Make dumb suggestions.
Clare offered a half-hearted suggestion. “Well, there are coaches I know who do one-on-one counseling.” Bobby shook his head. “No, that doesn’t usually work. It takes months and only isolates people. It seems like most of them just use it to prepare for their next job.
Our ability to engage in passionate, unfiltered debate about what we need to do to succeed will determine our future as much as any products we develop or partnerships we sign.” It.
Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.
No amount of intellectual prowess or personal charisma can make up for an inability to identify a few simple things and stick to them over time.
Because people who aren’t good at their jobs don’t want to be measured, because then they have to be accountable for something. Great employees love that kind of accountability. They crave it. Poor ones run away from it.
Commitment is a function of two things: clarity and buy-in.
Every human being that works has to know that what they do matters to another human being.
Because when a team recovers from an incident of destructive conflict, it builds confidence that it can survive such an event, which in turn builds trust. This is not unlike a husband and wife recovering from a big argument and developing closer ties and greater confidence in their relationship as a result.
Human beings need to be needed, and they need to be reminded of this pretty much every day. They need to know that they are helping others, not merely serving themselves.
Push with respect, and under the assumption that the other person is probably doing the right thing. But push anyway. And never hold back.
Scare People with Sincerity.
Leaders who can identify, hire, and cultivate employees who are humble, hungry, and smart will have a serious advantage over those who cannot.
Many people will try to get a job even if they don’t fit the company’s stated values, but very few will do so if they know that they’re going to be held accountable, day in and day out, for behavior that violates the values.
The most important part of the development process, and the part that is so often missing, is the leader’s commitment to constantly “reminding” an employee if she is not yet doing what is needed. Without this, improvement will not occur.
The healthier an organization is, the more of its intelligence it is able to tap into and use. Most organizations exploit only a fraction of the knowledge, experience, and intellectual capital that is available to them. But the healthy ones tap into almost all of it.
If team members are never pushing one another outside of their emotional comfort zones during discussions, then it is extremely likely that they’re not making the best decisions for the organization.
Once organizational health is properly understood and placed into the right context, it will surpass all other disciplines in business as the greatest opportunity for improvement and competitive advantage.
Firing someone is not necessarily a sign of accountability, but is often the last act of cowardice.
The most well-intentioned, well-designed departmental communication program will not tear down silos unless the people who created those silos want them torn down.