Building Resilience at Work
Building Resilience at Work
As we get to the end of February, we're realizing our lesson for the month was flexibility. We'd like to think we're a pretty adaptable team to begin with, but the universe seems intent on reinforcing the lesson. (We get it, we get it).
In just the past few weeks, we’ve each had to adapt and pivot more than a few times to deal with life's unexpected curveballs while still delivering on our commitments.
Unexpected daycare closures. Sick babies who only want mama. Rare snowstorms and frozen pipes. Family emergencies. More sickness.
Pieces of our lives that we can’t just check at the door from 9 to 5.
It's not easy to manage during a busy season, but we keep coming back to how grateful we are to work where we do.
We're grateful that, as a team, we’ve intentionally fostered a workplace that supports us as multi-dimensional humans who embody many roles.
Consultant. Colleague. Partner. Caregiver. The list could go on.
We’ve built a culture that expects excellence, but gives a lot of freedom and support when it's needed.
We’ve gotten to this place for a few reasons:
We Focus on Outputs
We care much more about work outputs than what hours people work. When you set clear goals, deliverables, and expectations for yourselves and one another, then you can provide freedom for people to work when and how they need to. Clarity and accountability sets the stage for empowerment.
As Leaders, We Model Honesty
We (Tiffany & Bentley) don’t hide when we’re having a hard time or at risk of falling behind. We appropriately share with the team and ask for help when we need it. We’ve found that modeling honesty gives our team the permission to do the same.
We Have Each Other’s Backs
When one person is going through a hard time, the rest of us jump in to offer support. Even if you don’t take them up on it, knowing you can depend on your teammates when you need it makes all the difference.
What we’ve found is that, by building a culture based on trust, accountability and support, it’s made us a more resilient team. It’s given us confidence that we can tackle just about anything that comes our way.
In writing this, we recognize that it’s a privilege to be able to set culture and supporting policies as Founders of the company.
But, if you are a leader or manager of a team of any size, you get to shape the culture of your direct team - as small or large as it may be.
What is the culture that you are building on your team? What else has been critical to creating an environment of trust, flexibility or support?
Questions? We’re here to help. Reach out to us at hello@conscious-culture.co to set up a free consultation with our team.