Safe Work Circles

The teams we love to work with. Colleagues we look forward to meeting every day – WFH or not. The joy of ideating with teammates on rather dreary days. Experiencing camaraderie, especially on tough days.

I hope you have been lucky enough to experience all of the above.

I have, over the years. And it has often made me wonder - what makes people and teams excited about showing up and bringing their best selves to work, day after day? On the surface, it could be the nature of work or the paycheck. But, if we dig deep or even watch as an outsider, it is the culture. The organizational culture.

The culture of respect, openness, and belonging. When teams find safe circles, they thrive, innovate, and build a successful organization. Yes, people drive successful organizations. And, let us not be fooled by anything said otherwise.

Circling back to safe circles, we often talk about safe spaces in the personal context. But, what about the professional front? A place where most of us spend most of our waking hours – invested physically, mentally, and emotionally.  

Safe Circles

The #safecircles are, often, deeply integrated into a healthy organizational culture. Almost always hidden. On the surface, you see happy teams, highly engaged, and productive. Behind the scenes though, a lot goes into creating these safe, work circles.

A space where you feel heard, accepted, and respected. Comfortable to be vulnerable to try something new. A space where you know you won’t be ridiculed or reprimanded for taking a stance on things. For speaking up for yourself or your work. Where you are collaborators and not minions. You feel seen, appreciated. You - are celebrated. And, when you falter, you are guided.

Imagine dealing with a challenge of lead generation. The team’s not hitting the numbers. When the team is amidst a safe circle, there will be ideas. Crazy ideas. Impossible ideas. Realistic ones as well. But creativity will flow. Solutions will emerge. Simply because there’s no fear of ridicule or feeling incompetent. There is no blaming. Only an honest effort to stay resourceful, while problem-solving. The team, with the right leadership, will arrive at a solution.

Now imagine a fear circle. A space where there’s fear before speaking up. Self-doubt before sharing a great idea, and lingering shame from the last reprimand (really!). It kills the innovative spirit. Individual and team. And, gradually the organizations’. No one wins.

Responsible Leadership

Cultures and safe circles are not built overnight. They are built starting Day 1. And nurtured and polished every day. Yes, every day. And, they are brought down and poisoned by the same, everyday things.

Responsible leaders are aware of the fact that just like brands and customer loyalty, internal culture strengthens with daily check-ins. I do believe that creating these safe circles is every person’s responsibility, irrespective of the department, or experience. But the leaders play a crucial role.

Top leadership sets the tone when they acknowledge a cultural glitch, instead of justifying it or locking the facts away. They find ways to understand what went wrong and make an effort to fix it. Whether it is through an open discussion on the issue or infusing minor operational changes in the fabric of the organization, they take steps towards addressing concerns. 

More importantly, they hold team leads, department heads, and fellow leaders responsible and accountable for creating and empowering safe circles. These are the folks (hopefully) mentoring and guiding the team towards achieving goals. And, they must buy into the idea of a healthy culture.

Bhutan measures progress and development through Gross National Happiness instead of the Gross Domestic Product. Imagine, #leadership and #teams being rated on Skill Development, Innovative ideas, and Safe Circles - as a norm. Too quixotic!

But humor me for a bit. Imagine if this was possible. We are looking at creative teams, happy employees, a remarkable culture, and truly successful businesses. Something, worth considering.