Shannon Bruce facilitated the April CEO Retreats on “Heroic Leadership is Dead; Long Live the Team!” Before she goes deeper with participants when she returns in May for the CEO Roundtables, we asked her the following questions.
Q: You shared some facts at the CEO Retreat that compel us to work toward the Team of Teams methodology. What were they?
— That the business complexity we have today requires a highly effective team approach.
— Collaboration is already happening 50% of the time.
— People spend ¾ of their day in conversations.
Q: What were the most important points made at the April CEO Retreats that you wanted attendees to take away?
— What “Conversational Intelligence™” is and how to tap into it.
— Why Leaders should create the environment of “We” in teams that build trust, increase safety and also allow for conflict.
— How “conversations” influence relationships, which support and build the culture conducive to teams, or erode relationships, trust and the culture in ways that can minimize desired results.
Q: If there was a starting point for teams to build trust in order to develop a sense of “We”, how could a leader do this?
Create a foundation of safety and trust by establishing Rules of Engagement. These become overt ground rules that support how the team works together when emotions surface and/or conflict shows up. This foundation allows for teams to have more engaged conversations while also building healthy working relationships.
Essentially, you’re developing a working document that supports team members who bring their unique point of view without fearing retribution. This allows them to feel safe.
This is important to revisit—teams are always evolving and changing which means the group norms will also.
Q: What were the action items you asked participants to work with this month and bring back to the CEO Roundtable in May?
To observe, discover, and self-reflect on your conversations with your team. After debriefing with the teammate with whom you attended, take a step to practice some of the techniques and come back prepared to share what you learned.
Use this as an opportunity to revisit the “Leadership Assessment on Trust and Conflict” that you took before the April workshop. Bring your questions on how we can go deeper into the transformative practices in May. Identify your progress and hone in on the places you got stuck. I look forward to helping coach you toward improving your Conversational Intelligence™.
Additionally, I’d like members to take a look at this article about understand the various phases of team development – – it applies to both new and changing teams.
Thanks Shannon!
It’s not too late to glean deeper insight. Check out more of Shannon’s thoughts about “Heroic Leadership,” which published in advance of the April event.
Additionally, since the group heard about Google’s fascinating “Project Aristotle” when touching on “Psychological Safety,” we thought you’d like to review a few recent write-ups about the project.
New York Times Magazine article – Feb. 25, 2016
Quartz News — Feb/ 26. 2-16
Are you interested in joining us next month? Visit our executive events page for for more information including dates and locations in Seattle, Tacoma, and the Kitsap Peninsula. Additionally, you can contact Dave Shapiro for questions about any of our programs.
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