TEL #022: The Environmental Architect - Mastering and Maximizing your spaces in Leadership

I was at the starting line with nervous anticipation

Surrounded by 40,000 other runners waiting to embark

I was about to attempt my first-ever marathon in Chicago?

I was dressed in my favorite running outfit and sporting my charity T-shirt

When the announcer counted down for runners and hit zero

The crowds erupted in cheers as we started to run and begin the 26.2 miles across the city of Chicago?

This race is an excellent example of how environments shape us?

The environment of a marathon race shaped us runners

Told us what to wear and how to train to maximize our success in the environment of a race

In many ways, our environments determine or at least encourage how people behave and participate.

If you go to a coffee shop, you are shaped by the environment from the moment you walk in.

You are encouraged implicitly to buy a drink before you take up table space

You bring your laptop and headphones to focus on work

The tables are designed to be semi-uncomfortable to encourage customers not to stay too long and allow space for others.

Knowing how to cultivate environments is an often neglected discipline that distinguishes good leaders from great leaders.

Leaders are the master architects of their environments to maximize their people, minimize obstacles, and encourage cultural norms.

In social psychology, we cannot force people to change or think a certain way.

However, we can create an environment that helps people to grow or create an environment that harms their people.

Therefore, learning how to craft your environments is paramount to being successful in leadership and helping to accomplish your goals.

Here are some suggestions as you think about environments:

1. Think about what your spaces communicate to other people

When having a hard conversation, picking the right location where you have the conversation matters.

If you are in conflict with another coworker, friend, or employee, think through what you are trying to communicate in the conversation

If you are trying to be on equal footing, pick a “neutral” location to communicate a level playing field for both parties.

This space can be a public place, a neutral office space that belongs to neither one of you,?

This decision communicates you are both in this conversation together, on the same level, and the power dynamic is?

of equal footing.

If you are trying to make the other party the most comfortable, show deference, or give the security of power, pick a space demonstrating this.

Meet in your coworker’s or employee’s office or go to your friend’s house to meet.?

People feel most secure in spaces under their control or like they own the space.

This environment could be helpful in cases where you need to apologize, make amends, or offer an “olive branch” in conflict.

If you need to have a firing conversation and communicate authority or power, you want to make the space tip the power dynamic in your favor.

Have the employee come to your office to communicate the severity of the situation.

Making sure to have a suitable space for the right situation is crucial.

Mixing up the wrong space for the wrong situation will only hurt you in what you are trying to communicate through your environment.

2. Change / tweak environments until you see the change you want to see

I worked with a student who was not much of a talker

I was tasked with supervising him and was going to have weekly 1-on-1’s

Our first 1-on-1 lasted barely 10 mins

We had a sit-down, face-to-face conversation where I asked him intentional questions about his life, role, hopes, etc.

His answers were pretty short, and one worded answers?

Me - “What has your week looked like?”

Him - “It’s been pretty normal, classes and friends.”

Me -“........”

This pattern repeated for my other 10 questions, and I was stumped.

Then I realized this leader loved working out, using his hands, and doing stuff with others.

For our next 1-on-1, we played ping pong and then talked for 30 mins afterward.

Best 1-on-1 by a landslide.

He was more open and more talkative even in a short time.

I changed the environment to get the result I was looking for (I.e., having a productive conversation.”

In the same way, if you are not seeing the success, behaviors, or culture you are looking for, try changing the environment up

If you want your meetings to be more fun, take your team to a coffee shop

If you want your team to take their job more seriously, create incentives and rewards for those who perform well

If you keep getting stuck in conversations in your office, go to your friend’s office, where you can leave when you need to

If you are trying to lose weight, remove snacks from your house

Environments are tools; you want to use the right tool for the end goal.

3. Create environments that people grow in consistently

Often we are neutral about our environments and don’t think of how environments can help us grow.

Like a plant, the soil we water and fertilizer determines the likelihood and amount of growth the plant may have.

We want to maximize our environments to create the most growth for our people as a leader

What are the best kinds of environments that help people to grow??

Invitational: Making spaces invitational where nobody is forced but welcomed at all times allows people to pursue growth and not feel coerced.

Coaching:?Spaces where people are being observed, and given regular feedback, allow time for reflection, and provide support when they fall.?

Relational:?People grow through being in relationships with others. Allowing your spaces to be highly collaborative and full of meaningful relationships increase the chance of growth in your spaces.

Empowering: Creating spaces where others have places to step up, take responsibility, enable ownership, and create a healthy amount of risk where people are encouraged to participate over spectate.

Finding the right ingredients and nutrients is essential for your people to experience consistent growth and to experience growth across all departments, regardless of the setting.

Creating consistent environments across your leadership, culture, and organization will help with consistent growth.

Ultimately, environments are often overlooked in leadership. Learning how to master our spaces will make us better leaders, create consistent growth for your people, and give us tools to see the goals you are trying to accomplish.

In what ways have you seen environments help or hinder your leadership?

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Resources:

(Book) How people grow - Henry Cloud?

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