I was facilitating a leadership roundtable with a group of leaders in an organization.  During our time together, we discussed how to get into another person’s world to connect with them.  During the conversation, we took a detour to discover how to better lead toxic team members.

 

I opened the conversation up because the power of the roundtable is that twelve minds can bring more ideas than just one.  As I listened and facilitated the conversation, a number of ideas bubbled to the surface, which I hope will help you as you strive to build a positive culture on your team or in your organization.

 

Understand

Steven Covey popularized the phrase “seek first to understand before being understood” in his classic book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.  As leaders, we may not understand what is going on under the surface to create this perception of extreme negativity by a person.

 

Take time to ask questions to discern what is going on.  Are they in a mismatch between their job responsibilities and their strengths?  Is there something going on personally that is affecting their mindset at work?  There is also the possibility that they are a person who is stuck in a negative frame of mind with no real reason why and you will have to lead them accordingly.

 

Environment

Leaders can influence the culture.  You have the ability to create an environment that embraces a positive and growth mindset and prevents rewarding or unintentionally encouraging negativity.  Take a minute and evaluate what you respond to most frequently.  Do the negative influences get most of your attention?  How can you reward and highlight those who are modeling the environment you want to create?  Take time to consider the type of environment you want to create and consider how you can create it.

 

Align the “whys”

Author Simon Sinek emphasized the importance of understanding the why of your organization in his book Start With Why.  As the leader, you know why you do what you do and why the organization exists.  Do you know why your team member is part of the organization?  Do you know what their why is? 

 

Do they work to provide for their family?  Are they passionate about the organization’s purpose?  Are they passionate about their role but struggle to see how their role fits in the bigger picture?  As the leader, help them align their individual “why” to the organization’s “why.”  As you do this you will tap into a source of much greater positivity.

 

Responsible To, but not For

As we wrapped up this discussion, I took a moment to remind the leaders in the room of an idea a mentor once told me:

We are responsible to people, but not for them.

 

For example, as a leader you are responsible to equip them, resource them, and remove barriers you need to remove to help them accomplish goals.  You are responsible to them for creating an environment conducive to growth and increased probability of success.  

 

You are not responsible for what they do with what you’ve entrusted them with.  You are not responsible for their behavior and attitude.  Leaders create expectations for performance and norms for acceptable behavior, but we cannot change people therefore we are not responsible for them.  

 

I hope this last idea frees you up not to assume more responsibility than is appropriate.  We are responsible to care about our team, but we are not responsible to care for that which they are expected to handle.

 

Which of these areas do you need to develop on your team or in your organization?  Need help creating a more positive culture?  Contact me to discover if the Leadership Game would be a good tool to open up conversation on your team and build it.  Build that positive culture today.  Lead Well.

 

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