Inspiration by Simon Sinek, Brene Brown, Patrick Lencioni, Rob Goffee, Gareth Jones, Mahatma Gandhi & Johnny Cupcakes

Recently, I gave a presentation to my leadership team on the best way to achieve results.

I referenced Patrick Lencioni's very well known "5 Dysfunctions of a Team", citing that all good teams are built on the foundation of trust.  The absence of trust (the first dysfunction of a team) leads to a fear of conflict (the second dysfunction of a team).  The fear of conflict leads to a lack of commitment.  A lack of commitment feeds avoidance of accountability, which fosters inattention to results.

To help reinforce the importance of this concept, I diagrammed the inverse of Lencioni's "5 Dysfunctions".  Vulnerable trust between teammates leads to constructive (healthy) ideological conflict.  Healthy conflict fosters commitment which leads to peer accountability within the team towards the collective results.  The most important part of this entire flow is taking the time to build vulnerable trust.  If at any point in this journey, the team starts to experience "dysfunction", it is important to start back at the beginning with building vulnerable trust.

According to thought leader Dr. Brene Brown, the leadership trait that fosters vulnerability and trust is empathy.  Empathy is the ability to feel what someone else is feeling.  There are various stages of empathy, from apathy (knowing what someone is feeling and not caring) to compassion (overwhelmed with what someone else is feeling to the point that you are driven to act on their behalf).

Feeling safety is essential for one to lead empathetically and foster vulnerable trust with others.  Safety can be determined by one's immediate environment, but is also greatly determined by one's self-confidence and/or inherent security or insecurity.  This is one reason why truly great leaders continue to grow themselves at every opportunity - to build their courage to lead authentically and vulnerably.

Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones are noted thought leaders, authors, and tenured professors at the London Business School.  They have written a few books on leadership, and a very well known HBR (Harvard Business Review) article called "Creating the Best Workplace on Earth".

In the article, Goffee and Jones identify the 6 ideal traits of a "Dream Organization" through their extensive research, including survey responses from thousands of employees across hundreds of businesses over the last 5 years.  They simplify these 6 traits (above) into the 4 values of Community, Authenticity, Significance, and Excitement, and call this the CASE for Leadership.

I took a few minutes to survey my team on their evaluation of our organization, based on Goffee's and Jones' criteria.  The majority admitted that we were not currently reaching our best potential as a Dream organization.  I admitted that I was not reaching my best potential as a Dream organization leader.  

"Now is the time for us to be the change we wish to see in our organization".  

Imagine, with every interaction, in every meeting, providing safety for all, actively listening, being empathetic, growing vulnerable trust, engaging in healthy conflict, forging commitment and group accountability to the collective goal.  I know no better way to achieving any result.

Matt

The Breakthrough

I had a recent breakthrough on the subject of leadership.

To give some context,  I have been working in a management capacity for over 10 years.  Over the last decade, the scope of my leadership has ranged from 1 to 350+ employees.  As my staff and responsibilities have grown, I have been spending more and more time developing my leadership skills.  A large portion of this time has been spent constantly researching and studying thought and opinion leaders in leadership (check out the blog list on the right column for some of my recent favorites).

I have always subscribed to the belief that leadership is service at its heart.  Selflessness, empathy, presence - these are the traits of the most compelling and successful leaders.  

For years, I have discovered, practiced and taught these traits to others.  But these practices took more energy than they should, as if they weren't coming naturally.  I would end each work day exhausted - something seemed to be off-balance; missing.

The breakthrough happened after some reflection on my path and my core values.   Following Simon Sinek's teachings, I asked myself - "why was leadership and service so important to me?"

The answer resonated deeply:

I want to help people feel safe enough to authentically and deeply engage right now in their real world.

With my own purpose now defined and in place, I have been able to lead with more focus and clarity on the purpose of others.  Every interaction now feels intentional and energizing.

Breakthrough:  Like the airplane oxygen mask in a depressurized cabin, find your balanced center before helping others try to find theirs.