Why your team matters most.mp3
Welcome.
To Unlocking Potential. My name is Emily Petty and I am the host of the Unlocking Potential Podcast. This podcast is for you if you are a leader of people or projects, and you lead with compassion and kindness, and you want to lead a thriving team, and most importantly, you want to lead that team effortlessly and authentically, well, this podcast is for you. And this month, our podcast, we will be focusing on why your team matters. So the idea that why supporting and focusing on your team, your people with kindness, with care, with compassion and a bit of courage as well really should be on the top of your to do list. So let's get stuck in. So I get it right now. If we were thinking about if I was to ask you what's on the top of your to do list, you will be under pressure to deliver projects, to get work done, to respond to issues, to problems that are coming up. And the problem is, is we get so focussed on dealing with the issues, we forget to think first about our people. And right now you probably are facing again, like limiting budget, limited budgets, funding, not enough time, not enough money, not enough resources, probably not even enough people. And your people are probably telling you that they are stretched as well. And as I've said, your firefighting task focussed. Perhaps your team are feeling disconnected and have low motivation, and what we do when we are in this state is we double down, we go inwards, we work harder. We might be sort of thinking that we're solving problems for our team, that we're being there for our team, that we're making our team matter. But we're fixing rather than starting from a viewpoint where you are seeing that your team, how you support them, how you help them to thrive is your number one priority. And actually, when we see the problems that come from the fact that we haven't been doing that, we try to fix it, perhaps with process or um, maybe a restructure or um, perhaps a large organisational process or change or, um, Solution that seems to be all of these things seem to generate more and more work and ultimately make us feel more and more disconnected. And when we are disconnected, when our team don't feel that they have the appropriate level of autonomy over their work, when our team feel maybe they lack confidence because maybe things are going wrong and their competence goes down, you start to see that low motivation, motivation. And do listen to my How to Motivate Your Team podcast, which is the previous podcast to this one. And when we have low motivation, staff are more likely to leave. They're more likely to go on sick leave, and you start to get that sort of lack of trust within your team. So what I want to share with you today is I suppose, an alternative view, an alternative solution, an alternative way of looking at things that that you can start tomorrow, that you can make small shifts in how you think, what you believe about your team, what you believe about your priorities. That could radically change how your team perform. So I'm really excited about this one. And I've got three really powerful mindset shifts for you to take and a ton of tips. But really, I want those mindset shifts to be the most important thing because you could put those tips into action. But if your mindset hasn't shifted around how we make our people, our teams matter most, then you are going to struggle.
So if we genuinely care for our team and our kind and build up with small, small acts of kindness every day. And really think first about our team rather than task. We will build up empathy and the more empathetic we feel towards those we work with, the kinder we will be and the more empathetic we will be. And Graham Allcott in his book kind, which is newly out, I highly recommend reading. It, talks about this idea of kindness, and I'm interpreting it for the sake of this podcast, really focusing on our people, thinking about them as humans first. It's a win win, win win. He describes it as there are four wins here. When we care and when we're kind, and when we make very clear acts take very clear acts of kindness. There's a first win winner and that is the giver. Because there's evidence around us being kind and people focussed, not task focussed. And that has a positive impact on our emotions. It has a positive impact on our, um, fight or flight response. Hopefully the receiver will benefit because when the receiver knows that they are valued, that they are appreciated, that will again calm their nervous nervous system and that make them feel more positive. Then there's those that are observing. So when you are creating a team where people genuinely care for each other, we might observe an interaction. Um, like when you observe someone helping someone get on the bus, it actually makes you feel good just to witness that. And then there's this energy shift that happens. Um, Graham Allcott describes it as the ripple effect. So when we are showing that compassion and that kindness, it impacts on other people's lives and they start to do the same. So I don't know, many people I work with talk about, you know, my team are they're real mood movers. You know, they only bring the negative. Um, actually, one of the ways we can shift that is by deliberately focusing on the positive. Deliberately taking acts of kindness. And there's a ton of evidence which says that when teams feel safe, when they feel connected, when they feel valued, they perform at their very, very best.
So when teams feel safe, connected and valued, they perform. So if your team are underperforming, if your team are demotivated, if your team are disengaged, are they feeling safe? Are they feeling connected? Are they feeling valued? And this is a negative um, review of of of the impact of, of the opposite really of not feeling safe, not feeling connected, not feeling valued. The Harvard Business Review um, price of incivility study. Um, interesting word. Found a link between toxic work environments and poor performance. So it's fair to say that if they found that link between toxic work environments and poor performance, then I'm sure there's evidence to to say the opposite. So in their study, um, around the impact of unkind behaviour, they identified that 40% of people, um, as a result of that unkind behaviour, intentionally decreased their work effort 47%, intentionally decreased the time they spent at work. So it stands to reason if we are kind, if we focus on our people, they will, um, I suppose, perform back or give you back what they receive.
And I've got two examples for you. Two companies that are well known for their people first approach. So the first is a British company, which I'm sure most of my listeners, listeners are in the UK will have heard of. And it is Timpson. And their focus is to put people and culture first. And they believe to the very core of all of their decisions, treat people well. And that will lead to good work. And they actually talk about something called upside down management, which is when you trust teams to do their jobs and you give managers the power to support them. So you trust teams to do their jobs and you trust you give managers the power to support them. They're very much focusing on happiness. They help their teams to find happiness and work really hard to help them reflect and identify what that is for them. It's not just something they talk about. Um, they have lots and lots of benefits driven by kindness, um, for example, that you get a day off when your pet dies, dies, that sort of thing. Um, uh, and they take it so seriously that they survey their staff every year and, uh, rank them around happiness. Um, and they're also well known for actively hiring and employing ex-offenders. So they have baked it into their team culture and their work, and they believe that their success as an organisation is driven by the fact that they are focusing on putting people first, and I don't know if anyone's been to a Timpson, um, little stall on the edge of a supermarket, and you could see you can see that I've not ever met a Timpson staff member who doesn't seem to be engaged and motivated, um, about their work. The second organisation is an organisation I had not heard of and it's called Barry-wehmiller. It's a really large American, um, company. Um, they are one they hit a year I think, in recently $1 billion, um, business. Um, and the CEO is someone called Bob Chapman and he has written a book which I highly recommend, which is called Everybody Matters. And their sort of strapline, if you go onto their website, it says that we are showing what's possible at the intersection of great business strategy and profound care for people. And they're really focusing on what they developed about 20 years ago, which is their guiding principles for leadership and say, put people first. They invest in learning and development, and they say that they measure the success of the company by the way we touch the lives of our people. So every decision is made with a view to how will this impact, um, our people. And interestingly, in 2008, when, um, there was the economic downturn and many, many organisations, you know, large we're talking about a large, large organisation here. We're making significant, um, redundancies and layoffs, as they would they would call it, um, and they decided not to they decided to, um, collectively ask everyone in the organisation to take four weeks furlough, so four weeks unpaid, um, leave. They could decide when to take it. But they clearly laid out the reason for this was that they cared for the long term And future of their staff. And they didn't want anyone to find themselves in financial, um, difficulty. Um, and that if we gave people enough notice, they could prepare, um, for that. And the overwhelming response was hugely, hugely positive. And actually it improved sort of employee wellbeing. There were sort of acts of kindness where some people, um, said that they'd take six weeks if they knew that someone could only afford to take two weeks unpaid leave. Um, and it bought everybody much, much closer together, whereas obviously firing a load of people, losing all of that resource. Um, um, and effectively impacting people's lives very negatively would have had a hugely damaging effect on team morale. Um, and, um, the ongoing, um, future of the business and actually the business, um, what's the word came out of the downturn much, much quicker than many other organisations? So I've put forward a case for the evidence for caring for our people, and I'm pretty sure that everyone listening to my podcast does genuinely care and are naturally kind people. And you want to be kind to your people. But I think there's sort of something ingrained in years and years of how we have been taught to do this management thing, how we've been taught to work and how we've been conditioned to be in meetings. And, you know, we've got to work harder. We've got to get on with the agenda. There's no time to perhaps connect. Um, uh, well, you know, they're often a lot of people listening to this podcast will be from the charity sector, you know, what about our beneficiaries? Don't they matter most? Um, and so I would say, I want to give you three really powerful mindset shifts that I'd really encourage you to to reflect on. And the first is make people your purpose. So Barry-wehmiller made their people their purpose, and their purpose was to impact the lives of the people that that work for them. And the way they did that was by making a profit and running a business.
So it's a really big it's quite a big, um, well, it's a massive shift. It's a massive shift to say, actually, if I was going to get up today and start my working day, how could I shift my thinking, like shift my agenda to really think about what can I do today that will have the most impact on the people in my team or in the project that I'm working with. Or even if you don't manage people, the people that I'm interacting with. So in other words, what are you doing every single day to show your people or the people that you connect with that they matter, right? What are you doing every single day to think about how you could help the people that you work with, the people that you're in projects with lead think for themselves. So we know that if people have increased autonomy, if they can find their own solutions, then they will be able to they will be more productive, they will be more motivated. How can you help? Your team today feel more connected, right? When we're connected like family, we will do. We'll move the earth for the people we care about. So if you're not intentionally helping people to feel more connected in the work that they do in small interactions and moments, they're going to feel disconnected. And then lastly, in this kind of make your people make people your purpose, how can you help your team, your people grow and learn? So when we are growing, when we're curious, when we're in that growth mindset again, our motivation and momentum will be much higher. So my second mindset shift is to believe that everybody has the capacity. And when I say everybody, I mean everybody in your team, in your organisation, everybody you interact with has the capacity to find the solution and to come up with your with new ideas. So I'd really encourage you to challenge. Challenge your internal beliefs. Maybe about your team. Maybe about their role. Maybe about your role. Um, that you should maybe be having all of the answers and see it differently. Look at them and see look at the potential that that individual has. So they have as much capacity as you, possibly more, um, to find solutions to come up with new ideas. Because when everybody, um, uh, you know, rises like that, that boat analogy, when one boat rises, we all rise with them. When everybody feels like they have that sense of autonomy and ownership, and then everybody rises up with them. And we want to create this kind of collective sense of belonging, of trust and of safety.
And my third mindset shift is I've already alluded to. I reckon that the people that are listening to this are kind and do care, and probably you have a ton of empathy as well, but you have been told that to lead with kindness and empathy is a weakness, that maybe you're a pushover, that, um, if. Don't be too kind. Um, you need some structure, clarity, whatever those stories that you've been told or that you've been telling yourself. Challenge those. Because. Leading with kindness. Leading with empathy, with curiosity and compassion is a superpower. And it's not a weakness. What we do have to do, I think, in order to make these shifts, is, number one, to be kind to ourselves first. So we will not be able to be kind to others if we have not been kind to ourselves. And we could unpack that in a whole nother podcast series.
And within that comes like make people your purpose. Like actually today what is my purpose? So really asking how can I be of service to those that I interact with today? How can I be of service to those that I interact with today? And be curious, you know, what am I seeing in this individual that I haven't seen before? Where's the potential if I really listen, what might I hear or how might I help them to uncover, um, a challenge or a problem? So those are my three mindset shifts, and I'm going to go on to give you a few tips and actions. But please, please, please work on those mindset mindset shifts first. Sorry about that. I had a.
Paws.
Uh, dogs barking. Um, so please, please, please work on those mindset shifts first. So I have got ten top tips, and they are all aligned with the ten components of the thinking environment from time to think. And if you listen to any of my podcasts, you'll know that I see everything through the lens of the thinking environment. And I really do passionately believe that the thinking environment and creating time to think is a really powerful and yet simple way for us to put people first, to make people matter. So here are my ten tips, in no particular order. So the first component is attention. And so my top tip is to, as I've mentioned just previously, is to listen and give attention. So when someone is speaking to really, really focus on that curiosity as to where they will go in their thinking next.
The second component is place, and this is all about the place where we meet. And so that could be virtual. That could be physical spaces. And also we embody a sense of place. So we have um, we um what's the word release energy. And that's where the being kind to ourself is so important because when we have noticed what might be stopping us, what might be holding us back when we've been done, when we've done the work ourselves, got the support that we need, we will create a place that is open, that is kind, that is welcoming. So create that place for yourself. If you're setting up meetings, work places, spaces, what about those spaces? Say to the person who is attending that meeting that they matter? How? What can you do to help them know that they matter. That could be cakes, biscuits. It could be making sure that the room has a window and is well ventilated or whatever that is. What would you say? That they matter. The next is information. So provide access to your team, to the information that they need to make decisions, to learning, to opportunities for growth.
Then we have one of my favourites. I love them all appreciation. So show appreciation and gratitude. Create opportunities where you can appreciate each other.
The next tip is a quality. So make sure that everyone has a voice right? And then we have difference value and listen to everyone's ideas and thinking. So so often when someone does find the confidence to speak up. They get sort of shouted down because perhaps it's we've done that before or we know it's not going to work. Take time to value everybody's ideas and thinking, right? Then we have encouragement. And I would really focus on thinking about small acts of kindness that can encourage, that can give people courage to take the actions that they need.
Then the next component is feeling. So get comfortable with feelings. And the great way to start that is just to start talking about feelings. So I'm not asking that everyone should start crying in meetings and that ask people to express how they feel. It's really interesting. I did it with a meeting the other day and people really struggled. And so at first you'll get good. Okay, fine. Um, but as you talk about it, more people will be able to feel more comfortable about getting granular with their emotions.
The next is incisive questions. So this is really this idea of asking questions that will help us to challenge those limiting assumptions that we might have and find an alternative, liberating assumption. And this act of when we are shifting our mindset from the thing that has been limiting us to the thing that liberates us, will move us out of our fight and flight mode, and will calm our nervous system so that we can make much more effective decisions.
And then the last component oh, it's ease. I was reading my notes. I was thinking, what component is this and is ease? So make things easy. Simple, less complicated. So this could be as simple as Ditching the PowerPoint presentation or the overly prepared documents like how can we make it easier? Is there a process that could be made simpler? Because actually we can cut out a lot of things just by making things easier. So those are ten really quick top tips. I shall put those into a workbook, um, for you. But I really, really encourage you to think about those mindset shifts. What might be stopping you from putting people first, from making people matter first? Because all of those tips will be much harder, and you won't be able to implement them without personally taking that leap and making a mindset shift. So as we close the podcast, I have a challenge for you. It's to really, really think about how much of your time are you investing in the people you lead? Actually, I'm going to change that. How much of your time and money are you investing in the people you lead? If you actually genuinely believe that people do matter, that investing, supporting, helping your teams to thrive is the absolute core of what will make your team successful. Watch that. What will help you to hit your results? How much of your time and money are you investing in your people? And then how much of your thinking focuses on thinking about how you are? How you are, or how you can help everyone to thrive? So often it's an afterthought. It's not an afterthought. I think it is when things aren't working, when the team are demoralised, when something else happens, then we have to respond. We have to deal with the people stuff and it's all fine when everything's going okay. But actually, what are we doing all of the time? How much of your time are you waking up and you're thinking, how can I help X be at their absolute best today? So my mission is to help you help your team thrive. And ultimately, perhaps you don't even feel like you matter. Um, like you're valued. Um, and you're desperately trying to lead in this way. But maybe you're in a difficult work culture. You're under far too much pressure. Let's start with you. Uh, let's start with supporting you. I can help through 1 to 1 coaching and group coaching through my leadership in a circles. Let's talk about really what you need to help you to make those mindset shifts.
So.
That you can then make people matter. Because I don't want you to do this out of a sense, like, oh, it's another thing that I've got to do. Let's do it as a driven by kind of who we are and what we what we, what we want to do. And then we can work with your team. And I'm really, really keen to work with teams who, number one, believe in this kindness stuff but have a the way that I will work with you, particularly through the thinking environment and time to think is a way that can be embedded really easily and really cost effectively. Um, and you can see it making a transformational change in your team, I suppose, incrementally, as those bits of trust just start to the bits of trust that doesn't really make sense. Um, that as trusts, builds, um, slowly and surely. So encouraging you to be kind to yourself, to think about how you can pause. You know, that could be an away day. That could be how you could create more clarity, um, and focus on your vision and your values. How as a team you can connect, um, uh, really think about what does your team need most? And if you've got an answer to that, or you want to talk about finding the answer to that, what does my team need most now? What is the solution to this challenge that we are facing? Then let me know. I'd be absolutely delighted to have a conversation about how I could support you or signpost you to support, um, that could help you to, um, make people matter. Um, but ultimately to unlock the potential, your own potential and the potential of your team.
So thank you. Uh, look forward to seeing you in or listening or speaking to you in the next episode.
