Alan Mulally – the former CEO of Boeing and Ford, known for turning both of those companies around – followed a formula for getting any team to work together and be successful.  I heard him speak about it at the Emerge Stronger virtual conference last week.  I captured his one slide for you (yes one slide – see above), and pulled out three practical applications:

One, everyone knows the plan for the team (or company) to succeed – everyone.  There is absolutely no confusion by anyone on your team or anywhere in your organization.  Everyone knows what must be done.  Even the part-time receptionist.  It means one page or one card that contains the plan (not three pages, not twelve pages, not forty-seven pages).  One, short, easy to understand page.  Alan used to carry it around with him on a little card and showed it to everyone.  It means communicating the plan over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.  Communicating the plan never stops.  Everyone knows.

Two, how people treat each other is crystal clear with zero tolerance.  We treat each other with love, respect, listening, helping, appreciation.  This means a list of specific behaviors that everyone knows and that you review at the start of EVERY meeting.  Alan had these listed on the opposite side of the same card (see above) and reviewed them in leadership meetings with dozens of executives when they were losing $17 billion a quarter.  Don’t tell me you don’t have time to do the same.

Three, you have a clear process and trust the process.  Alan created business process reviews where every objective was color coded green/yellow/red.  Everyone rated their own objective / initiative and shared the status once a week.  More importantly, it was an environment of sharing where people were open about issues.  No hidden issues.  No secrets.  And people have a spirit of helping each other solve problems.  This means that you as the leader must create an environment where people can be vulnerable, open with issues, and rewarded for sharing.  You must do this.  Otherwise you are managing a secret.

Too simple?  Well, it wasn’t for a Fortune 5 company… 😉

Now go build a #strongteam!

A number of the questions I have received recently are related to feedback.  How do I address a teammate who isn’t doing what they said they would do?  How do I deal with a person who doesn’t listen to my suggestions?  How do I help a team leader see how their behavior is affecting the team?  There is a very helpful tool that I have frequently leveraged to provide constructive feedback in these types of situations.  It’s the Situation – Behavior – Impact (SBI) feedback model from the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL).  Here is how the CCL describes it:

Situation: Describe the situation.  Be specific about when and where it occurred.

Behavior: Describe the observable behavior.  Don’t assume you know what the other person was thinking.

Impact: Describe what you thought or felt in reaction to the behavior.

This becomes more powerful when you follow-up with a question about intent.  Too often we assume we know the intent of the other person and we begin to tell ourselves stories about them.  It is much more productive to provide feedback in a constructive way without a preconceived idea about their intent.  Instead be curious to understand their intent and perspective.

Here’s an example of giving “negative” feedback: “When we were on the Zoom call at 11:00 this morning, you changed the subject after I voiced my opinion.  It felt like my opinion didn’t matter.  What was your goal when you changed the subject?”

I can’t tell you how many times my assumptions were wrong and I get something back like: “I’m so sorry, I didn’t even realize I did that.”  Or they are frustrated themselves about something that I didn’t see.  Sometimes my own behavior has contributed to the situation and I just didn’t see it.  This tool provides a way to have a respectful, professional approach to a real conversation.  It is a much better way of handling the situation than a) not having a conversation and letting it fester, b) assuming they meant to be rude, or c) accusing them (directly or indirectly).

Don’t forget to use this to routinely give “positive” feedback: “When we were on the Zoom call at 11:00 this morning, you stopped the conversation to listen to my opinion.  I really appreciated that.  It felt like you cared about what I had to say.”

Now go build a #strongteam!

Note: if you have not done so already, watch my virtual masterclass on building a strong team to give you a foundation for these weekly tips.

How do you get people to share information with each other?  I recently interviewed Rebecca Hunter, former Commissioner of the State of Tennessee Department of Human Resources.  She said that people often don’t share information simply because they don’t think about it.  I have observed the same thing, especially with how busy everyone is.  Here is a simple question from Commissioner Hunter to infuse a spirit of information sharing:

Who else needs to know what you know?

If you are a leader, use this question liberally.  Not judgmentally or with a hidden agenda, just a simple question.  In your one-on-ones with people, in your team meetings, ask the question: who else needs to know what you know?

Simple.  And over time it will get people thinking about with whom they need to share information.

Now go build a #strongteam!

Note: if you have not done so already, watch my virtual masterclass on building a strong team to give you a foundation for these weekly tips.

Team problems are people problems: how we communicate with, treat, interact with, believe about, and work with other people.  Have you ever reacted negatively to what another team member said, proposed, or acted upon?  Of course, we all have.  We have felt that rising tension in us and reacted accordingly.  Depending on our personality or style, we may lash out, say something sarcastic, or say nothing at all while keeping it all in.  None of these negative reactions are healthy for ourselves or the team.  I suggest using the Three R’s to guard against this.

The Three R’s are React, Retreat, Rethink.  It goes like this: a team member does something such as discounting one of your fabulous ideas.  You react, perhaps by verbally and sarcastically “attacking” them.  This is because you are operating out of a place of negative emotions.  Later you retreat – perhaps by backing down or leaving the meeting when it’s over.  Finally, you re-think how you could have handled it differently.

The problem is that your order is all wrong.

You need to re-order the Three R’s to: Retreat, Rethink, React.  After the team member does something, retreat first.  That could mean stepping out for a minute, taking a deep breath, or simply meaning counting to three.  But DON’T REACT!  When you do this, your body literally begins to use a different psycho physiological system.  Now you are operating out of positive, more clear headed emotions.  Then rethink how best to respond, and finally react.

This is a very simple technique that has helped me immensely and will help you and your team.

Now go build a #strongteam!