Welcome to Litsy!

No leader is immune to losses, bad quarters, bad years, bad reviews, or product failures. It is part of the game, and part of getting it right. What matters is how you learn from these challenges and use them to improve. Focus on the things that are going to drive improvement. Do not let any one loss tell you who you are or what your potential or future is.

Instead evaluate whether your process is still aligned with the specific behaviors and activities that are going to drive big-picture results. Evaluate yourself using the real drivers of ultimate results. Look for improvement along those significant measures, not perfection or immediate wins.

Set boundaries on your tendency to allow single events or results to define you. You are not your last bad result. Look to more dependable measures, and hold yourself to better standards than any single outcome. Ask if you are performing to your defined values, behaviors, and activities, and forget about keeping track of the daily score.

If you‘ve read this far, my guess is that you belong either to the first or the second group, in which case you already know what to do next: Take charge. Do it. Create an environment and culture where people can be their best. It doesn‘t have to feel one bit ridiculous if you do it right. Get ridiculously in charge. Be that leader.

Finally, there is a group who will resist the idea that any of this is important; it‘s all just some sort of psychobabble. Despite the evidence, they tend to believe that working the “plan” is still where it‘s at. Unfortunately, I don‘t usually hold out much hope for changing the minds of this third group. They tend to come around only after they have hit the wall and failed.

Next, there is a group for whom most of the ideas I‘ve presented here will be entirely new, but they will be open to them. Or perhaps a bit skeptical—not necessarily because the ideas are new to them but because they just haven‘t seen them implemented very well in the past. But because of their openness they will try them and find out.

In my experience, there are three kinds of leaders. First, there is a group that is already very aware of the issues that we have discussed in this book. They are inclined to absorb new ideas and take immediate steps to put these tools to good use. They get help from the inside and outside, and they focus on building positive and empowered cultures. They are constantly seeking feedback and passing along their learning to the rest of their people.

Help people to think optimistically and root out pessimism.

Help people get in control of what they can control.

Build great teams that are high performance. Lead yourself in ways that create great performance in others.

You can choose the kind of place you want to build. You can take charge and lead if you:

Help people attend to what is important, inhibit what is not important or toxic, and remember what they are doing.

Create an emotional environment that is free of the wrong kinds of stress.

Build teams that are deeply connected.

You have hired smart people, right? And you have a great plan, right? What could possibly go wrong? The only thing that could get in the way is the failure to create a culture where brains can flourish, where people are inspired and empowered to do their very best work.

It is going to require you to accept that you are ridiculously in charge and that you are responsible for establishing the climate for success, setting the terms and expectations for performance with your people, for your organization, and for yourself.

“How can I best meet your needs?” is a question that every stakeholder wants to hear. If you do that, you will never have to worry about advancing.

The process of staying in touch, whether with those above you, below you, around you, outside the organization, or the customers, should always be in the spirit of service. It should be done to find out how you can serve them better, what they need from you, and what you need from them to serve the mission itself. It is never about self-advancement but about seeking to meet their needs.

What‘s holding me back? Is it lack of information or fear of making a mistake? Put some boundaries around the “need for more information” and the desire for absolute certainty. With most big decisions, risk cannot be entirely eliminated. Deal with it and get moving.

So, feel your fear, name it, accept it, talk it over with those you trust, and then choose to do the right thing, no matter how uncomfortable you feel. People are waiting on you! Lead! Who cares how you feel?! Do what is needed and work through the feelings later.

As a leader, you cannot allow a pattern of fear and avoidance to rule you. If you are afraid of making a mistake, you will never make bold moves. If you are afraid of upsetting or disappointing people, you will never be able to deal with underperforming employees. As a leader, you have to act (or not act), despite the fear but never because of it.

Being an open system means, basically, that you are not arrogant enough to think that you have all the answers, or that your organization has all the answers, or even that you should. You know that there is experience and energy outside of what you bring that can add to your personal and organizational infrastructure, and you open yourself up to it.

QUESTIONS TO ASK
What is the current level of trust on your team?

What do you need to do to work on trust, to define it, and to understand one another around trust?

Using the definition and elements listed above, how would you say your team is doing on connection through understanding, motivation and intent, character, capacity and ability, and track record in relation to their ability to trust one another?

Get with your team and figure out what the covenants are that are going to make your values realized, and which will drive your results.

Go through a few case scenarios, good and bad, and ask yourself these questions: What values would have prevented the bad outcomes from happening? And what are the values that made the good outcomes occur? When did we win?Why? When did we not win and why? Those questions will help you to see the ways that the team works when it does well,when it doesn‘t, & you can figure out the values that you need to keep the bad outcomes from becoming patterns.

What values will bring that vision to reality? How do those values relate specifically to the vision, goals, etc.? How will they drive them? What behaviors will demonstrate and drive those values? How do we need to behave to make sure it all happens?

In terms of values, ask your team a few questions: What is this team‘s collective purpose?
What do you want this team to accomplish?
If that is what you want to accomplish, then what does this team need to look like in order to pull that off? How does it need to operate?

Then they could work on this question: What is it going to take from each one of them to get there? How did they need to behave for each other to get that done?

"...people think about their own world most until they get together and think above their own interests intentionally, and all together."

here is a path that I have found very helpful that takes trust to deeper levels of becoming an aligned, results-oriented, accountable performance team.
Define Trust
Define Your Shared Objectives as a Team
Define Operating Values and Behaviors That Will Get You There
Utilize Case Studies
Make Specific Covenants for Behaviors
Develop Accountability Systems
Put In an Observing Structure

When you think about it, that is what we are looking for in life. Investment. We want people to invest their hearts, minds, and souls with us. We want our teams to be invested in what we are trying to build. We want individuals to be “all in.” We want friends and loved ones who are invested.

Then there is also the “team track record.” Teams need to look at their own track records as well. When they want to pull something off, they are going to have to ask, “How well have we done at this in the past?”

If the team is going to trust someone, that person is going to have to build a track record of bringing results in some area. Of performing well in that ability. Of delivering well in what has been promised. Or at least having delivered in ways that would logically make sense to trust her in this new way.

Said another way, we can trust people to do what they have done in the past. Or another way, the best predictor of the future is the past, unless there is some intervention that has made things different. That is a track record.

An executive team, or any other team with a shared objective, has to wear the “team hat” first, and then represent the shared team objectives throughout the organization.

“Intent” is key to trust. As I said in the book Integrity, if we know that someone‘s intent is to help us, that they are “for” us, we open ourselves to them. We give to them. We cooperate with them. We invest in them. We share with them. We work, and even die for them. But if they are not “for” us, there are only two other possibilities. They are “for” themselves and neutral to us, or they are actually “against” us.

They all desired for others to give them the hard truths. And yet, even though they wanted it for themselves, they were all afraid to give it to each other. In other words, there was a roomful of people who were afraid for no reason! They wanted it, but no one was giving it! They were fearful of giving feedback for no reason, since everyone desired to get it. All unnecessarily walking on eggshells.

First, “What are your fears about telling your teammates the truth, or giving them feedback that might be hard to hear?” Second, “What are your fears about receiving that kind of truth or feedback?”

So that they know they have been connected with. That takes time and attention. They need to feel it. That requires that we provide a space to get to know them, make it safe enough for them to be vulnerable, and show us what things are really like for them. In a team, that means that there is time and attention given to understanding each person, their function, what drives it, what makes it difficult, and so forth.

Here are some of the components* that I think matter most:
Connection through Understanding
Motivation and Intent
Character
Capacity and Ability
Track Record

“But as powerful as all of that is, it would never have worked if we had not done all of that earlier work on the culture of the team, especially ‘building trust.‘”

"...the team is aligned around a shared purpose or goal. It does not belong to a person, but to the team as a whole. As a result, it is shared purpose or goal. It does not belong to a person, but to the team as a whole. As a result, it is going to take the entire team to make it happen. That is the essence of a team."

What do you need to do to get them to a shared objective where if one wins they all win and if one loses they all lose?

What do you need to do to establish team covenants around specific behaviors? What can your team do to hold one another accountable?

QUESTIONS TO ASK

What operating values have you and your team developed that connect to the drivers of results in the business?

What do you need to do to lead the process of defining those operating values if they don‘t exist?

To what degree is the team working on aligned and shared objectives versus working on their own objectives?

The job of the leader is to form that team around a common purpose or goal, and then work with the team to figure out what that team is going to have to value and behave like to reach that goal. When that is done, a leader has created what is needed, and not allowed what will prevent the purpose or goal from becoming reality.

A team is not a “group of people.” A team is a group of people who have a shared purpose or goal. The shared purpose or goal brings them together to perform to reach that goal. And to reach the goal, the team is going to have to look and operate in a certain way. The team‘s values and value-driven behaviors are going to make that goal a reality.

Good relationships are essential, but teams also have to accomplish a very specific vision and mission. They have to perform. To do that requires not only values that drive the correctly aligned behaviors that drive the business, but also values that prevent behaviors that limit or hurt the business. Add accountability practices to that and you have a jet engine for a team.

We strive to grow our own knowledge, skills, and abilities and enable others to do the same BY MODELING, DEVELOPING EACH OTHER,AND GIVING FEEDBACK RESULTING FROM CONSISTENT OBSERVATION AND INVOLVEMENT WITH OUR EMPLOYEES AND THEIR PERFORMANCE AND NEEDS.

Build Our Talents: We continually develop ourselves and others. We value the talent and contributions of those we work with AND WE WORK WITH UNITY AND COMMITMENT EVEN WHEN WE DISAGREE. We partner with our colleagues in addressing challenges and celebrating successes.

We make timely decisions and use learning from past experiences to continuously improve our ability to perform, INCLUDING MATCHING, COACHING, AND DEVELOPING TALENT AND BUILDING THE CAPACITY NEEDED TO DELIVER ON ALL MILESTONES.

Deliver: We do what we say we are going to do. We hold ourselves accountable to our responsibilities and fulfill our commitments. We recognize that in a dynamic environment, our priorities may change and when they do, we proactively renegotiate commitments with stakeholders and communicate our realigned focus.

WE SERVE AS EACH OTHERS‘ RADAR, FLAGGING THREATS EARLY ON AND COMMUNICATING THEM QUICKLY.

Connected: We partner with our colleagues to achieve results. We collaborate with colleagues across functions, sites,& regions. We actively identify those who need to be involved in a decision or project & bring them in at the appropriate time. We build trusting relationships across the organization that break down barriers & help us to achieve our goals. We proactively share information & best practices to increase success of the organization.

WE DO THIS BY LISTENING, CREATING, AND FINDING VARIOUS TIMES, WAYS, AND CONTEXTS TO INTERACT WITH THEM, BOTH IN THEIR WORLD AND OURS. WE MAKE SURE THAT WE SHARE ALL THAT WE KNOW ABOUT OUR CUSTOMERS WITH ALL OF OUR PEOPLE.

Customer Intimacy: We build customer relationships that guide our success. We approach our work with an understanding that the customer is the reason that we exist as a company. We intentionally build strong collaborative relationships with our customers, recognizing that by deeply understanding their needs and providing solutions to help them, we will continue to profitably grow.