Field notes
Field Notes
Our daily Field Notes email is just the kind of jumpstart you need. A fast read. Maybe less than a minute. Because sometimes it just takes one insight to change the trajectory of the day.
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How team meetings begin sets the tone for the engagement, positivity, and energy shared by the group.
How team meetings end shapes what the team will remember and solidifies team member commitment to next steps and actions. Yet, most leaders don’t think very strategically about these important time-bound bookends. As such, they miss a crucial element in designing a great meeting.
Some teams would greatly benefit by taking on more risk. By avoiding worst-case and what-if scenarios, they too often make decisions that fail to seize opportunities or leave gains on the table. As much as pundits think making big bets is what gets teams in trouble, much more often it is risk aversion that undermines team effectiveness. More teams suffer from the fear of embracing risk than those who swing for the fences and have a bias for reckless chance-making.
All decisions come with risk and downside.
Inclusive leaders view vulnerability as a leadership strength and not a weakness. They courageously share their feelings, fears, experiences, and doubts with those they lead to build authentic relationships and to grow as leaders. They openly share their honest emotions and thoughts as a pathway to stronger relationships, personal development, and a more fulfilling work life. Vulnerable leaders quickly learn that disclosing their true selves to others encourages them to do the same, deepening interpersonal bonds and fostering the trust so important to team success. But, like everything else, vulnerability has its limitations.
People, decisions, and situations can be extremely complex.
Making sense of what is really going on and why people do what they do requires good mental models. These schemas and frames help to cut through the clutter of complexity and can guide leaders to a simpler understanding that can be acted upon. The problem is that these models often oversimplify and obscure intricacies critical to accurate understanding.
Some leaders get a bum rap regarding their listening skills.
Although they’re accused of listening poorly, in actuality, they process and comprehend what others say and mean with aplomb. Their ability to pay sharp attention to others and understand what they communicate is beyond reproach. Yet they are told repeatedly that they have lousy listening skills. Why would this be?