Some people won’t have approval authority over your ideas, but they still seek to sabotage them nonetheless. Many times they’re doing this to advance their own interests.
Every organization suffers from some level of political intrigue. Whether it’s hoarding of resources, manipulative tactics, or passive aggressive behavior office politics distract your organization from getting things done. It also makes time at the office stressful and discouraging. Ignoring these dynamics can create risk for you, but you can take a productive approach to dealing with common political issues.
Avoid being undermined
Some people won’t have approval authority over your ideas, but they still seek to sabotage them nonetheless. Many times they’re doing this to advance their own interests. A lot of times these behaviors come from peers. When you’re advancing an idea, they throw every objection they can think of. They even proactively go and talk to other stakeholders to talk down your ideas. In some situations, they even speak poorly of you on a personal level.
When you’re dealing with these situations, remain fact based as you address their concerns in public. Bring forth your data. Let people know the logic behind your idea. That takes emotion out of the situation. If this person is campaigning against you, have a direct conversation with them. Let them know you’re aware that they’re speaking behind your back. Ask them to come directly to you with concerns instead of speaking to others.
I dealt with one of these situations personally. I was leading a big cost reduction project, and one of my peers was on the team. This individual shared personal text messages I had sent him with our COO. Needless to say, given the content of those text messages, our COO was not happy. They were not really flattering about the way he was participating in the project. The reason my peer shared this information with our COO is he was trying to curry favor with the COO and the CEO.
When I found out about this, I went directly to our COO. I apologized for the text messages. I said it wouldn’t happen again. I then sat down and had a very direct conversation with my peer. I asked him not to share that kind of information anymore. It was personal between me and him. Going forward, I tended to cut him out of the loop of information that I was sharing with other people, because I didn’t want to take the risk of him doing one of those end runs with another senior stakeholder.
When you find out someone is working at cross purposes to you, be fact based in addressing the concerns, and let them know you don’t appreciate the behavior. That’s one of the best ways to get that behavior to stop.
Want to learn more about navigating politics as a senior leader? How about taking an entire course on it? Go directly to the course and start learning how to navigate politics as a senior leader. The entire course is available at LinkedIn Learning. Enjoy!
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People can behave poorly either in private or in public. This ranges from temper tantrums to intimidation and bullying. Use this approach to diffuse aggressive behaviors.
Every organization suffers from some level of political intrigue. Whether it’s hoarding of resources, manipulative tactics, or passive aggressive behavior office politics distract your organization from getting things done. It also makes time at the office stressful and discouraging. Ignoring these dynamics can create risk for you, but you can take a productive approach to dealing with common political issues.
Coping with Aggressive Behaviors
People can behave poorly either in private or in public. This ranges from temper tantrums to intimidation and bullying. These behaviors are designed to silence the target of their anger and scare others into giving them what they want.
To diffuse this aggressive approach, provide feedback and align with other senior stakeholders who can help diffuse the behavior. When you provide the feedback, ask for confidentiality. Provide feedback from meetings where multiple people were in the room so that feedback can’t be directly attributed to you. This person might want to retaliate. Share this feedback with a trusted executive or Human Resources. If the situation is happening with a very senior executive, most companies have an ethics line you can call. That information typically goes straight to the Board of Directors.
When you provide your feedback, be fact-based. Leave the emotion out of it. When you provide feedback, it might sound something like, “In this meeting this person said the following words.” Leave out the part about the way it made you feel. By providing fact-based feedback, you’re giving them something that they can act on. If the situation is happening in private and no one else is around, consider hitting the pause button when the person gets aggressive. End the meeting when they explode.
I worked with one CEO who would blow up quite frequently. When he did, it was usually because the team hadn’t thought of something. There was usually swearing involved. When it happened, we took an approach of saying, “You know what, we hadn’t considered that. You’re right, it’s something we need to think about. Let us look into it and get back to you.” The meeting was over. It was not going to be productive to continue the conversation.
I coach one chief operating officer who deals with a CEO who can be pretty volatile. When she deals with him and he explodes, she’s now taken an approach of saying, “You know what, I’m not having this conversation right now while you’re yelling at me. It’s not productive. I’m not going to talk to you when you’re this upset. So let’s stop the meeting now. We’ll go recollect ourselves. And we’ll get back together when we’ve calmed down.” That allows for productive issue resolution.
The bullying and aggressive behavior won’t stop until the individual gets clear feedback that the behavior is unacceptable. When you provide the feedback, be fact-based. And when the explosions happen in a one-on-one environment, it’s okay to hit the pause button and come back later.
Want to learn more about navigating politics as a senior leader? How about taking an entire course on it? Go directly to the course and start learning how to perform better in negotiations. The entire course is available at LinkedIn Learning. Enjoy!
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It doesn’t make sense to try to manage every possible risk. Learn how to identify and focus on the most dangerous risks you face.
Today’s guest post is by Kim Wasson, a principal at thoughtLEADERS where she teaches our course on Risk Management.
If you’ve completed your risk brainstorming session you might have an extensive list of risks. It doesn’t make sense to try to manage every possible risk, especially the ones that are small or unlikely, so it’s important to figure out which ones are the most dangerous and focus on those.
To home in on the ones you want to address, look at two factors: Probability and Impact. Each risk on your list has a value for these two factors.
Probability is the likelihood that the risk will come to pass. It’s expressed as a percentage, from 0-100%. Your next step is to estimate the probability of each of the risks on your list. Don’t stop there though – something with a high probability still might not be worth the time and resources to address.
Impact is a measure of how bad it will be if the risk is realized. You can choose your measure of impact – as long as the measure is used consistently it will work. Many organizations use T-shirt sizes for risk – Small/Medium/Large. Some use a numeric scale – 1 to 10 where 10 is catastrophic and 1 is an inconvenience. And some make up their own – like Inconvenient, Difficult, Awful, Catastrophic. Use whatever makes sense to your organization to really understand what will happen if this risk comes to pass.
Now that you have some additional information on the risks, you’ll want to put them in what’s called a Risk Register. Typically these are spreadsheet type lists and they look something like this:
To start your risk log, put each risk identified in your brainstorming session on a line in the risk register. Even those that you decide you’re not really worried about should go in here – conditions change and you’ll want a reminder in case you need to reconsider whether you need to address something that previously wasn’t a problem.
Once you’ve loaded up your risk list determine the Probability and Impact of each risk.
Now that you have all of this information, decide which of the risks you want to track. You may want to try to either make the probability and/or impact less or create a plan in case the risk comes to pass (we’ll cover that in a later blog), but note which ones you’re going to track and who (‘responsible’) is going to be looking at them. You might even want to move the ones you’re not going to worry about – at least right now – into another section of the risk log.
Now you have a focus. Knowing which risks are the most potentially troublesome will help you use your resources wisely while still being prepared for trouble.
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It’s easy to neglect your core responsibilities as a leader when it involves having uncomfortable conversations. Learn how to develop a maxim to overcome uncomfortable situations.
As a leader, one of your chief responsibilities is developing the members of your team. Great leaders build more leaders. You have to commit to their growth and create new opportunities for them to expand and learn new skills. That’s hard to do because for somebody to learn a new skill, you’re going to have to create an opportunity for them to do something they may not have done before. In doing that, you create risk because that individual might fail. And if they fail, that failure reflects on you. So a lot of times we’re afraid to take those risks on people to create growth opportunities.
That’s why you need a maxim to remind yourself that one of your chief responsibilities is doing that development work for the members of your team. My maxim to remind me that my chief responsibility is to develop people is, “It’s easier to correct course 100 yards into the journey than 100 miles.” I had a member of my team who was having some problems. One day he gave me some numbers and a report, and the numbers were off. I said, “Well, it doesn’t seem like a big deal. I’ll figure it out tomorrow.” I did this because I knew it was going to be a slightly uncomfortable conversation to have with him. A few days later, I heard about an interaction between this individual and a member of his team that hadn’t gone very well. I said, “I’m gonna need to talk to him about that. I’m not happy with what I’m hearing, but I’m not gonna do it today. Maybe I’ll do it next week.” The following week, I went past his office and he was berating a member of his team. He was speaking to them in a very condescending tone. I said, “I’m really gonna have to talk to him about this, but I’m not gonna do it today because he’s not in a good mood. The feedback won’t be well received.” I put off that more difficult conversation. I kept avoiding times when I should have given this individual some feedback.
Well, one day he came to me and said he was resigning. He had found another job and he was going to go work elsewhere. I was so excited because my problem was now gone. On the way home, I called one of my colleagues and I was relaying the good news, saying, “Hey, he quit—the guy who’s been giving me all the trouble. I don’t have to deliver the feedback now. He’s leaving the organization.” My colleague called me on it. He said, “Mike, you failed.” And I said, “What do you mean? How did I fail? He left. The problem is gone.” And my colleague said, “You failed every member of his team because your job as a leader isn’t just leading that individual. It’s leading the entire organization. Those people were getting beaten up on a regular basis. He was hurting their morale. And they were probably looking to you to solve that issue. You failed every member of that team. You have to remember that correcting course is easier 100 yards into the journey than 100 miles. You should have had the difficult conversation sooner because you could have either corrected performance or taken appropriate disciplinary action if he didn’t change the way he was operating.”
My colleague was right. I had failed the members of that team. So this maxim reminds me that when development conversations need to happen, I need to get over the fact that it’s going to be an uncomfortable conversation. I need to just have the discussion. It’s hard to do, but this maxim has changed my behavior on several occasions. There have been times when other members of my team since then have done something that I wasn’t exactly happy with. And my initial instinct was, “Well, I’ll just wait. It’ll fix itself.” And I said, “No. My maxim says I need to go have that conversation right now.” When I’ve done that, I’ve been very happy with the result because we correct behavior, get people pointed in the right direction, and do so before the problem gets bigger.
As you think about your team and about your responsibility to build leaders, to develop and challenge people, how are you going to remind yourself to take those kinds of risks? How are you going to remind yourself to have those difficult conversations when they need to happen? Has there been a time in your past where you created a growth opportunity for somebody and they succeeded well beyond your wildest dreams? Or a time where you avoided giving some tough feedback and there were bad consequences that occurred because you didn’t step up to the plate as a leader? Within those situations is where you’re going to find your maxims. Find that trigger. Find those words that were used in that conversation or the name of the project where the person succeeded. That phrase, that trigger, is what’s going to bring you back to that situation. It’s what is going to remind you of those feelings and get you to behave in a different way.
I know my maxim does that for me. When I have that difficult situation and I think of my maxim, I remember how uncomfortable that conversation was with my colleague when he told me I had failed. I remember how embarrassed I was of my failure as a leader. Those feelings drive me to change my behavior now because I never want to be that disappointed in myself again or that embarrassed. So you know what? I’m going to take action today. That’s how having a maxim based on something in the past can drive your performance in the future.
Want to learn more about developing your leadership philosophy? How about taking an entire course on it? Go directly to the course and start learning how to develop your leadership philosophy. The entire course is available at LinkedIn Learning. Enjoy!
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Staying in touch with your team’s day-to-day challenges is important. It shows you’re willing to get out there, get dirty, and understand their jobs.
One of the worst types of leaders to work for is the one who’s checked out—the one who has no basis in reality or understanding of what their team does. These individuals don’t always appreciate the hard work that the team does. They also don’t understand the challenges and constraints that the team faces, which can lead that leader to put unreasonable expectations on the team. You need a reminder to stay in touch with your team’s reality. To get out there, get dirty, and understand their jobs. Getting dirty can also get you respect.
My reminder and my maxim for staying in touch with my team’s reality is a very simple statement: “He’s under the tank, sir.” When I was in the army as a young platoon leader, there was a field problem. We were out in the field, and we were pulling maintenance on the vehicles. The colonel, who was a very senior officer, came looking for me, probably to yell at me. He was always yelling at me for one reason or another. He came up to my tank and walked up to my driver who was an 18-year-old buck private. My driver saluted and the colonel saluted him. The colonel asked my driver, “Where’s Lieutenant Figliolo?” My driver pointed to a pair of boots sticking out from under the tank. The colonel looked at my driver quizzically and replied, “No, where’s Lieutenant Figliolo?” I was an officer, and in the colonel’s mind, officers are not under tanks. So my driver again pointed to the pair of boots sticking out from under the tank. He said, “He’s under the tank, sir.”
The colonel bent over and yelled my name. I sat up under the tank, smacked my head, and crawled out from under the vehicle. The colonel said, “What are you doing under the tank?” I said, “I’m fixing the track, sir.” He looked confused and asked me why I was fixing the track. Again, the colonel had a view that officers don’t fix track. Officers give orders and read maps. He said, “Why are you fixing the track?” I said, “‘Cause it’s broken.” He got very confused and stormed off. He forgot why he was even there to talk to me.
Well, the reason I was under that tank and my driver wasn’t was because my driver had been at it all night. He was exhausted. I saw he needed a break, so I told him, “You know what? My work is done, I’m done with the map, and I’m done with the orders. Give me the wrench and let me go work on it for a little bit.” I crawled under that tank and I turned a wrench. That story got around the unit before lunch time. I had soldiers from other units coming to me and saying, “Hey sir, do you have any room in your platoon? I think I’d like to come work for you.”
I did it because it was the right thing. I had a member of my team who was tired. I went in and did the same work that they did. But that choice, that decision to crawl in the mud and turn a wrench, sent a very strong and clear message to the members of the entire unit. It said, “I’m not above any work that I ask you to do.” It built a great deal of respect for me. It also helped me understand the challenges that the members of my organization face on a daily basis. I learned that you bang your knuckles up a lot under that tank, that it gets cold under there. I had a better appreciation for all the hard work that they do for me.
So as you think about staying in touch with your team’s reality, how are you going to remind yourself to step away from the computer, to get out of your office, and get out there to see what your team does? How are you going to demonstrate that you can do their job just as well as they can and that you’re not above anything you ask them to do? Has there been a leader in your past who rolled up their sleeves and got dirty side by side with you? Think about how you felt about that leader. Think about how much respect you gave them after that.
Conversely, have there been leaders that you worked with who tended to sit in their office? Have there been leaders who weren’t willing to get dirty and believed that the rest of the organization should work hard while they do something else? Think about how little respect you had for that individual. These stories are the basis for your maxim. Think about the trigger, whether it’s something somebody said, the name of the project that you were on, or the particular piece of work that was being done. Use that trigger to transport you back to that story so you can feel those feelings again, whether they’re good ones or they’re frustrated ones.
That trigger becomes your maxim. You can share the maxim and the entire story with the members of your team, and say, “He’s under the tank, sir.” Here’s the story behind it and here’s what you can expect from me as your leader. That maxim will be your reminder to make sure you stay connected to your team’s reality, build respect, and understand the challenges that your team faces.
Want to learn more about developing your leadership philosophy? How about taking an entire course on it? Go directly to the course and start learning how to develop your leadership philosophy. The entire course is available at LinkedIn Learning. Enjoy!
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Every business venture carries risk. Kim Wasson describes five factors to consider when diving into risk management.
Today’s guest post is by Kim Wasson, a principal at thoughtLEADERS where she teaches our course on Risk Management.
You know that managing risk is important. You know that the difference between dismal failure and a simple adjustment can be as straightforward as being prepared. You’re ready to start wrestling with risks.
But – where do you start? How do you even know what the risks might be?
It’s hard to know what might ruin your beautiful plan if you don’t have a good grasp of what the plan really is. Before you dive into risk management, be sure you know what you’re aiming for in these five dimensions:
Schedule: When do you need to be done? Be as specific as possible. ‘ASAP’ is a vague and moving target, so avoid that one. If your schedule is ‘Second Quarter’, know whether that means April 1 or June 30. It can be helpful to have both an optimum date and a drop-dead date.
Cost: How much are you willing to spend? A big range isn’t helpful for this exercise, so be conservative and pick a number. Cost can be in dollars, person-time/effort, equipment, anything that can translate to the price tag.
Output: What do things look like when you’re done? If you’re creating a product, what does it do, how big is it, what does it look like? If it’s an event, what is the runtime, décor, speakers, music, food – anything that has to do with what comes from your effort.
Quality: Quality often gets lost in the shuffle – moved aside to be sure the other goals are met. That’s not good news. Your first instinct may be to say you want absolute quality – probably realistic if you’re creating a medical device, but not so much for a recruiting event or a business software product.
Intangibles: There may be things that don’t fit into the other four goals, things like reputation. It may help to think of these in the reverse as well – what could be affected if we don’t make our other goals?
Now you have a plan to work with.
First, go through the plan yourself and ask yourself what could go wrong that could keep you from reaching each one of your goals. What could make the project late? (Rain? Freeway accidents? Resources not available? I’ll be honest with you, ‘pandemic’ wasn’t on anyone’s risk list a few years ago, but it does show up fairly often now) What could end up costing more? (Gas prices go up, resources are more expensive, the scope of the project increases) . Do this for each of the five areas and you’ll have a starter list.
Once you have your own initial list, hold a brainstorming session with folks who have knowledge about the plan and experience in what could go wrong. Don’t show your own list to this group until after you’re done brainstorming – it will help make the final list complete.
After your brainstorming session you may have a large and somewhat scary list of things that could go wrong. In the next blog post, we’ll help you pare down the list to the risks that make sense to address and track.
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To build and foster a high performing team, sometimes you have to step back and let your people do their thing.
For you to get the most out of the members of your high performing team, you need to empower them. Remember, on a high performing team, those team members are typically very self-motivated, and they like being self-directed. You need to understand how letting go of your agenda, creating space for them to flourish, and then accepting that there are different ways of doing things is going to bring out the best in your people. Read more
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Using AI job coaches, job seekers can better prepare for product management careers by simulating case interviews with real-time, personalized feedback.
If you’re on the lookout for a product management (PM) job, you’re not alone. In fact, this career ranks as the fourth most popular career in the US.
To stand a chance in this competitive field, you need access to relevant data. At one time, acquiring that information meant days of grueling research, but today, AI job coaches employ vast stores of data to streamline your PM job search process.
Data-driven tools and AI job coaches increase success for PM job seekers
To excel in product management, you must stay current on industry trends and market dynamics. Not long ago, identifying in-demand skills for product management roles required searching through thousands of job descriptions, analyzing common requirements, and conducting a gap analysis to evaluate your skills against desired skill sets.
Today, AI job coaches gather and analyze a vast amount of job postings from various sources, including company websites, job boards, and professional networks. Through natural language processing and machine learning algorithms, they extract valuable information such as required skills, qualifications, and industry trends.
By utilizing this data, your AI job coach helps you identify the preferences of PM recruiters and enables you to tailor your resumes and cover letters accordingly.
AI job coaches use data to match you with the best PM jobs
To find your ideal product management job, you will need insights into hundreds of companies’ values, mission statements, cultures, and product portfolios. You must also evaluate their market positioning, competitive advantages, and growth trajectories. This data is the only way to assess alignment between your skills, experience, and company goals.
Using a combination of candidate profiles and job posting data, AI job coaches provide personalized PM job recommendations based on your qualifications, experience, and career goals. These recommendations help you understand which job opportunities best fit your skill set and aspirations. Furthermore, AI job coaches suggest future skills to develop, identify knowledge gaps, and suggest relevant training or certifications that will enhance your marketability in the competitive product management sector.
The personalized PM job recommendations you receive from your AI job coach eliminate hours of extensive research and days of filtering through job postings, letting you focus on crafting targeted applications and preparing for interviews.
How AI job coaches prepare you for PM job interviews
In the product management field, job seekers will typically be expected to participate in a case interview. A standard PM case interview involves solving a real-life business problem while being observed by an interviewer who assesses your problem-solving abilities, analytical skills, and critical thinking.
To succeed in a product management case interview, you will need to identify the underlying issue, clarify the business objectives, and understand the potential impacts. The process involves asking relevant questions to determine a solution and then developing a structured framework that captures the key issues, possible solutions, and their impacts. Throughout the interview, you must demonstrate creativity by staying open-minded and thinking outside the box.
Product management interviews involve challenging scenarios and complex problem-solving exercises. AI job coaches create simulations that replicate these situations using natural language processing and machine learning algorithms, allowing you to practice your decision-making skills and demonstrate your ability to think critically under pressure.
AI coaches will interact with you through chat or speech, creating an immersive interview experience by asking relevant questions, evaluating your responses, and providing instant feedback based on real-time analysis. By encountering a range of scenarios, you become better equipped to handle the curveballs during actual interviews.
Participating in realistic case interviews allows you to practice your on-the-spot responses and refine your analytical thinking skills in a safe, pressure-free environment. By repeatedly practicing the interview process, you become more confident, articulate, and comfortable expressing your ideas.
During each simulated interview, your AI coach evaluates your performance and provides detailed feedback. This feedback helps you identify strengths to highlight and weaknesses to work on, allowing you to focus your efforts on specific areas, such as communication skills, problem-solving abilities, or industry knowledge.
AI job coaches adapt to your needs and provide a customized experience. As a product management job seeker, you can tailor your interview simulations to focus on specific aspects of the role or address your unique areas of concern. This flexibility ensures you receive targeted training to enhance your skills and prepare effectively. Product management case interviews can be challenging, but an advanced AI job coach helps you prepare for the format and increases your chances of success.
AI job coaches are transforming how individuals navigate the job market, offering data-driven insights to job seekers. In the field of product management, these AI coaches utilize extensive sets of data to provide personalized recommendations, salary insights, and knowledge about market trends. By leveraging AI and data analytics, aspiring product managers can make informed decisions, optimize their job search, and stay competitive in a rapidly evolving industry.
— Salil Sethi is the founder of ProsperCircle.com, a user-friendly platform designed to make Product Management job search less soul-crushing. Salil is also an advisor at MIT’s premier startup accelerator, Delta Ventures, where he advises startups on product development and early-stage go-to-market strategy. His professional journey includes key positions at McKinsey & Company and engagements with Fortune 500 companies and startups. Specializing in product development, startup growth, and data analytics, Salil holds an MBA from MIT Sloan and a Bachelor’s in Computer Science from Georgia Tech. At ProsperCircle, he combines his tech expertise with a dedication to improving career development and job market access.
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Do you struggle to get things done because you overthink your work? Try these three tips to overcome “analysis paralysis.”
Many times I’ve heard it said that perfect is the enemy of done. A big barrier to executing initiatives is analysis paralysis. The team gets bogged down on proving their case is 100% accurate and risk-free before they act. That slows down execution and leads to missed opportunities. By understanding the risks you face and making appropriate trade-offs between timeliness and accuracy effects, you can speed up execution and break through analysis paralysis. Read more
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Keep these five things in mind when you’re splitting up the work for your team.
A key task as the leader of a high performing team is how you distribute work across the members of your team. It needs to be done fairly. Note, I didn’t say equally. Work allocation needs to be done fairly because you want perceptions of equality. You want people to work on things they’re good at but also that they’re excited by. There are five criteria to think about when distributing work.
1. Priority
First, consider the priority of the work in terms of the team’s goals and the organization’s goals. Priority needs to drive everything. If a project is a top priority and somebody’s available to do that work, they get that work. And you need to allocate it appropriately.
2. Skill Sets
Second, consider the skill set of the person who you’re thinking about distributing the work to. If they have the right skill set, you’re going to get a high-quality result. This also prevents people from failing. You’re giving them something they can be successful with.
3. Availability
Next, consider availability. All things being equal in terms of priority and skill sets, who is free to do the work? Who has the bandwidth? You shouldn’t be shifting resources from one project to another when you have available resources to pick up that new project. If you start shifting resources around between projects when you have available resources elsewhere, you’re going to lose momentum on that first project and that project might fail.
4. Development Opportunity
Next, you have to think about the development opportunity this project might present for that person because that’s how you’re going to take your team to the next level of performance.
5. Interest
The last consideration is, “Does somebody have an interest in it?” If someone is really interested and passionate about a project, you should let them take it on. They’re going to be really motivated, excited to do it, and hopefully their performance will follow. Now one caveat here: Make sure people don’t just gravitate to the work they enjoy doing and stay away from things that they’re not comfortable with. They’re going to end up getting pigeon-holed and they’ll be very narrow in their focus.
If you think about all these considerations as you distribute work across your team, it’s going to ensure that you tackle the highest priority projects with the people who have the right skills to do them. You’ll be able to successfully execute the project while also developing your team’s skills.
Want to learn more about building high-performing teams? How about taking an entire course on it? Go directly to the course and start learning how to build high-performing teams. The entire course is available at LinkedIn Learning. Enjoy!
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By understanding and applying the principles of Polyvagal Theory and Neuroception, leaders can create workplaces that not only drive success but also promote well-being and human connection.
In the heart of Silicon Valley, nestled among tech giants, stood a modest yet ambitious startup, NewNexxTexx Innovations. Despite its potential, NewNexxTexx was grappling with high employee turnover and low morale. The arrival of their new CEO, David Raynod, marked the beginning of an extraordinary transformation, guided by the principles of Polyvagal Theory and Neuroception.
David’s Challenge: A Disconnected Workforce
David, a seasoned leader with a keen interest in psychology, quickly noticed the signs of a disconnected workforce: strained communication, lack of collaboration, and a pervasive sense of unease. He knew that for NewNexxTexx to thrive, he needed to foster a sense of safety and belonging among his team.
Polyvagal Theory: A New Leadership Lens
David was deeply influenced by Polyvagal Theory, which posits that our autonomic nervous system, responsible for our emotional responses, has three states: fight or flight, shutdown, and social engagement. He realized that the stressful environment at NewNexxTexx was keeping employees in a constant state of fight or flight, hindering creativity and collaboration.
The First Step: Cultivating Safety
David began by addressing the underlying stressors. He initiated open forums for employees to express their concerns and ideas. These weren’t typical meetings; they were structured to be non-hierarchical and inclusive, making every team member feel heard and valued. This approach started to shift the office atmosphere, activating the social engagement system among employees.
Neuroception: The Unseen Guardian
Understanding Neuroception – the body’s subconscious scanning of the environment for cues of safety or danger – David made subtle yet impactful changes to the office layout. He introduced more natural light, comfortable communal spaces, and areas for relaxation. These changes signaled to the employees’ nervous systems that the workplace was a safe space, fostering a sense of security and openness.
Building a Culture of Connection
David knew that lasting change required more than physical alterations; it needed a cultural shift. He introduced team-building activities that emphasized empathy and understanding. Employees participated in workshops on emotional intelligence and communication, which helped them understand their own and others’ emotional responses better.
Foster Psychological Safety: Create an environment where employees feel safe to express themselves without fear of negative consequences. This safety is the foundation for innovation and collaboration.
Understand the Unspoken: Be aware of the non-verbal cues and environmental factors that influence your team’s sense of security and adjust accordingly.
Cultivate Connection: Encourage practices that build empathy and understanding within your team. Strong interpersonal connections are key to a resilient and productive workforce.
Lead with Empathy: Recognize that each employee’s response to stress is different. Tailoring your approach to meet their individual needs can lead to a more harmonious and effective team.
Embrace Continuous Learning: Stay open to new ideas and approaches, especially from fields outside traditional business practices, like psychology.
Implementing Polyvagal Principles
David’s first step was to introduce the concept of Polyvagal Theory to his leadership team. He organized a series of workshops led by a clinical psychologist specializing in this field. The goal was to educate the leaders on how the autonomic nervous system affects workplace behavior and how to foster the ‘social engagement system’ – the state where employees feel safe, connected, and able to innovate.
Practical Steps for a Safer Environment
Redesigning Communication: David replaced the traditional top-down meeting structure with a ’round-table’ approach. Each meeting began with a two-minute mindfulness exercise to help team members transition into a state of calm and presence. He encouraged open dialogue and active listening, making sure every voice was heard.
Physical Environment Tweaks: Understanding the impact of Neuroception, David led an initiative to redesign the workspace. This included adding plants, optimizing natural light, creating open spaces for collaboration, and quiet zones for relaxation. The office’s color scheme was shifted to warmer, calming tones.
Regular Check-ins: David introduced weekly one-on-one check-ins between employees and their managers. These were not status updates on work but rather open conversations about how each employee was feeling, what challenges they were facing, and how they could be supported.
Cultivating Connection and Empathy
Empathy Workshops: NewNexxTexx started hosting monthly workshops focusing on building empathy and emotional intelligence. These workshops included role-playing exercises, where team members would act out scenarios to understand different perspectives.
Team Building Retreats: Quarterly retreats were organized, focusing on team-building activities that were not just fun but also designed to build trust and understanding among employees.
Mentorship Programs: A mentorship program was established, pairing newer employees with experienced ones. This program was not just about professional growth but also about building deeper interpersonal connections within the company.
Measuring the Impact
To track the effectiveness of these changes, David implemented regular employee surveys focused on workplace satisfaction, stress levels, and overall well-being. He also monitored key performance indicators like employee turnover, productivity metrics, and project completion rates.
The Outcome
Within a year, NewNexxTexx saw a dramatic turnaround. Employee satisfaction scores increased, turnover rates dropped, and productivity metrics showed significant improvement. The team was not only working more effectively but also reported higher levels of job satisfaction and well-being.
Key Takeaways for Leaders
Educate Your Team: Understanding the science behind stress responses and social engagement can transform your leadership approach.
Foster Open Communication: Create a space where employees feel safe to share and listen to each other.
Mind the Environment: Small changes in the physical workspace can significantly impact the team’s mood and productivity.
Build Empathy and Connection: Regular team-building and empathy exercises can strengthen team cohesion.
Track and Adapt: Regularly measure the impact of your changes and be ready to adapt your strategies.
We created this story as a powerful example of how integrating psychological insights into leadership can transform an organization. By understanding and applying the principles of Polyvagal Theory and Neuroception, leaders can create workplaces that not only drive success but also promote well-being and human connection. This approach is not just about improving the bottom line; it’s about nurturing a workplace culture where every individual can thrive.
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Every business venture carries risk. Kim Wasson describes a straightforward process for determining what might go wrong and whether it’s worth worrying about.
Every business venture, from initial filing to product announcement to hiring, carries risk. And while we certainly focus on risk for the big ticket items, we tend to ignore the possible issues for anything smaller than a product launch – and then get caught unaware when something goes wrong.
Of course, not every possible risk is worth worrying about. Sure, the volcano under Yellowstone might erupt but the changes are vanishingly small and there’s no way to predict or avoid it. But other things, like running over budget or being leapfrogged by competitors, or even setting up some kind of process that ends up causing an exodus at your company, are worth trying to get ahead of.
Where do you start trying to figure out what might go wrong and whether it’s worth worrying about? Fortunately, there’s a process for that.
Let’s back up a bit. Before you start looking at what might go wrong you’ll need to understand how you (and probably your organization) feel about the importance of what you’re doing. Will you damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead no matter what the risk (for example, a new start-up trying to get the first product out)? Is it a bet-the-company proposition? Is it a trial balloon that won’t be worth too much risk because either the reward is small or the possible damage is too serious to continue? The answers to these questions won’t help you identify the risks, but they will help you decide what to do about risks once you see them.
Now that you’re thinking about what’s important to your project, process or decision, brainstorm the things that could go wrong. If you understand the parameters of the endeavor you’ll be able to more easily see what could derail those parameters, so think about the goals while you’re brainstorming.
Let’s assume you have a list of possible issues – or maybe disasters. The next thing to do is to decide whether they are in fact issues or actual disasters and whether you should do anything to address them. The question of where on the scale of issue to disaster a risk falls is called impact. Once you know the impact of a risk, take a look at how likely it is to happen – probability. You can see that some things may have a big impact – like the Yellowstone eruption – but a small probability. You might not want to do anything more about those risks except track them. Some things might have a big probability but they really won’t do much harm and you can see you’d be able to recover. You might not want to spend time on those either.
But for those risks in the sweet spot of high likelihood and large impact, you want to be prepared. Know what they’ll look like if they happen and any warning signs you expect to see. Is there a way you can make them less likely or less destructive? And is that way worth the trouble, money, and/or time?
And what if the risk becomes reality? Contingency plans can help you out there. Knowing what you’re going to do if it happens means you’ll be working on recovery immediately.
While you’re figuring all this out and then applying what you’ve learned, you’ll have to take some time to understand who needs to know about the possible risks and what you’re doing about them. Risk reporting starts with just a red/yellow/green flag and can run the gamut from that high level to a complete risk register and all of your plans and measurements.
The real story here is that you ignore risk at your peril. Using a straightforward process you can anticipate and evaluate potential risks, determine the danger level, reduce the impact and/or probability of some of them, and be ready to respond if an identified risk comes to pass. All you have to do is think about risk in an organized way and then pay attention as you go along.
– Kim Wasson is a principal at thoughtLEADERS where she teaches our course on Risk Management. If you’re interested in the course, please contact us.
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