Sometimes when people are smiling and happy they are really silently suffering on the inside. 15%+ of depressed individuals put on their happy face (see the below article). They call it “smiling depression.”
Support others by allowing them to be real and authentic instead of feeling pressured to put on a brave face, be positive and be in a good mood.
Learn to create a psychological safe environment where people can be where they are currently at emotionally. Otherwise you are creating a culture of impression making where people are acting to fit in. That’s toxic and kills morale and performance.
One of the main reasons people don’t maximize their leadership, managerial and career potential is they care much more about “impression making” than “improving, growing and making progress.”
Here is a good article on it that describes how Steve Jobs ego got in the way. http://fortune.com/2016/06/14/ego-steve-jobs/
Remember: Extraodinary performance and leadership is the combination of high standards, big visions, lofty goals and humility (i.e. egos that don’t get in the way.)
Curiosity, learning and personal development are undervalued qualities. Someone who values learning over their lifetime recognizes that you can learn something from everyone you meet.
Seek best practices from those that mastered the craft or skill.
Learning wisdom can come from any person, anywhere and at anytime. You just have to be willing and open to take it in.
Great to speak at the Texoma HR Management Association today on maximizing employee engagement, building high performing teams and increasing teamwork, communication and innovation.
We played Cards Against Mundanity (small group team building/performance question-and-answer) to show how quickly you can skyrocket trust.
It’s built off a famous research study where in 45 minutes people built the closest relationships in their lives.
Trust is everything. It’s THE business performance accelerator.
90% companies who create value statements for employees to follow are completely wasting their time. Brene Brown (In her new book), Gartner Group & other research show that employees aren’t living out those values in their behavior. BUT they can be powerful if you have a structured process to create company values.
Here’s a test to see if you know your company values and if they make an impact:
“Can you tell a story about something that happens in your company that would not happen anywhere else? What company values does the story line up with?”
Not many people can answer that.
Here is a process you can use to create game-changing values.
1) Create a short list of guiding principles for your company. I’d keep it to three.
2) For each value write out the behaviors an employee needs to exhibits in order to embody it.
3) Each month, take one of those principles and focus on it. Market it, educate and show examples of it.
4) Reward employees for exhibiting that one principle.
5) Include it in performance check-in reviews, bonuses, etc.
6) For hiring, use values to focus on cultural contribution rather than cultural fit so you hire diverse people rather just people who think alike.
I’ll be speaking at Social Media Dallas event on Thurs, April 18 at 6:30pm on building the highest performing & most engaged teams (and on maximizing employee engagement). We will addressing how this specifically affects social media teams, public relations agencies, marketing and advertising professionals and many others.
We will be playing my game Cards Against Mundanity (group question-and-answer game) that skyrockets trust in minutes. It’s based on a research study where participants created the closest relationship in their lives in 45 mins. 1,000 employees have played it in companies such as Amazon, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Gillette, Oklahoma City Thunder, Google & many others.
