I recently had the privilege of working with a spectacular group of people who are committed to excellence. They are well educated, the top in their fields and yet they are not producing excellence. We discovered what was missing was the human side of results. Gossiping and accountability was definitely a challenge. It creates decay in an organization and undermines the very essence of our humanity. It eats away at our morale and keeps us from being present. It causes guilt and shame.
We decided to take on gossiping. We first cleared the air and declared that today was the first day of our new future. The team leaders, (15 people) selected three leaders to represent the group and be accountable for not gossiping and not being the listener of gossip. We came up with phrases to say when gossip started and to let all the teams know that this was the end of gossip and the beginning of supporting one another.
The second distinction we took on was keeping our word. We get so busy and preoccupied with trying harder and working more that we over commit and under perform. Firefighting is constant and priorities are put aside. There are always a few people we rely on and they are over worked. The rest feel inadequate and have the feeling that they are spinning and getting nowhere/somewhere.
Keep your word and people will trust you. The structure we put in place was to first create a capacity sheet for each team leader, what they’re working on, their priorities and what can be delegated. Get clear on what you care about; what are your promises, and the road map to get there.
As human beings what defines us is our word. We don’t realize the consequence of not keeping our word or gossiping. It eats away at our credibility. They all declared that they wanted to be someone that could be counted on to look for the solutions instead of blaming others.
Stay tuned, it’s just the beginning. I am so excited to share the journey of self discovery and watch the growth that comes from working on the human side of results.
