Building Belief in Your Team

Just before Christmas we were asked to give a talk to an energy company. I like to arrive early to places, partly so I know I won’t be late, but also so I can observe. This group really stood out. They were in such good spirits. It was like I was observing friends gathering and chatting and laughing together. For sure, we see a lot of good cultures in organisations, but there was something different going on here. And I was curious.?

Before I spoke I heard some stories from individuals who were giving me more of an insight to their context. Rapidly growing company. Big goals. Culture changing. Really important they hit the goals! (Goals keep changing?)

What was really clear though, they were in good spirits. And to check that wasn’t just Christmas I spoke to a person deeply involved in all the changes in January. I asked him, what made it all possible? What did he think was the key to them being able to achieve so much, so quickly, and pivot on a six-pence??

“People believing you’ve got their backs.”

The biggest factor, in his opinion, was that people believing that they aren’t going to be thrown under the bus. Could this be the foundation to creating a culture that enables people to work in ways that include:?

• Being highly flexible
• Aiming for very high goals
• Achieving huge amounts
• Regularly innovating

The science that we deal with day to day would suggest that it is hugely impactful. Essentially we’re talking about a range of good experiences coming together to create what we call a ‘High Performing Neural Environment’ (HPNE). There are a huge range of different factors that can either influence internal environments in the brain in ways that make doing work easier or harder. And they aren’t static. Or even always the same across everyone. Sounds complicated? It is - for the more sophisticated stuff anyway. However, there are some headlines that work for almost everyone. Super effective steps you can take that will support HPNEs in the vast majority of people.?

One of the best things you can do to help your team work at the top of what they are capable of is to demonstrate that you have their back. You believe in them, and you will back them if something goes wrong or if they make a choice that is different to what others may make.?

What has this meant for this fast paced company? It’s meant that people are hyper focused on the goal. They achieve their goals. The goals can change dramatically from week to week, but they pivot. Do they always achieve other metrics, no - but they do achieve the most important things. They are able to hit pause on things when the direction changes, without fear of reprisal for not ticking every box. The focus is the goal rather than bureaucratic things.?

So, how do you do this? The devil is in the detail. People pick up unconsciously on micro-behaviours so it is vital that you get aligned on what it means to genuinely have people’s backs. If you wince in a team meeting when someone says that they didn’t do X but did do Y then you’re not believing that they made the best decision they could with the information they had. By all means ask questions to seek to understand more about how they made those decisions, but you can’t make them wrong for doing their best. (Before anyone panics - it doesn’t mean that you don’t have performance conversations - you absolutely do - and they are separate.)

We’d love to hear from more companies who are working on positively shaping their culture.?

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