Leading Teams Through Challenging Times

Building or maintaining a positive team outlook when things are rough is a significant challenge. But you know that staying positive and hopeful is the best way (the only way) to make it through the challenging times, and harness the team’s inherent wisdom, resilience, and creativity to overcome obstacles.

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To do that, it's important to help them recognize when their behaviors and thought patterns are undermining their effectiveness and causing them stress. The methods and techniques in the Positive Intelligence? system provide concrete ways to shift teams out of a downward spiral into a positive, opportunity-focused mindset.

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The first step is identifying common destructive mindsets - like the Inner Critic, Helplessness, Control Freak, or Conflict Avoider - and how they show up. For example, the Inner Critic makes the team overly critical, feeling constantly behind or that things aren't good enough. Helplessness leads to feelings of giving up. The Control Freak causes micromanaging and conflict. The Conflict Avoider results in not dealing with real issues.

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Once these destructive patterns are recognized, they can be labeled when noticed and replaced with more constructive thought patterns. For example, if the Inner Critic rears its head through complaints that a goal can't be met, the destructive pattern can be pointed out and the perspective reframed into a challenge to innovate creative solutions.

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Just this act of identifying and labeling counterproductive mindsets will help deflate much of their power. But there are additional techniques to more deeply shift into the positive, opportunity-focused outlook needed to overcome challenges. Teaching your team how to exercise mindfulness in the moment will help each member harness the habits and behaviors that help them stay grounded and centered when stressful, unproductive thoughts crop up.

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Accessing the innate empathy and compassion within the team is key. Team members can recognize each other's essential goodness through quick techniques like picturing each other as young children full of potential. Empathy for oneself and others recharges emotional reserves depleted by negativity.

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The team can also cultivate the mindset of seeing every obstacle as an opportunity, through techniques like imagining potential positive outcomes that could unfold over time, or finding opportunities disguised within current challenges. This curiosity and openness to possibilities is infinitely more productive than dwelling on worst case scenarios.

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As solutions are brainstormed, the team can build on each other's ideas in a positive way, through exercises like saying "Yes, and" to build on suggestions. Defining decisions by alignment with shared values and purpose, rather than short-term fears or constraints, keeps actions tied to what matters most.

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There are many other methods tailored to counter destructive patterns and access the wisdom and creativity within teams. But the core is recognizing and deflating counterproductive mindsets, while activating empathy, optimism, and a focus on constructive solutions. This allows teams to harness their collective potential and perform at their highest level, even when facing difficult circumstances. With the right mindset, any storm can be weathered.

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If you’d like to chat about how Positive Intelligence training, team building and coaching can help your team excel DM me.