Change is the common ground that connects us all.
Leading through this change is no easy feat, but keeping your people informed and helping them feel empowered will help them feel the sense of agency which will help drive engagement and level up your culture.
It starts at Level ONE where there’s a Culture of Clarity.
Everyone across the organization must understand:
why they’re doing what they’re doing (the vision, values, principles)
what the opportunities and challenges ahead are (mission and goals)
how everyone is contributing and supporting the impact (roles and responsibilities)
what success looks like (milestones, targets and outcomes)
As a leader, ensure transparent and proactive communication to build clarity and engagement, the foundation of success.
As a manager and staff member, ask the questions to ensure you understand the why, the what, the how about the way things are done. Ensure you are clear on the definition for success.
At Level TWO, it becomes critical to create a Culture of Inclusivity and Connection.
Everyone across the organization must understand that:
diversity is the foundation of innovation
broad acceptance and inclusiveness lead to broader engagement and agency
including a diverse range of others, when managed well, leads to better business results
connecting with people with differing perspectives benefits yourself and other stakeholders professionally, socially and culturally
As a leader, build and grow a culture based on trust and openness which connects people and welcomes diverse perspectives.
As a manager and staff member, commit to consistently include and work with diverse stakeholders to deliver targeted outcomes.
At Level THREE, there’s a Culture of Collaboration.
Everyone across the organization must understand how:
working with diverse teams serves the innovation agenda
sharing resources and ideas creates larger opportunities and results
connecting across teams, roles and backgrounds energizes a wider swath of stakeholders
co-owning collaboration successes benefits individuals, teams, products and organizations
As a leader, provide the training, support and resources so that your teams can create a fail-forward, innovation-focused culture.
As a manager and staff member, push through the hurdles to connecting and collaborating and leverage incremental successes as you deliver a wider range of disparate solutions.
At Level FOUR, there’s sufficient Clarity, Connection and Collaboration to increase the Synergy needed to build and deliver extraordinary results.
Everyone across the organization benefits from:
Clarity of goals, roles, responsibilities, progress
Connections between, within and across people, teams and organization
Collaborations which deliver strategic outcomes
Synergistic flow states when the three ‘C’ elements come together
As a leader, envision, inspire, and communicate the aspirational goals which engage and empower everyone to contribute.
As a manager and staff member, break through the barriers which cause confusion, dissension, and in-fighting, for maintaining a flow state requires clarity, connection and collaboration.
Keep the following in mind:
These thoughts are based on what I’ve seen work for dozens of client companies and over a hundred leaders over the past two decades. Feedback, suggestions and input are always welcome.
We are all likely at higher levels on better days, and we are not all at the same level on all teams and for all projects on any day.
We may be at a higher level in certain functions/roles/product lines/teams, etc., and a lower level in other areas. However, the assumption is that if we focus on building the clarity, connection and collaboration elements across an organization/team/function etc., there’s an increased likelihood that all stakeholders benefit.
It is the responsibility of everyone at all levels to ask the questions and raise the bar so that we can all be more clear, so we can better connect and collaborate with a broader set of stakeholders and address a wider range of challenges and opportunities.
The premise is that each level is dependent on successes from the lower levels. For example, it’s hard to be in a flow state if there isn’t collaboration. It’s hard to collaborate if there’s no connection. And it’s hard to feel a connection with the people or the project if there’s no clarity. So if you’ve read to the end of the blog, you’ll get this for the bottom line:
The secret to leveling up from one stage to another is to provide more CLARITY, add more CONNECTION and facilitate more COLLABORATIONS.
It’s my fervent belief that communicating with Clarity, Connection and Collaboration will help us all better deliver on both the innovation agenda, and on the cultural imperative.