In the workplace, trust is vital in many areas:

1. Employees trust that you will keep their personal information confidential, including discussions or actions related to that information.

2. Management and shareholders trust that financial data, proprietary information, trade secrets, processes and plans will not be shared with others unless agreed and/or required.

3. Management trusts that customers will pay for products and services delivered – and trust that they have recourse if that doesn’t happen in a timely manner.

4. Most importantly, it’s critical that your team trust you as a leader. You may demonstrate trustworthiness in many ways: respecting confidentiality, consistently evidencing ethical behavior, being accountable for your commitments and allowing the open and blameless exchange of ideas. If they trust you, they can follow you.

1. Blame is not accountability.

2. While blame can be conferred on someone else, accountability is engagement and ownership we impose on ourselves. I cannot hold you accountable if you do not do so yourself.

Altruism - unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others - can:

1. Feel good – altruism has been proven by studies at NIH to promote changes in the brain associated with happiness.

2. Reduce isolation and impart a feeling of belonging .

3. Reduce stress and feelings of negativity .

4. Give perspective .

5. Be contagious.

All our life, we learn to make decisions and conclusions, then defend them. Once we determine we are right, we cling to that “rightness”, often despite evidence we may be wrong. Our egos get in the way of changing our minds. 

Curiosity is one of my core values and I enjoy practicing it, through:

1. Proactive reading, listening, questioning and conversing

2. Thoughtful sifting, consideration, and discussion of new information

3. Planning as to appropriate applications

When you commit to doing something or being somewhere, you hold yourself accountable for doing it accurately and in the time promised. 

A basic tenet of our coaching practice at Momentum Consulting is accountability, an essential component of executive leadership training, both with individuals and teams. Those of you familiar with us have surely heard one of us say “…there’s no blame in accountability, and no accountability in blame”.

it is the responsibility of leaders to choose goals that matter. Only then does the necessary system of waterfalling those goals through the organization with key OKRs (objectives and key results) work effectively.

What distinguished the fun work from the not-so-much?

1. I worked for and with people who were engaged; they cared about the company and understood how they could contribute to its success.

2. People cared about each other; it’s unrealistic to expect that everyone in a company will be friends, but demonstrated compassion makes an enormous difference.

3. Fun work environments were safe work environments; people felt safe to speak up and to both voice and try new ideas.

4. We felt heard. Our opinions were solicited and acknowledged.

5. We were proud of our success and our ability to function as a high-performing team.

6. Laughter; while serious about our work, people felt comfortable cracking jokes and having fun together.

The perceived lack of safety in an organization will certainly give you a calm, quiet work environment.

What it will not give you is a high performing team.