by Judy Ryan
Wherever people and organizations retain outdated and toxic culture practices that result in win/lose dynamics, everyone pays a price. Most people constrict in such environments and are stunted in their development. They fail to bloom into their greatest potential to be creative, innovative and empowered. These potentialities are crucial especially with today’s polarized economic, political, technological, and social beliefs and practices. Over time, toxic practices result in failures and mediocrity in individuals and organizations.
Vital new strategies that prioritize the evolution and wellbeing of people over profit, are too often relegated to the unconventional rather than mainstream. These strategies lead to greater sustained profit and consistent creativity, engagement, and innovation. Today, this requires courage as those in support of the status quo are often holding onto it with a death grip and are threatened AND threatening to those who stand for new, win/win strategies. Such courageous leaders are those who work to ensure their people become confident and committed to creating caring collaboration and positive teamwork, where everyone wins and supports wild success in one another. They understand what’s needed to expand human potential. Here are just three such strategies:
Shared Power
Effective leaders are those who recognize the importance of each person’s power and celebrate and guide it in all. They encourage the reclaiming of personal power that has been shamed, punished or oppressed. They help those they lead to intentionally use their power to cause good. They know the value of sharing their own power with their people. They support shared power first by modeling doing things with their staff, not doing things to them. These executives come together with their entire workforce to learn new concepts and tools, where everyone takes turns leading discussion and application no matter what their title, tenure or role. Everyone participates in monthly peer and reverse mentoring. Sharing power in this way builds trust, psychological safety, critical thinking, mutual respect, self-management and self-motivation within and between the entire staff. Leaders often struggle most initially in sharing power out of fear of losing status. They don’t. They gain deep fulfillment, respect, and support!
Healthy Brainstorming
When power is shared well, people respectfully listen to each other’s ideas. They share their own ideas courageously. No matter how far-fetched something may seem, each idea is recognized for relevance as is or as a jumping off point. Receptivity to the process and everyone’s gifts and strengths is priority. Each person releases attachment to their ideas once they have been heard and added to the mix. As the group considers all feedback, a vote is taken and ideas with majority support are selected. Everyone agrees to back these ideas and do all they can to make them work. Each person accepts that if an idea fails, valuable lessons are learned and that the group will brainstorm new ideas without anyone losing face or respect. Such interactions encourage healthy collaboration.
Appreciative Inquiry
Appreciative inquiry is a powerful tool for both shared power and healthy brainstorming. A set of questions are designed and asked of all stakeholders connected to various organizational objectives and challenges. These questions are appreciative in nature in that they are about what has worked, is working and would be happening at its best. This tool is an encouragement strategy because it builds upon strengths, success, and powerful, positive past and future visions. Themes emerge and because everyone has been focused on gifts and the happiest stories, people buy-in to resulting innovative ideas and creative solutions that may have been overlooked otherwise. The focus on finding what works and celebrating it and one another, strengthens camaraderie and wellbeing.
In many places, strongmen dictators are preferred over strong teams, and rugged individualism, zero-sum, dog-eat-dog competition over win/win collaboration. These are inferior strategies that cost everyone. Now is the time to examine new, unconventional strategies that expand human potential.
Judy Ryan (judy@LifeworkSystems.com), human systems specialist, is owner of LifeWork Systems. Join her in her mission to create a world in which all people love their lives. She can also be reached at 314-239-4727.
People hire LifeWork Systems because we help businesses become agile and manage their priority system: their human system. I hope this article helps you make sense of what’s most crucial to your evolving organization!