The purpose of an organization is to enable ordinary human beings to do extraordinary things. ~Peter Drucker
When I reflect on the key traits I observed during my work with dozens of teams in different organizations, I found that there were 4 key traits that stood out to me. These 4 traits are essential in creating cohesive teams and nurturing a culture of learning and innovation. These traits are also a reflection of leadership because that is where the seeds are usually planted and nurtured. I think these traits could contribute to HEALing teams and organizations and spark a culture of learning and innovation. So, what are these 4 key traits?
Humility
Humility is strong. Arrogance is weak, says Dan Rockwell. Dan also wrote about the 8 strengths of humility on his blog. Humility is a key trait to foster learning and innovation. It is a must have for leaders who want to see their teams flourish. Humble leaders ask questions to learn rather than tell people what to do.
During an interview with GE’s Jeff Immelt, he spoke about evolving GE and he said, “There’s just no way you can ever enter the job with enough humility.”
I believe that humility is the first step to spark a culture of learning and innovation.
- Side note: If you are not familiar with Dan Rockwell’s work, I highly recommend following him on twitter.
- More on humility here
Empathy
“I know it’s infuriating when people offer insanely naïve solutions to our suffering.” ~Charles M. Blow
Without empathy, it is almost impossible to create products your customers can connect with or find useful or meaningful to them. Empathy is not just about connecting with your customers, it is also about connecting with your team members and leadership connecting with teams. Empathy is also the first step in design thinking, a process developed by IDEO, a pioneer in human-centered design.
Daniel Pink defines empathy as follows: Empathy is about standing in someone else’s shoes, feeling with his or her heart, seeing with his or her eyes. Not only is empathy hard to outsource and automate, but it makes the world a better place.”
A recent HBR article states that, “Empathy — the ability to read and understand other’s emotions, needs, and thoughts — is one of the core competencies of emotional intelligence and a critical leadership skill.”
It is hard to feel or understand empathy by describing it as it needs to be practiced. I recommend two tools that could help in improving empathy among team members and across the organization:
- The empathy toy which I found to be very useful in helping the players (team members) better understand each other.
- The empathy map (here and here) which is a great team exercise to connect with customers as well as each other.
- Side note: Did you know that there is an empathy brand index?
Adaptive
You can’t build an adaptable organization without adaptable people — and individuals change only when they have to, or when they want to. ~Gary Hamel
Adaptive doesn’t mean we change with no purpose, it means we are ready and able to respond to change when it happens (and that’s almost always). It’s hard to be adaptive (or change) however if you have no time to learn (or slack).
Adaptive means taking action after putting some thought and adjust based on our findings. It could also mean that we design experiments to validate our hypothesis.
- Read adaptive leadership by Jim Highsmith
- More on adaptive leadership
Listening
Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply. ~Stephen R. Covey
Listening deeply is another key trait. We can’t understand each other if we don’t listen to each other. This might be obvious but when the going gets tough and the pressure is on, listening is usually the first thing to suffer.
There are no shortage of articles on effective listening or how to improve it however developing this trait is not easy. One way to become more self aware is to try to catch yourself interrupting others as they speak or getting distracted and not being fully present.
We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. ~Mahatma Ghandi
These traits require a lot of self-awareness and much deliberate practice but could contribute much to HEALing teams and organizations. Change begins within however or as one leader once told me, lead from the front. In other words, lead by example.
The reality is that the only way change comes is when you lead by example. ~Anne Wojcicki
