If you feel invisible at work you’re in good company. Recent research by Work Human found that nearly 30% of workers have felt invisible at work and 27% have felt ignored.

Their research also identified certain “invisible skills” going unnoticed in the workplace. Ironically, the ignored skills are some of the most necessary for productive conflict in the workplace: empathy and compassion (27.4%), a sense of curiosity, (19.8%), and listening skills/emotional intelligence (15.4%).

I (David) had one of these invisibility experiences early in my career. I sat in a committee meeting drawing up a job description for a new senior management role. We finished the description, and the committee chair thanked us for our input. Then she said that they’d start looking for candidates the following week.

The job was interesting to me, and I immediately wondered “Why they hadn’t asked me to do it?” I sat there frustrated as the meeting concluded. And that might have been the end of the story, except for some sugar.

During college, my friends and I went to a diner whose sugar packets featured bits of rhymed wisdom. My packet had these words printed on it:

He who has a thing to sell

And goes and whispers in a well

Is not so apt to get the dollar

As he who climbs a tree and hollers.

Silly, right? But those words stuck in my head. Sitting in that committee meeting feeling overlooked, the rhyme came lilting back to mind. Challenging me to speak up for myself. I raised my hand and said, “I’m interested in this job.”

The committee chair thought about it and smiled. “You’d be a great candidate.”

I got the job. This was a powerful lesson that when you feel overlooked, you must start by seeing yourself.

Powerful Phrases to Ask Yourself If You Feel Invisible

What should you do when you feel like you’re wearing an invisibility cloak at work? Start by identifying when, where, and with whom you yearn for people to see you, and notice when that is, and isn’t happening. Are there consistent patterns that could show unconscious bias or discrimination? (If you suspect bias or discrimination, please contact HR, you need more than a Powerful Phrase, you need support.)

Here are a few questions to spark your thinking.

“What do people not see that I wish they would? For what do I want to be known?”

Get specific to help you determine your approach. Do you wish people would see how hard you work? Then you’re going to need to find some opportunities to showcase your work and your accomplishments. Or maybe you long to have your ideas taken more seriously. In that case, you might need to change the way you’re presenting your ideas. 

Another way to think about this is by completing this sentence. I wish people would know how much I __________. That’s an important first step in remedying the situation.

When you feel unseen, it might feel like it’s with everywhere and everyone. This is worth some reflection. Do you feel invisible in certain meetings or with certain people? If you feel invisible to your manager, be sure you read How to Get Your Boss to Recognize and Appreciate Your Genius.

“Is this a place where employee voice matters?”

Sadly, in our Courageous Cultures research, we found some people in positions of power (we won’t call them leaders) who were happy to treat their employees like bots. They say things like, “I don’t really want them to think. Just teach them the script.” If you’ve done all you can to be seen and share your ideas, and your boss just doesn’t care, it might be time to find a new one.

Powerful Phrases to Share How You Feel or Ask for What You Need

Let’s give you some words you can use to get the attention you need and deserve.

“I’d love to set up some time to talk to you about ___ how’s Wednesday at 3?”

The best way to feel less invisible is to shine a light on the good work you’re doing. Ask for time to talk about what matters to you, to the people who should be listening.

“Sometimes, I feel isolated in my role. I’d love to explore ways to be included in discussions about ________.”

If you want people to know how you’re feeling, tell them, and ask for exactly what you need.

“Working remotely can feel lonely. Could we talk about ways we can connect more as a team?”

If you feel isolated and alone, it’s likely you’re not the only one. You don’t need to wait for your manager to bring this up.

“Would you like to grab a (real or virtual) coffee?”

If you feel isolated, invest in making some friends. Getting to know your coworkers at a personal level can go a long way in making work interesting and fun, not to mention building a network of resources you can reach out to for help.

Powerful Phrases to Get Your Voice in the Conversation

And now a few conversation starters to break through the silence.

“I have an idea that will ______ (insert strategic benefit statement here).”

One mistake that can cause your ideas to be overlooked is a pre-apology. For example, “This is probably a bad idea.” Or, “I’m not an expert here, but…” If you want your idea to be heard, share your idea with confidence and why it matters.

“Before we leave this conversation, I have something important to add.”

This Powerful Phrase can help when you work with a group of extroverts who talk fast and hurry to the next topic. Or, if you work remotely as part of a hybrid team and feel invisible to the people in the room with one another.

When you feel invisible, dig deeper to understand where, when, and with whom you want to be seen and ask for what you need.

The post Feeling Invisible? What to Say When You’re Feel Invisible or Ignored appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

One of the fastest ways to get to the root cause of a workplace conflict is to show up genuinely curious about the other person’s perspective. Your sincere curiosity helps people feel seen and gives you a better understanding of what it will take to solve a problem.

This is often the hardest part of constructive conflict because you have your point of view for a reason. It’s hard to be curious when you feel angry or disrespected. And yet… the cool thing about curiosity is that when you ask a good question, it automatically helps pull you out of that reactivity. It’s hard to be angry and genuinely curious at the same time.

Great teams stay curious and creative. They show up genuinely interested in other perspectives and what’s possible.

And, curiosity is one of those skills that can feel hard to teach. Do, we’ve curated this list of curiosity habits and resources to make it easier to infuse curiosity into your team’s culture.

Click here to hear more of our thoughts on curiosity and collaboration.

Note: This is part three of our four-part “Better Teamwork” series. You can check out the other dimensions and their powerful habits here.

Part 1: Better Teamwork: 12 Practical Habits to Build Deeper Connection.

Part 2: Great Teams: 12 Practical Collaboration Habits to Create Clarity

Part 4: Create Commitment: 12 Habits that Build Agreement and Accountability

12 Habits to Foster More Curiosity and Creativity on Your Team

1. Seek New Approaches

Habit: I explore possibilities and look for alternative paths to achieve goals.

In today’s fast-paced, uncertain world, it doesn’t make sense to keep doing what you’re doing without serious conversation about whether the status quo still makes sense. Creative teams learn from what’s working (and are honest about what’s not). They’ve got an eye out for new ways of working.

Related Article: 7 Ways to Help Your Team Be More Resourceful

You can download our FREE I.D.E.A. Incubator Guide Here.

2. Challenge Assumptions

Habit: I ask provocative questions to help us think at a deeper level.

This habit is about peeling back layers, not to be contrarian, but to understand deeply and maybe find a better, more effective path.

Here are a few questions to ask to inspire more creativity in your team:

• How would our competitors approach this problem?
• How would we handle this issue if our budget was cut in half?
• What would happen if we did the opposite of our plan?
  
  

Related Article: Assumption Busters: 12 Strategic Questions to Propel Your Team’s Strategic Thinking

3. Change My Mind

Habit: I’m open to new information, insights, and perspectives—and am willing to change course

The willingness to change your mind doesn’t signify weakness or indecisiveness; rather, it’s a strength, a testament to your intellectual flexibility and curiosity.

It means being open to new ideas, perspectives, and evidence, even if they challenge long-held beliefs or opinions. In a world brimming with diverse viewpoints and groundbreaking discoveries, the ability to adapt and reconsider is not just beneficial, it’s essential.

Related Article How to Work for an Indecisive Boss

4. Try New Things

Habit: I regularly step into the unfamiliar or uncomfortable to do what we haven’t done before.

Creative teams are willing to experiment. If you want to build this habit on your team, one way to do this is through a “mini personal experiment.”  We’re also big believers in trying new things with a carefully measured pilot.

Related Article: HBR How to Scale a Successful Pilot

5. Share Ideas

This habit is about sharing best practices and proactively speaking up to share your ideas, which if you’ve been hanging around us for a while you know we’re all about this.

Habit: I’m on the lookout for new approaches and confidently bring them up

Related Articles: Share Your Ideas: Practical Ways to Ensure Your Voice Is Heard

Psychological Safety: Why People Don’t Speak Up at Work 

6. Take Appropriate Risks

(P.S. These habits are all part of our SynergyStack System. Learn more here).

Habit: I make decisions doing the best we can with the information we have.

Related Article/Video: Taking Risks: How to Make it Easier for Your Team to Try New Things

7. Invite Input

Habit: I ask for ideas, information, and perspective.

This is more than saying ideas are welcome, or that you have an open door. What matters most is to make a habit of proactively asking in different ways.

For example, build a cadence of asking for input into your one-on-ones, and executive visits. This is a great place to start.

Related Video: The Secret to Getting Remarkable Ideas You Can Actually Use (Karin Hurt TEDx)

And Article:  Empower Your Team to Make Better Decisions

8. Ask First

Closely related to the invite input habit above, this one can be tricky when you’re passionate and have lots of great ideas.

A few Powerful Phrases that come in handy here.

“I’m curious what this looks like from your perspective.” and “Tell me more.”

Habit: Before stating my perspective, I invite others into the conversation.

9. Ask Courageous Questions

Habit: I ask practical, specific questions that make us better.

We love Courageous Questions because they are easier to answer and get your team talking. Inviting your teammates to consider ONE way or ONE idea to do something specific is a great way to encourage your team to be more creative and solutions-focused.

Related Article: Courageous Questions: How to Make It Easier to Get Better Insights

10. Learn from Experience

Habit: I pay close attention to what we did before and help our team to do better next time.

One of our favorite ways to do this is with a “post-project celebration” where you ask strategic questions to celebrate success and learning.

Related Articles: Beyond Post Mortems: A Post-Project Celebration 

From Fiasco to Opportunity: How to Reframe a Team Setback With Better Words

11. Investigate How Things Work

Habit: I ask “why” repeatedly to understand how our organization does what it does.

It’s amazing to see the lightbulbs go off in our training programs when people get a chance to ask some of the “why” questions they are holding back. Take time to slow down and make it more than “okay.” Expecting people to ask the “whys” behind the “what’s” is a fast track to more creative teams.

12. Walk in Others’ Shoes

Habit: I want to understand your perspective and what my decisions and actions mean for you. 

We’re big fans of a good field trip (literal or figurative) where you work to understand the inputs and outputs of processes and decisions. This is particularly vital in a matrix organization.

Related Article: Matrix Organization: Powerful Questions to Reduce Angst and Build Trust

These twelve habits are a great place to start when working to build more creative teams, foster connections, and make work, work better. We’d love to hear from you about your best practices.

What habits are making the biggest difference as you work to take your team to the next level?

Want to de-stress your workday, build collaboration, and calm difficult customers?

Our new book, Powerful Phrases for Dealing with Workplace Conflict: What to Say Next to Destress the Workday, Build Collaboration, and Calm Difficult Customers has 300+ practical techniques and useful words for better collaboration, You can take a quick peek at some of our new conflict and collaboration programs here.

The post Creative Teams: 12 Habits That Foster Curiosity and Collaboration appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

Do you have someone on your team who doesn’t speak up in meetings…then shares all their excellent ideas and important perspectives after the fact?

“I have this guy on my team, let’s call him Joe. Joe is SO SMART, and there’s a problem. We’ll be in a meeting and he’ll just sit there quietly, not really saying anything… the meeting will end, and we’ll be walking out of the meeting and then he shares all the great ideas, his great perspective, and all the information that we really needed to talk about in the meeting. What should I do? How can I help Joe?” #askingforafriend

Joe is what we call in our book, Courageous Cultures, a SILENT PONDEROUS type. He’s got ideas but he doesn’t speak up in meetings. He’s not bringing his voice to the team as he could and probably should, results suffer and he’s potentially holding back his career

What You Should Know About the Silent Ponderous Type Who Doesn’t Speak Up in Meetings

• They likely have great ideas but and can get frustrated with other people’s wacky ideas. They spend time thinking through their ideas to articulate them just right, and sometimes by the time they’re ready to share, the conversation has moved on.
• Often they need time to think and get clear on their ideas before they speak up in meetings. They don’t do well when put on the spot.
• There’s a good chance they’re concerned their ideas aren’t 100% accurate and they need permission to explore ideas openly.

Practical Tips to Help Your Team Member Speak Up in Meetings

More Thoughts on Helping Joe Get Better Speaking Up in Meetings

Joe – might be right on the verge of a career breakthrough and he’s holding himself back by not speaking up in meetings. It’s hard to notice his innovative thinking if he stays silent. Not only can you help your team grow and get better results by helping Joe speak up, but you’ll also help his career.

1. Be curious with Joe about what’s going on.

If he’s consistently sharing thoughts with you after a meeting, ask him why, and really listen. The possibilities are extensive. As one LinkedIn follower shared, he might even be neurodivergent and could use some additional understanding and support.

2. Explain why his voice matters.

Make sure he feels like a valued member of the team by letting him know that his ideas are important and that speaking up in meetings will make a difference. Be sure he understands that it’s not just his input that matters, but the conversation with other team members to expand his thinking that leads to deeper collaboration and ultimately better results.

3. Help Joe prepare for the next meeting.

Give him the agenda a day or two in advance and ask him to think about and prep what he wants to share. Not only will this help him prepare, but he’ll also take note of your interest and enthusiasm around his participation.

Another important element of this is helping him consider who will be in the meeting and what might be on their hearts and minds. Have him write down his most important points, and anticipate questions he might be able to answer. Giving him a concrete process to prepare can go a long way in increasing confidence and competence.

4. Debrief and help him learn the process so he can do it himself.

Check in with him after the next meeting, and debrief how the preparation process worked for him. Celebrate and recognize his contributions, and encourage him to continue to refine and use that process on his own.

Your turn.

What would you add? How would you encourage Joe to feel confident and competent in sharing his ideas in the next meeting?

Check out these related articles:

How to Get Your Coworkers to Embrace Your Great Idea (Video)

Share Your Ideas: Practical Ways to Ensure Your Voice is Heard

Speak-up Culture: How to Encourage More (and Better) Ideas

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“Hey Karin, I have a great team, but they’re spread out ALL OVER THE WORLD. I wouldn’t say we have a trust issue, but I would like to find some additional ways to INCREASE TRUST. What do you suggest?

Today on #askingforafriend I’m taking you on a road trip to Virginia, on my way to give a keynote and talk about how to increase trust in a highly dispersed remote or hybrid team along the way.

If you’ve been hanging around Asking for a Friend for a minute, you know that so much of the trust research really comes down to 4 key questions. These questions apply to leadership, but they also can apply to teams.

To Increase Trust Ask Yourself These 4 Questions

Do we see one another as credible?

Does your team understand and value the expertise of each person? Does every member of the team have the opportunity to showcase their skills and share their background? Everyone wants to work on a team where they are respected for what they bring to the table. When this is the case, people feel seen and valued for their unique contribution.

Are we connected?

Does your team know one another as human beings? Is there time to connect, ask questions and connect around shared values and intentions? Check out these compassionate conversation starters for some tips on how to open conversations with deeper connection and increase trust.

Are we reliable?

Do your team consistently do what they say they will do, and meet our commitments? To increase trust, particularly in a global team with asynchronous work times, make sure you’re having conversations about expectations. How do you hold one another accountable? What are the agreements on the team regarding deadlines, communication, and follow-through? Lay these out so they are clear and consistent and everyone has access to the same agreements and expectations.

Do we genuinely have one another’s best interests at heart?

Provide opportunities with your team to share what they care about…professionally and personally. Do you have ways at work to protect each other’s interests? Do we have systems in place for when someone needs to take time off or miss a meeting? What about moving up in the workplace…are there opportunities to support one another around continuing education, increasing expertise, and learning new skills?

I’m curious, what would you add? How do you build and increase trust for a team that is seldom in the same room?

See Also:

How Do I Build Trust With My Team (Video)

The post How to Increase Trust in Your Remote Team (with video) appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

So many new managers don’t receive the training or skills they need to be effective, lead their teams, and achieve meaningful results. As a result, well-intentioned, hard-working new managers often trip into these common mistakes new managers make; unnecessarily frustrating their teams, diminishing their credibility, and curtailing their influence.

When you equip your managers with the essential skills to avoid these mistakes, you’ll achieve results more quickly, have more nimble teams, reduce turnover, build a strong culture, and be able to focus everyone’s energy on serving your customers with better products and services, rather than constantly dealing with internal friction.

If you’re a new manager, eliminating these mistakes and building effective habits early will leverage your influence, build your career, reduce your frustration, and help you enjoy your work. These are practical ways you can build a strong foundation for your career.

Here are the common mistakes new managers make:

1. Avoid Accountability Conversations
2. Favor Friends and Former Peers
3. Be an Expert in Everything 
4. Be a Push Over
5. Assume People Should Know
6. Expect People Understand
7. Leave Follow-Through to Chance
8. Assume People Know How to Achieve a Goal or Express a Value
9. Use Fear to Motivate
10. Don’t Invest in Trust

10 Mistakes New Managers Make

We’ve made many of these mistakes and seen them in many of the managers we’ve worked with. The good news is, with a bit of training and focused effort you can avoid these common mistakes new managers make. Here’s a glimpse at some of the biggest challenges for new managers and what to do instead.

1. Avoid accountability conversations (magical thinking)

New managers often engage in magical thinking. A team member is late or disrespects another person and the new manager thinks “Oh wow, that wasn’t good. Well, they certainly understand that they screwed up. I’m sure they won’t do that again.”

Then it happens again, and the new manager thinks, “I can’t believe it…that’s twice now. They’ve GOT to know that’s not cool.” And the manager doesn’t say anything. In the meantime, poor performance or toxic behavior continues and becomes the norm.

What to do: Address poor performance and disruptive behavior as soon as it happens. You don’t have to make a big deal out of it or get visibly angry. You can use the INSPIRE method to show up for a conversation with curiosity. Start with your intention for the conversation, explain what you’ve noticed, and invite their perspective. Then, when it’s appropriate, you can move to a mutual commitment and align on the next steps.

When you address accountability conversations in this way, your team member knows that you care. They know you want them to succeed. They know you want to hear their perspective. You’ve invested in them, and the team’s, success.

Additional reading: How to Provide More Meaningful Performance Feedback (this article describes a step-by-step methodology to do this well)

2. Favor friends and former peers

New managers often face the challenge of leading friends and former peers who try to leverage their relationship for special treatment. But your credibility, respect, and trustworthiness depend on treating people equitably and putting the team first.

What to do: Some people will tell you not to be friends with your team, but that’s not always possible – particularly if you’re already friends. The key is to have a conversation and set clear expectations about your new responsibilities. Be clear about what success looks like for each person and the team. Help everyone (especially your friends) understand that you care about each person individually, and, you will need to make decisions that consider the team’s welfare first.

Additional reading: Leading Friends and Former Peers

3. Be the expert in everything

You were good at your job before you were promoted, and you have ideas about how everything should work. Of course, you want to leverage that confidence to inspire your team. But, you can’t possibly have all the answers – and your team knows it. Especially if you have responsibility for leading a team that has deep technical experience, they will know more about their work than you.

What to do: Earn the right to be heard by listening first. Get curious. Ask your team to teach you one new thing every day.

Additional reading: 9 Questions to Help Your Team Solve Problems on Their Own

4. Be a push-over

At the other end of the continuum is the manager who lacks strength and conviction. You want your people to like you, so you don’t address negative behaviors or subpar performance. Your top performers lose faith in you and the negative actors drag down the team’s performance.

What to do: Before you can practice consistent accountability and keep everyone on track, you need a solid foundation. So, reconnect to your values and the reason your team exists. You are in the role to support your people and accomplish a mission.

Reinforce the “why” behind every “what.”

Additional reading: Executive Presence is a Virtual World: What Matters Now

And download our Free E-Book, 7 Practical Ways to Be a Bit More Daring.

5. Assume people should know

This mistake is very common to new managers (and more than a few veterans!). The project makes sense to you. Follow-up activities are just “what you do.” Customer care is common sense. Everyone knows these things, right?

Not really.

What to do: One of the most vital steps you can take as you start in a new leadership role is to clarify what success looks like. Use a 5 x 5 communication strategy for the most vital aspects of the team’s work. That means you communicate critical messages five different times through five different forms of communication. People will internalize these key messages when you communicate with repetition and variety.

Additional reading: 5 x 5 Communication for Remote Teams

6. Expect people to understand

This is another common mistake new managers make (and again, many veterans as well). You definitely said it. You may even have said it five times, five different ways. But what did the other person hear? They may think they understand or they may be shy to ask clarifying questions. Either way, daily misunderstandings compound to create tons of wasted time and energy.

You don’t know people truly understand until you ask them.

What to do: The solution for these misunderstandings is to “check for understanding”. Communication hasn’t happened until there is a “send” and a “receive.” When you check for understanding, ask the person you’re talking with to share their understanding. If you’re not on the same page, clarify and check again.

Additional reading: Check for Understanding: A Leadership Communication Best Practice (Video)

7. Leave follow-through to chance

Many new managers leave follow-through to chance. Even when your team is competent and has good intentions, there are many factors that disrupt follow-through and prevent them from following through on what matters most. Sometimes, you might be the disrupting factor (with other priorities you’ve delegated). Other times, it can be the crush of competing priorities from other projects or departments.

What to do: Have a conversation to “schedule the finish.” This is not simply assigning a due date. It’s a frank conversation about when all parties agree to complete the task or project and how this task interacts with other priorities. The conversation concludes with both parties scheduling the next step, completion, or follow-up conversation on their calendars. Follow-through is no longer left to chance. It’s literally scheduled for both of you.

Additional reading: High ROI Leadership: Schedule the Finish

8. Assume people know how to achieve a priority or express a value

The team has discussed their goal. You’ve checked for understanding of the team’s values. Everyone can express their KPIs. Everything’s good, right?

Not yet—understanding the goal is one thing. Understanding how to achieve it is another thing entirely. Often, another of the mistakes new managers make is to focus on the goal and push people to perform without discussing the specific activities and consistent behaviors that will help everyone achieve success. People may work hard and be busy, but their efforts don’t produce results.

What to do: For every critical goal, value, and metric, take time with your team to discuss and identify the two or three critical behaviors or activities that lead to success. If you don’t know what these are, it may take practice and investigation to figure it out.

Additional reading: Creating Clarity: Strategic Activities For Human-Centered Leaders

9. Use fear to motivate

When the team doesn’t meet its goals, a mistake new managers make is to be frustrated and rely on fear to get results. Fear is an insidious leadership trap—because it works. We’ve known many leaders who relied on fear to get results because it was an easy way to make something happen.

Fear motivates effort, but with a single focus: escape the fear. Everything else shuts down. The problem with using fear to motivate is that the “something” you get is the minimal effort people need to escape the fear. They’re not choosing to give their best and they can’t be creative.

What to do: Begin by acknowledging your own fears and anxiety. If you’re tempted to use fear as a motivator, you’re likely stressed yourself. Acknowledge your emotions. Breathe through them, reconnect to your values and the reason your team exists.

Once you’ve managed your own anxiety, bring the challenge to your team. Be real about the situation, express your confidence, and ask for their ideas about how you can get there together.

Additional reading: How to Avoid Toxic Courage Crushers in Your Organization

10. Don’t invest in trust

Some new managers assume people will trust them because of their past performance or because of their title. But trust is a relationship and relationships take time and effort to build. With a lack of trust, you’ll find everything else about your leadership is far more difficult.

What to do: Trust can feel abstract, but the people who study trust have identified four elements that consistently contribute to trust (and whose absence breaks down trust). These elements are:

1. Credibility—does your team believe you know what you’re doing? (And do they feel like you believe they know what they’re doing?)
2. Reliability—can your team count on you to do what you say you will do?
3. Connectedness—do you and your team know one another as human beings? Do you know their “people, pets, or projects”? What matters to them outside of work?
4. Best interest—do your people believe you have their best interests at heart? This is an important element of trust. If people believe you have their best interest in mind, they’ll forgive some lapse in the other elements. But if they don’t believe you have their best interest at heart, perfecting the other three won’t matter as much.

As you consider these elements of trust, where do you need to invest your time and effort? For example, some managers who mean well aren’t reliable because they over-commit and haven’t learned to manage their time. If that’s you, start by carefully considering what you say “yes” to and the commitments you make.

Identify the area where you have the most room to improve and invest in showing up there more consistently.

Additional reading: How to Build Trust More Quickly With New Employees

Are you ready to accelerate team performance?

Learn practical tools to increase communication, connection and trust while driving results. Visit our Team Accelerator Program page and view the free demo to find out how.

Your Turn

These ten common mistakes new managers make are also opportunities to distinguish yourself and build a sound foundation for an incredible leadership career. Refine these habits now and your influence will multiply, results will improve, and you’ll be a manager people want to work with.

We’d love to hear from you: what are some of the other common mistakes new managers mistake (and most importantly, what can they do instead to build a strong leadership foundation?)

Additional Reading That or Clients Tell Us is Extremely Helpful for New Managers

Leadership Skills: 6 Competencies You Can’t Lead Without

The post Ten Common Mistakes New Managers Make appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

Every truly high-performing team has one thing in common: They spend time in candid conversation talking about what’s working and consistently look for ways to improve. They look at the work they’re doing and ask “how can we” do this EVEN BETTER?

And they enjoy and celebrate their success.

And yet, when you’re neck deep in urgent deadlines, fast pivots, and navigating uncertainty and change,  it’s easy to postpone those vital conversations to “someday when we have more time.” And of course, that someday may never come. Or, that conversation gets lost in the sauce of all the other important conversations at your end-of-year offsite.

But what if you carved out an hour a month to have the most critical conversations to lead your team toward high performance? Here are ten important questions to start with when building a high-performing team. What would you add?

10 Vital Conversations to Build a High-Performing Team

1. What is our vision for a great team culture?
2. How do we better leverage the strengths of every team member?
3. How do we best communicate?
4. What are our most important strategic priorities (and how do we best achieve them)?
5. How can we build deeper trust and connection?
6. How do we enhance the effectiveness of our meetings?
7. What can we do to give more meaningful feedback?
8. How will we hold one another accountable (with compassion)?
9. How will we celebrate success and learn from mistakes?
10. What ideas do we have to improve our team’s performance?

1.  What is our team vision for a great team culture?

If you are really looking to build a high-performing team, the most important place to start is with a clear definition of success.

An easy way to do this is to invite everyone on your team to draw two pictures: one of the team as they see it now, and one as they would like it to be. Discuss the themes and approaches for getting to your desired state.

Or, you can go a level deeper and involve your team in defining key values and behaviors critical for your team’s success. See How to Build a Great Team Culture.

2.  How do we better leverage the strengths of every team member?

Click on the image to download our “Land in the AND tool.

Another characteristic of a truly high-performing team is that they truly understand the strengths and gifts each member brings. They encourage confident-humility and focus on results and relationships.

Team members know their strengths, own them and use them. And, they know and admit their vulnerabilities and ask for help.

If you’re looking to help your team “land in the and” of confidence and humility AND results and relationships, click on the image to the right to download this free high-performing team conversation tool.

3.  How do we best communicate?

Our clients tell us that one reason our leadership programs lead to sustained culture change is that everyone adopts a common vocabulary.

High-performing teams have a habit of “checking for understanding” to ensure key messages are received and “scheduling the finish” to ensure everyone is aligned on what “done” looks like.

4.  What are our most important strategic priorities (and how do we best achieve them)?

If you’re a regular reader of our blog or books, you know we’re all about the MIT (Most Important Thing). One of the biggest differentiators of high-performing teams is that they have real clarity about what success looks like, and the critical behaviors to achieve them.

One of the most important one-hour investments you can make is to talk about your MITs and how you will achieve them. This Creating Clarity article gives you a clear road-map to do that well.

5.  How can build deeper trust and connection

click to download conversations starters.

Trust starts with connection. Sure, building trust takes more than an hour, but it can start by having deeper conversations. Our B.E.C.O.M.E. model is a good place to start, as are compassionate conversations starters. Click on the image to the right to download those conversation starters to use with your team.

6.  How do we enhance the effectiveness of our meetings?

When should you have a meeting? Who should be included? Which meetings make sense? Which needs to go? How can you enhance your asynchronous communication to eliminate meetings and help level the playing field for remote team members across different time zones?

How will you make decisions in these meetings? We’ve been helping so many teams have these important conversations. And, it’s pretty amazing the progress that can be made in an hour.

7.  What can we do to give more meaningful feedback?

Another characteristic of high-performing teams is that they “ditch the diaper genie” and have important, candid conversations that will help one another to grow and improve. And, it’s important to set the stage for this 360 feedback upfront.  

8.  How will we hold one another accountable (with compassion)?

It’s easy to think about accountability as your job as the manager. But the truth is, the highest-performing teams hold one another accountable. 

It’s worth an hour to not only talk about shared accountability but also to give your team a practical tool to do that well. Our I.N.S.P.I.R.E. method is a good start. 

9.  How will we celebrate success and learn from our mistakes?

High-performing teams take time to celebrate success and learn from their mistakes. They look down the mountain and see how far they’ve come. They make plans about how to celebrate and when it’s most important. And, they master the art of post-project celebrations. 

10.  What ideas do we have to improve our team’s performance?

Okay, if you’ve been following any of our research or writing on Courageous Cultures (download the first few chapters of our latest book for FREE here), you knew this was coming. High-performing teams have strong psychological safety and encourage one another to share their ideas. 

This conversation can start with a well-spent hour. Of course, to continue to build a truly high-performing team, we also encourage you to build this into your regular meeting cadence and one-on-ones.

Introducing the Let’s Grow Leaders Team Accelerator Program!

Imagine if you had a structured, scaffolded way to easily hold these critical conversations for building a high-performing team. That’s why we’ve built our new Team Accelerator Program. In just one hour a month, you have the framework and support tools you need to hold these conversations with confidence.

Your team will become more connected, efficient, and focused on what matters most.

Get a free Team Accelerator Demo for a first-hand view of this practical approach to building a high-performing team.

Your turn: What conversations do you think are most important when building a high-performing team?

The post How to Build a High-Performing Team: Ten Vital Conversations appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

I’m going to trust you understand the basic competencies your sales team must master.  And, if you’re like most sales leaders we work with, you’re still a bit frustrated. Because what differentiates a good sales team from a great one is more subtle.

You’re a human-centered sales leader focused on getting breakthrough results and building great relationships. You know the subtle nuances that make all the difference.

So how do you nurture these same competencies in your sales team?

In this article, I share six competencies to develop in your sales team to create deeper relationships, accelerate performance, and build lasting results.

1. Know when to walk away
2. Ask great questions
3. Show up with confident humility
4. Build genuine connection
5. Stay patient
6. Give generously

Why Your Sales Team’s Competencies Matter

My realtor looked at me in bewilderment as I explained why I couldn’t buy that “perfectly good” house in the neighborhood with the great schools, close to the University of Maryland where I was teaching in their MBA program, BWI airport, our church, and our gym.

“I love the house. It’s a great community. But I just can’t trust that builder.

If they hire someone LIKE HER as their sales manager, I question who’s running the place. How can they allow her to act so cocky?

How can we be sure their project managers or contractors will be any less self-centered?

I’m sorry, I know you like it, but can we just keep looking a little more?”

We settled on a similar house a mile down the road. They probably thought it was the fireplace options. Nope. It was “Sarah.”

6 Competencies Your Sales Team Must Master

Great selling never feels like it.

That’s why so many companies are moving away from traditional sales roles and teaching their teams to be “consultants,” “strategic partners,” and “solutions architects.” So important, IF you’re actually training your sales teams to sell differently.

I know you know the sales competency basics. Here are a few differentiators to look for and develop in your sales team.

1. Know When To Walk Away

Kenny Rodgers was right, at least on this note.

Your team will do more harm by selling the wrong fit. Train your team to understand the value proposition behind: “I’m not sure this is the best solution for you right now, may I recommend…(insert competitor name here).”

Trust me, I do this all the time in my own business. It’s painful to lose a potential client. But if someone is coming to just “check a box” we’re not the right partner. AND we’re upfront with that. And are happy to recommend other options.

After many years, we know this approach builds loyalty and referrals. Never sell anyone anything that isn’t just right.

Your customers must know that your team has their best interests at heart. They have to be sure you care more about their mission and the greater good than your numbers.

2. Ask Great Questions

Your team can’t make great recommendations if they don’t get the scene. Train them to ask strategic, open-ended questions and truly listen to the response.

One of the biggest mistakes I see here is a “checklist” of strategic questions. Where the sales person runs down a “discovery” list… without really listening and moving on to the next really important question.

Teach your team to ask great questions. LISTEN and KNOW the most important next question to ask

3. Show Up With Confident Humility

Your customers want to know you have a great solution to their problems.

Start with a great product that your team can be proud of. Then work hard to get your team past their own agendas, listening well to offer real solutions that meet the need. If it’s EVER more about the sales guy than the customer, you’re sunk. You can’t fake confident humility.

4. Build Genuine Connection

People don’t do business with businesses, they do business with human beings.

Encourage your team to slow down and learn about the people they’re working with. Then stay connected by remaining interested. “How did your daughter do in that game?” “How was your trip?” “Is your wife feeling any better?”

5. Stay Patient

Yes, I know that most B2B sales take at least seven touch-points before the decision-maker takes action. Of course, your best salespeople stay hungry. But no one wants to be rushed into a decision. Customers appreciate being given the space to make the right decision.

6. Give Generously

Almost every day I get asked, “If you keep giving away all this free content why would anyone ever hire you?”

Sure there are companies that will take your free ______ (trial, consulting, white paper) and run. But those aren’t the clients you want to work within the long run. Teach your sales team to give generously and add value above all else. It might take some time, but your company will be top of mind when they (and others they know) are ready.

In an era where almost anything can be bought with one click, if your customer wants to talk to a human, be sure they’re a good one.

See Also:

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