7 LEADERSHIP COMMITMENTS THAT FORGE ELITE TEAMS
Neuroscience research discovered that
we’re wired for negativity. We have
five times as much negative mental
processing and fear-looping going
on in our head as we do positive.
Positive comes from the heart. I use
this metaphor to show that you can
perform courageously. However,
if you don’t work on staring down
the fears that hold you back from
courageous behavior, eventually
you’re going to get tripped up.
COURAGE
Courage is the foundational
commitment. Both the leader and the
team must work on this every day,
by increasing tolerance for risk and
taking a stand around what’s important.
Elite teams radically focus in on
what’s most important and avoid the
distractions of what’s not important.
TRUST
Trust is an outcome of this behavior,
but it’s also a practice. Practice
trust by cultivating humility and
relentlessly following through on your
verbal commitments. When you take
absolute ownership of everything
that you say you’re going to do, and
do it, you become transparent. Take
off the mask of perfection! Take
off the mask of invulnerability!
Take off the mask of not having
any emotional, soft underbelly!
RESPECT
The third commitment is respect.
Respect is both a by-product of
courage and trust, but it’s also a
practice. Respect is about how you
communicate and connect. It's about
having what Dr. Overmyer calls "In-
the-Moment Conversations TM ” and
risking engaging in productive conflict.
What’s left unsaid is going to fester.
Poor communication can grind an
environment to a halt and really stultify
performance. Respect is gleaned
through absolute integrity; what you
say, what you do, how you do it, and
who you are all must be in alignment.
"IF YOU DON’T
WORK ON
STARING DOWN
THE FEARS
THAT HOLD YOU
BACK FROM
COURAGEOUS
BEHAVIOR,
EVENTUALLY
YOU’RE GOING TO
GET TRIPPED UP."
GROWTH
When a workplace culture is built
upon courage, trust, and respect, then
you can really open yourself to the
fourth commitment: Growth. Look
at the work environment as your
primary mechanism for growth. And
so, you could ask yourself, where do
I go to grow? Well, you go to work
to grow. I’m talking about vertical
character development growth, not
just skill development, which is what
I consider more horizontal growth.
The more you grow vertically, the
more you are effective at delivering
those horizontal skills. And then once
you unlock that vertical growth, it
starts to accelerate. But growth can’t
happen if you don’t have the courage,
trust, and respect to back it up. Those
four commitments really have got
to work to support each other.
EXCELLENCE
Excellence is the fifth commitment.
Relentlessly pursue it in everything you
do. Practice innovation, curiosity, and
simplicity. Do that every day, because
no plan survives contact with reality!
The challenges are going to keep
coming at you, sometimes faster and
faster. Then you must start to develop
resiliency, the sixth commitment.
RESILIENCY
Resiliency is when you fall seven
times, get up each time, and put a smile
on your face. Elite teams have all those
qualities of the first five commitments,
but the sixth commitment is what
allows them to do this day in and day
out. For scaling companies, it’s a long
haul. Many lose motivation or get
burnt out, injured, or sick. Elite teams
don’t do this. They have a constant
process of renewal because they just
take it one day at a time, like a warrior.
One day—one lifetime. Today is the
opportunity to get it right and do things
a little bit better. Take care of yourself,
recover, and get a great night’s sleep!
Then go at it again the next day.
ALIGNMENT
The capstone commitment is alignment.
Alignment requires a relentless, almost
maniacal communication strategy. I
call it battle communications. You need
communication from the leader to the
team on the vision and the mission.
Always ask; “What does victory
look like? What are the boundaries
for behavior? What is off-limits?”
There should be seven or 10 touch
points a day with the whole team.
That has incredible power. When
everyone is very clear about the
vision of what they’re shooting for,
and the mission and the boundaries
are clear, then you get autonomous
behavior. Elite teams don’t have
to run something up the chain of
command or wonder if they’re making
the right call. They know that their
action is going to be backed by the
leadership because they’re an elite
team and they're committing to
these seven principles every day.
*(Mark’s book could not come at a better
time. One key objective of the book: how
to “develop emotional control to remain
calm, cool, and collected—regardless of
what’s going on around you.”)
CLICK HERE FOR MARK'S VIDEO
BIT.LY/staring-down-the-wolf
CULTURESTHAT WORK.COM • 7