Last time I shared with you how our brains are hard-wired toreact to perceived threats, how there is no distinction between physical and emotional threats and four ways things that can trigger employees fight-flight response. You can read that blog here.
This time I want to share a little more about what you can do as the leader in your practice to increase the feelings of safety that your employees will have.
1) Lose your ego – what I mean by that is lose the idea that you have to made all the decisions and be in charge of absolutely everything. Leadership isabout enabling your employees to be successful and giving them the tools and resources to do so. When you do this they will perceive that you care about them and increase their connectedness with you which decreases the chances of that trigger being hit.
2) Coach and empower – rather than insist on precise ways to do everything and offering all the answers coach and empower them to find their own ways. Help them to develop a mindset of learning rather than fearing getting it wrong. This allows them some autonomy and sense of control which decreases the chance of that trigger being hit.
3) Provide meaning and purpose – as well as having the WHY or mission or vision for the practice also provide a connection to the meaning and purpose of each team member as an individual. Find out what their personal aspirations and purpose are and find a way to connect that to the organisations why. By creating this synchronicity you are increasing their connectedness and sense of competence and so are avoiding both of those triggers.
4) Be consistent – Lack of consistency is one of the key triggers of feeling unsafe. So, ensure that there is consistency in communication, leadership style and between words and actions. It helps here to have a shared and clearly communicated set of values that are lived by the entire team.
By creating this kind of environment, you are increasing the employee’s sense of safety and reducing the chances of the threat response being triggered increasing their sense of well-being. But also, they are better able to use the part of their brain that enables logical thinking, learning and problem solving which will increase their productivity.
For help with increasing the sense of safety amongst your employees or support to developing a set of Core Values to build a high performing team book a conversation with me and let’s explore how my coaching programmes could help you.
