Purpose1 recently went to Evolution '25 Leadership Conference this year to hear Sarita Maybin and Jon Acuff talk about how to better communicate with team members and overload in the workplace.
Total Teamwork
Working Together for Better Results
“It’s not the load that breaks you down; it’s the way you carry it” – Lena Horne, Actress
Sarita opens with the concept that there will always be colleagues or others in your life that will be difficult to work with, and it is up to you on how you communicate with those individuals. Having good communication is key when encouraging engagement and collaboration in the workplace. What phrases you use either in a team setting or having a one-on-one conversation will make a big difference in having your ideas heard and receiving cooperation.
Using phrase like “I need your help…” or “Would you be willing to…” opens you up to input from others and allows you to gain constructive criticism on your current idea or project. Then if the feedback is still not as clear as you were hoping, you can always ask the person to be more specific and elaborate so that the ideas are clear to you.
But using phrases like “You need to…” or “You better…” will not get the same results because of the demanding tone. Dictating that person to do something, when they only wanted feedback and an open conversation about possible next steps, will become a roadblock in your communication.
People and/or colleagues that are on the negative side when communicating such as “This will never work…” have a history of not having their thoughts and ideas heard from others in the past. This negativity also happens when expectations are not made clear to them. You can only control what you can, and you need to let the rest go.
There are 3 roles team members tend to play in a meeting which include:
- Task Oriented Role (initiating group discussions, keeping the group on task, delegating responsibility, sharing info, asking questions)
- People/Relationship Behaviors (making sure all are heard, clarifying comments, mediating conflict, praising and encouraging others, celebrating successes)
- Anti-Group Behaviors (naysaying, sarcasm, dominating discussion, diverting from the task, being present but not engaged, multi-tasking)
What role do you play? It is important to be aware of how you come across in a meeting so you know how to can adjust your behaviors for better communication results.
"Say what you mean, mean what you say and don't say it mean." -Sarita Maybin
All It Take is a Goal
Dream, Plan, Do, Review: The Simple System the Best Teams in the World Always Use
“Half of the world is walking around with half lived lives.”
Jon starts by saying that you have all these goals and resolutions, but 92% of New Year’s resolutions fail. Everyone knows that they are capable of something more, but they don’t know what to do with that. When 3,000 people participated in a research study that Jon conducted, 96% of people said that they were not living up to their full potential, 50% of those individuals said that 50% of their full potential is untapped.
So why are we not living up to our full potential? Why don’t we do difficult things?
Well, because we don’t like to do difficult things.
You as an individual are the most persuasive person that you have ever met. Having goals is great, but just because you are a high performer doesn’t mean that you are a high achiever. There are 3 zones of performance, and finding the right balance is key:
Comfort Zone
- No Goals
- No Actions
- No Progress
Chaos Zone
- Too Many Goals
- Too Many Actions
- No Progress
Potential Zone
- Right Goals
- Right Actions
- Right Progress
The objective is to stay in the potential zone where you have all the right goals, actions, and progress. What are the steps that you need to take to stay in the potential zone? How do you make your dreams and your goals and turn them into reality?
It’s all about Dreaming, Planning, Doing then Reviewing.
Dreaming
What do you want to do? What are your next steps?
You will need to focus on how real your goals are and focus on what actions you are taking to accomplish those goals.
Planning
How will you do it? What are your next steps?
Focus on how realistic your goals are and what action you are taking for those goals to be completed.
Do
Are you doing it? Have you moved beyond the dreaming stage?
How are you able to add fun into the process of completing the goal, especially if it is something difficult.
Review
Did it work? Did you get the results you were looking for?
Look over the data that you collected, feedback that you have, and make changes to keep moving forward.
If what you have done is working, then keep doing what you are doing. If what you did didn’t work, then go back to the planning stage and try again. Sometimes it may be the wrong goal, in which case you can go back to the dreaming stage.
After all, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results!