How can we cultivate environments for high performance to flourish?
Tags: Safety Vs Threat; Performance Behaviour; Limiting Behaviour; Performance Problem Classification; Transformational Performance Behaviour; Individual Ability Vs Cognitive Diversity
Individual behaviour and team interaction as a function of openness and threat perception.
In Organisations where individuals are not comfortable to express their views and opinions for fear of negative consequences and conflict, threat perception can be high. When team members don’t openly share their view and opinions, have to manage their interactions and dial down their reactions the organisation misses a huge opportunity to maximise impact, not only through each individual but also through team performance.
As leaders we can choose ‘command and control’ where we dictate, direct and demand from the workforce, in most cases this will drive threat perception up and openness down. In these situations it is likely that team members will feel disengaged, disillusioned and frustrated, even worse, scared to speak up and voice disagreement. How can an organisation thrive with an unhappy workforce and in complex ‘cross-departmental’ structures, how can systems and teams flourish when they are micro managed and every action/interaction controlled? Finally, how can an organisation be its best when individuals just hide and the team is pushed towards mute apathy?
Alternatively, leaders can adopt a follower-leader style where they ask questions, build safety and encourage ‘voice’. With this approach individuals cant hide, they have to contribute and their voice heard. For some, this might be uncomfortable preferring to keep ‘out of sight, out of mind’ but for many, the opportunity to feel ‘free’ to contribute is liberating and personally fulfilling as they fully contribute to outcomes and performance.
Steve Jobs famously said ‘you don’t employ really smart people and then tell them what do do, you ask them what we should do‘. I love this quote because not only does it recognise the awesome power of people, it liberates their voice and immediately creates space for them to contribute.
A couple of reflective questions:
- Which behaviour/persona do you feel you adopt at work, why?
- Do you feel empowered or stifled by those around you?
- Do you feel that your perspective is listened to?
- Do you help to solve problems for your organisation?
- How open are you in you interactions?
- In meetings and in your day to day work, do you have a high or low perception of threat?
For those that lead:
- Do you talk at your people or talk with them?
- When you ask a question, do you actively listen or do you already know the answer?
- When was the last time you listened to the emotional climate across your organisation and do you care?
- What skills do you have that empower? and – Is empowerment for the chosen few or do you empower every individual within your organisation to be their best?
- What do you do that creates or stifles a culture of openness?
- Do you directly or indirectly use threats to keep workforce voice low (taker) or do you incentivise and celebrate diversity or view and opinion (giver).
