The words “winning” and “success” within the workplace are often misunderstood.
Winning can be misinterpreted as simply competition or focusing on the outcome.
Have you ever wondered why some managers achieve success while others struggle?
Managers that lose sight of how the team wins can jeopardize organizational goals.
Winning the right way within a team is never losing sight of the process and avoiding the trap of narrowly focusing on the outcome.
Understanding how to create a winning habit is paramount to the longevity of the team.
According to Dollard & Bailey (2021), leaders that understand the importance of psychological safety are better prepared to handle risk and can positively impact team success.
If managers take the time to assess team dynamics, to prepare by planning and to separate from having a just-good-enough mindset, this can help winning become a habit within the team.
1. Assessing team dynamics
“Did you notice that?” “I’m just here; I never know what’s going on.”
“Oh, you did that all by yourself?”
These are some comments I have heard from co-workers who give insight into their work culture.
By working with clients, I have come to realize that managers lose sight of the “how” behind why the team is winning, and then, they boycott their own success.
According to doctoral student and leadership expert Richard Farnell, from Northeastern University (2019), supervisors who heavily rely on one member of the team often lose out on the team’s full potential.
This simple act gets the job done in the short term, but later, it devalues members, setting unrealistic expectations, thereby making success is unsustainable.
Rather, leaders who take the time to understand each team member’s strength and weakness can increase productivity and make working attractive.
Great leaders maximize each team member by acting as a guide through encouragement.
This simple assessment of knowing the team’s strength and weakness builds trust, retention and growth.
2. Bringing your ‘A’ game, with preparation
It is not a surprise that some leaders have a natural gift of being charismatic or great with people, while others need to invest in learning that skill.
The reality is that natural talent is never enough when trying to attain success consistently.
According to John Maxwell, preparation relieves pressure. Gifting will take you so far, but preparation and commitment proceed everything, and resources will follow.
A few years ago, I partnered with an organization in a talent exhibition. I came in as the director mobilizing various teams (multimedia, finance, food & beverage, talent and acquisition, volunteers, sponsors and other stakeholders). The whole process took about six to eight months to implement, and it was a lot of fun.
I do have a natural talent to plan, critique and develop. But it was still important that I learned to have a balance, as too much of any of those traits can get me in trouble. I choose to learn the organization’s culture and show up with my ‘A’ game.
I started with a simple feedback survey to engage the team, understand leadership styles and the organization’s culture.
The event was a hit, but the event modelled the data.
By choosing to do my best every day and interpreting the data, the team was able to understand unhealthy biases, make informed decisions and reduce potential risks.
The whole process was a lot of work, but we prepared for it. We never ‘phoned it in”, continued working as we understood the goal and, as a team, wanted to see the project through.
Knowing that the team held the keys to success helped boost productivity.
3. Separating from an OK mindset
I consider myself to be one of the lucky ones to have a few mentors in my life that helped point out some of the mindsets that held me back.
Some mindsets were “not good enough”, “settling for whatever” and the “I think I can”.
These mentors helped me to identify my blind spots with myself and how I lead others to move away from an OK mindset to an excellence mindset.
I learned through self-reflection with direction.
They consistently asked the questions below, and, without me knowing, they set me up for success.
Here is how they did it.
In each situation, I asked myself:
What is best in this situation?
How can I invest in my team and myself?
How can I motivate myself first then others?
How can I give my best today?
Developing a reflective mindset can help leaders move away from mediocre and set themselves up for success, building a stronger team with psychological safety.
How can STRiVE Mental Health, Wellness & Empowerment help?
The well-being of your employees is paramount to us.
STRiVE equips organizations with strategies by providing tools to help recover from burnout and boost productivity. The goal is to provide top-quality evidence-based program development and workshops, both in person and virtually, while building long-term resilient employees.
We want to help your organization. Make a referral here or contact us at info@strivementalhealth.ca to learn more.
Works cited
McClean, S. T., Courtright, S. H., Yim, J. & Smith, T. A., 2020. Making Nice or Faking Nice? Exploring supervisors’ two‐faced response to their past abusive behavior. Personnel Psychology.
Vogel, R. M. & Mitchell, M. S., 2015. The Motivational Effects of Diminished Self-Esteem for Employees Who Experience Abusive Supervision. Journal of Management. Volume Retrieved from: http://jom.sagepub.com/content/
early/2015/01/12/0149206314566462.abstract.
