simply describing the complexity we live within.
  • Discussing how together we can discover creative solutions that support all of us.
 
Let’s face and discuss the complexity of where we are, and create a better future today!

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    A Clear Confident Leader engages, inspires, and assists people to develop themselves, enabling them to create new possibilities and a better future today.

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