A Conspiracy of Goodness at Work

The first time that I came across this power phrase—a conspiracy of goodness—was in a story about a small French mountain village, Le Chambon-sur-Lignon. During World War II, the entire town took the great risk to quietly shelter five-thousand Jews during the Nazi occupation of France. They were ordinary people, often poverty stricken themselves, doing the right thing day in and day out, not for days but for years! Not one person broke the commitment. And not one Jewish person was lost. It is said that these were a very solid, independent and simple people who ‘acted without agonizing instead of agonized without acting.’
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Now, admittedly, the work of everyday leadership may not rise to this same magnitude or consequence; but that doesn’t mean that it is any less worthy. We too must be courageous and tenacious. And we must be committed to taking action and doing the right thing, not only when it’s easy or a ‘good hair’ day for us, but rather, day in and day out for the longer term.

What would a conspiracy of goodness look like and feel like at work? For me, it’s all about coming together and co-creating a virtuous cycle instead of the vicious cycle with which we’re more familiar. Here are some everyday ideas to kick start your thinking:

• All of us would choose to show up as capable adults at work and do the right thing throughout the day. Even when others make a different choice. That’s my express definition for accountability.
• We would all choose to be constructive rather than destructive in our relationships.
• We would all make and keep our commitment to be a good influence on our team culture and its performance.
• We would all take the risk of standing up to bullying and intolerance.
• We would all welcome new team members and help them to more easily fit in and belong.
• We would all do these kinds of things unconditionally; without expecting something in return. We would do this because we realize that doing the right thing is its own reward.
• We would all regularly discuss ‘doing the right thing’ and decide together what exactly that is in different situations.
• We would all work together to co-create a sense of goodness within our team.

And the list could go on…..

Can we actually unite, make plans and then with unswerving resolve, work collaboratively to bring about a really good result? Think about it, we probably do it in small bursts today and don’t give ourselves nearly enough credit. What if we played big and thought about it on a larger scale??


Leadership Dare

* If you find the idea of a conspiracy of goodness as intriguing as I did, then learn something more about its origins!  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Chambon-sur-Lignon

* Identify what you can do to rally your team mates together and co-create a conspiracy of goodness on your team.

Re-member Your Team

EXPRESS COACHING MOMENT

‘Re-member’ Your Team

For those of us who lead teams, one of our most urgent and important priorities is to attract, cultivate and keep world class talent. Having a team filled with exceptional performers doesn’t just give you bragging rights; it’s one of the few remaining ways to distinguish yourself and your work from the competition. It’s one of your best competitive edges! And it doesn’t just happen on its own either.

That means that we must intentionally set aside time from our often insanely busy schedules to aim ourselves at this work. And when we’re really tight on time, which is almost always, we tend to focus far more on the first two elements of the talent equation – recruiting the best (attract) and growing and building our bench strength (cultivate). It’s hard for me to argue with this approach; we can’t live without them.

But let’s not forget that third element – retention. Keeping top performers once they’ve joined us. What are we doing to ‘re-member’ our longer tenured stars & superstars?  To once again, emphasize how proud and appreciative we are to have on our team? To sing their praises? To give them our undivided attention? To re-ignite their passion and enthusiasm? To refresh their energy?

It’s time to stop taking our strongest & longest performers for granted. One best practice to consider is conducting ‘stay’ interviews. Of course, we make time for interviewing recruits. And we find time for exit interviews, often asking what we could have done differently to keep the person. Stay interviews give us an opportunity to answer that powerful question before it’s too late to make a difference.

Leadership Dare – Pick two tenured top performers and schedule an hour with each. Tell them what you’re up to and ask them to think about ways that you can help them to be happier and more fulfilled. Thank them for their leadership and tell them what their contribution means to you and the team.

Don’t think you have the time? Think of this as an investment….a trade-off. There just might be one less exit interview in your future!!