Original Air Date: November 21, 2022

The culture dilemma (00:45). Many organizations tell us that they want to improve their culture, but often don’t know where to start. What does an unhealthy culture look like? What symptoms need to be identified and treated?

The definition of culture (02:30). Culture is the way we interact. It exists anywhere where there are humans. Parts of it are visible, while other parts of culture, not so much.  

How does culture work? (16:00) You don’t fix a culture at the top of an organization, but you can influence it at the team level. Teams need to improve their interactions by modeling and rewarding the vulnerabilities of their colleagues. 

What’s the solution? (31:00) If you want good culture, you need high levels of psychological safety. Psychological safety solves for culture at the level of interaction. 

Building great culture is a process (50:00). Just like fostering trust takes a certain level of consistency over time, psychological safety is delicate and dynamic. It requires consistent effort and deliberate action in order to build and maintain.

The Complete Guide to Psychological Safety

The Ladder of Vulnerability

The 4 Stages Behavior Guide

In this episode, Tim and Junior discuss how high-performing teams are formed and maintained. The quality of an organization is a reflection of the quality of its teams, and high-performing teams have patterns. Although there are many patterns, Tim and Junior will focus on a core four in this episode, including how high-performing teams (1) connect, how they (2) improve their skills, how they (3) view transparency and autonomy and how they (4) continuously seek innovation.

The benefits of improving your teams' performance (01:43) Remember, individuals rarely accomplish extraordinary feats alone. The quality of an organization is a reflection of the quality of its teams. As you improve your teams, you’ll get two things: Leverage and scale. You'll be able to multiply the force, scope, and magnitude of your organizational efforts.

How do high-performing teams connect? (13:55) High performing teams know each other. If your team doesn’t know each other, it’s not a high performing team, or at least it won’t be for very long, or when things get hard. Tim and Junior share the story of Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, and why a 3-day offsite was one of the most important things he has done as a CEO.

How do high-performing teams improve their skills? (26:33) High performing teams are constantly growing. When teams acknowledge that the knowledge they have today is not enough, they open themselves up to development. 

How do high-performing teams view transparency and autonomy? (38:10) High performing teams are focused on achievement based on transparent, meaningful metrics. Tim and Junior talk about Google's Project Aristotle and how they discovered that psychological safety is the #1 indicator of high-performance. 

How do high-performing teams chase innovation? (50:44) High performing teams believe in continuous improvement. They're proud but never satisfied. At the end of the day, challenger safety not just as challenging the organization, but challenging ourselves to do better and be better. 

Important Links
Show Notes

Psychological Safety Behavioral Guide

This special year in review episode of Culture by Design features hosts Tim and Junior interviewing members of the LeaderFactor team. They get unique perspectives on psychological safety trends and insights from 2023 based on interactions with clients. Guests include Jillian (Marketing), Ryan (Technology), Kelsea (Sales), and Alex (Client Success).

5 Key Moments

• Interest in psychological safety continues to grow exponentially based on search volume (0:04:21)
• Audiences want both a business case and practical guidance on implementing psychological safety (0:04:21)
• Individual contributors feel most vulnerable about expressing disagreement compared to managers (0:24:55)
• Successful organizations measure psychological safety as a baseline and track progress over time (0:37:58)
• Consistent effort over an appropriate time horizon is key for cultural transformation (0:58:56)

Important Links

• LeaderFactor Psychological Safety Behavioral Guide: https://leaderfactor.com/guide
• LeaderFactor Complete Guide to Psychological Safety: https://leaderfactor.com/resources/complete-guide-to-psychological-safety
• LeaderFactor Ladder of Vulnerability: https://leaderfactor.com/ladder

In this episode, Tim and Junior introduce five simple but powerful questions to align teams and get everyone on the same page. They explain why alignment is critical yet often neglected, review the high cost of misalignment, and provide a practical framework to drive shared understanding and commitment among team members.

5 Key Points

1. Alignment ensures strategies, goals, processes, and people are working together effectively (0:04:28). It is a matter of degree, not binary.
2. Misalignment compounds over time if unaddressed, risking failure (0:05:41). Assuming alignment without verifying is dangerous.
3. The 5 Alignment Questions framework verifies understanding, surfaces concerns, clarifies roles, anticipates needs, and checks commitment (0:25:37).
4. The questions invite participation through inquiry-based dialogue (0:27:29). Metrics alone don't ensure alignment.
5. Alignment requires continuous intervention as misalignment is the natural process (0:50:13). It must be maintained through regular cycles.

Links:

HBR Article: 5 Questions to Get Your Project Team on the Same Page
Show Notes: leaderfactor.com/podcast

In this episode of the podcast, Tim and Junior dive into the critical leadership skills of accountability and critical thinking. They discuss why these competencies are important for leaders and team members to develop, define what accountability and critical thinking mean, explain the vital interrelationship between accountability and critical thinking, and share thoughts on how we can effectively build these skills in ourselves while also transferring them to others. Tim and Junior emphasize that these are practical skill-building concepts that align with the four stages of psychological safety.

5 Key Points:

1. Accountability is being answerable for your behavior and actions (0:03:08). It's about taking ownership, being proactive and transparent, and being willing to learn from mistakes.
2. Critical thinking involves gathering and synthesizing information to inform your beliefs and behaviors (0:03:39). It's about evaluating information objectively to make sound judgments and decisions.
3. Accountability and critical thinking are interrelated - you need critical thinking to properly evaluate your performance and take full accountability (0:09:47).
4. As leaders, we must model accountability and critical thinking ourselves first before expecting it from others (0:34:13). We have to hold ourselves to high standards of performance and evaluation.
5. To transfer critical thinking, use open-ended questions, invite participation in solving problems, teach the inquiry process, and model critical thinking in your own work (0:25:51).

Links:

Show notes: https://www.leaderfactor.com/podcast

3 Levels of Accountability Episode: https://www.leaderfactor.com/podcast/the-coaching-and-accountability-matrix

In this episode, Tim and Junior conclude their series on emotional intelligence (EQ) by discussing practical ways to improve it. They explain that EQ is a learnable skill that requires deliberate practice focused on improving behaviors. The key is consistently gathering feedback, monitoring your progress, and making incremental improvements over time.

5 Key Takeaways with Timestamps

1. EQ is a learnable skill, not a fixed trait (0:02:46) - Unlike IQ which is relatively stable, EQ can be improved significantly through effort and practice over time.
2. Willingness and self-awareness are key to improvement (0:17:35) - You have to be willing to see your deficiencies clearly and put in the hard work to change your behavior.
3. Motivation comes from within (0:30:18) - No one can give you motivation, you have to find it in yourself by considering the costs of not improving.
4. You have to change your behavior (0:38:00) - You can't just think your way to better EQ, you have to deliberately practice new behaviors.
5. It's an ongoing cycle (0:49:13) - Continuously self-monitor, gather feedback, improve your behaviors, and repeat. EQ improves incrementally with consistency.

Important Links

• Show Notes: leaderfactor.com/podcast
• EQ Index Self-Assessment: https://www.leaderfactor.com/eqindex
• Feedback and Episode Requests: [email protected]

In this episode, Tim and Junior delve into what they term the 'core logic'—a vital exploration of how EQ is not just an individual trait but the cornerstone of collective team intelligence. As they unpack the causal chain, they reveal how EQ is the linchpin in cultivating a safe space for vulnerability, ultimately steering both personal growth and organizational success. 

Key Points

1. The Importance of Assessing Emotional Intelligence [00:03:12]
   Junior underscores the importance of measuring emotional intelligence. He invites listeners to anticipate the launch of EQindex™ as a pivotal development opportunity and invites listeners to join the waitlist at www.leaderfactor.com/eqindex.
   
   
2. The Essence of EQ [00:07:45]
   EQ is defined as the ability to interact effectively with others. The discussion revolves around the nuances of 'effectiveness' and its significance in personal and professional realms.
   
   
3. Psychological Safety as Rewarded Vulnerability [00:12:30]
   The concept of psychological safety is explored as a cultural norm where vulnerability isn't just accepted; it's celebrated and seen as a strength.
   
   
4. Causal Relationship Between EQ and Success [00:18:55]
   A clear line is drawn connecting individual EQ to team psychological safety, and further to the tangible impacts on career progression and organizational achievement.
   
   
5. The Interplay of EQ and Organizational Culture [00:24:10]
   A hypothesis is presented that individual habits of emotional intelligence are the seeds from which team cultural norms grow, particularly through leadership influence.

Important Links

• Episode Series on Emotional Intelligence: https://www.leaderfactor.com/podcast/what-is-emotional-intelligence
• Leader Factor EQ Index: www.leaderfactor.com/eqindex
• Show Notes: leaderfactor.com/podcast
• Feedback and Topic Requests: [email protected]

In today's episode, Tim and Junior will continue our series on emotional intelligence. If you joined us last week for our kickoff of this series, you'll know that we answered the question, what is emotional intelligence? We shared our unique definition of emotional intelligence, which is the ability to interact effectively with other people. Today, we'll continue the discussion by answering the question, why is emotional intelligence central to competitive advantage? Be sure to check the show notes for links to all relevant resources related to this episode, including a link to learn about EQ Index, our proprietary EQ assessment that we will be making publicly available for individuals and teams early next year.

EQindex Assessment

This week we're kicking off a new series on emotional intelligence. Our approach to EQ is different. There’s the mainstream idea of EQ, and then there’s ours and this episode will give you an inside look into how you can make EQ practical and actionable for the individuals and teams you work with. 

• Emotional Navigation [0:06:00]: Tim delves into the core concepts of emotional intelligence, emphasizing the importance of self-awareness and self-management in personal development and leadership.

• Emotional Intelligence and Relationships(0:18:00): The conversation shifts to social awareness and relationship management, highlighting how emotional intelligence enables us to understand and influence the emotions of others effectively.

• The Six Competency Model (0:24:30): Tim and Junior discuss the six competency model of EQindex™, which includes a comprehensive range of skills that underpin strong emotional intelligence and its application in leadership.

• EQindex™ Snapshot (0:31:35): They touch on the EQindex™ assessment tool, describing its efficiency in providing a concise and accurate picture of an individual's emotional intelligence in just 15 minutes.

• EQindex™ Evolution (0:37:22): The episode wraps up with exciting news about the upcoming release of the EQindex™

Join the waitlist for EQindex™ public launch: https://www.leaderfactor.com/eqindex

Here at LeaderFactor, we're all about helping our clients take the theories behind psychological safety and culture and turn them into actual practice inside their organizations. Our goal is to make our content and frameworks as actual as possible, and that's what this episode is all about. We've taken some recent favorite practical moments from Tim and Junior and compiled them together. We'll have three segments from a few different episodes, each ranging from 10-15 minutes.