Jeremy Bradley-Silverio Donato, COO at Zama.
Every organization has a set of guiding principles usually articulated in a mission or vision statement. But even when these principles go unspoken, they exist intrinsically in the culture of the company.
Issues arise for leaders when team members seem indifferent or are misaligned with the company’s guiding principles. The cry, “Help! My team doesn’t listen to me,” is a common lament, but with the right strategies, this obstacle can be overcome.
Establishing Clear Communication
The first strategy to ensure your team aligns with your organizational values and priorities is clear, consistent communication. Ambiguity breeds confusion, leading to divergent understandings and disjointed action. As a leader, it is your responsibility to articulate these values and priorities plainly, reiterating them regularly to cement their importance.
To effectively communicate these principles, it’s essential to adopt a proactive approach. This involves not only stating your message but also creating a dialogue around it. One powerful way to facilitate this dialogue is by asking pertinent questions on a daily basis. These questions could focus on how a team member’s tasks align with organizational values, how their work contributes to the larger priorities or how they plan to embody the company’s values in their daily activities.
In my role as a C-level executive at a deeptech startup, I make a point of leveraging team meetings, Slack messages, one-on-one discussions and even company-wide forums to broadcast important messages and engage the team in meaningful conversations around it. My objective here is to ensure every team member comprehends our organization’s values and priorities in that given moment.
This understanding should not be just at a surface level, but deep enough to inform their everyday actions and decisions. When the message is reiterated by another person at the same level—for example, our CEO—then we are doubly effective at getting the point across.
By frequently integrating relevant questions into your interactions, you are subtly yet effectively reinforcing the organization’s values and priorities. This practice enables team members to continually reflect upon these principles and their role in manifesting them, fostering a stronger alignment and commitment.
Practicing Openness And Transparency
Openness and transparency are not just buzzwords; they are essential ingredients in fostering trust and commitment within your team. If you’re open about the organization’s direction, your team members are more likely to understand and commit to the shared vision.
Remember, involvement breeds commitment. Involve your team in strategy discussions, allowing them to understand the reasoning behind certain priorities and to see the larger picture. This practice can significantly enhance their motivation to align their actions with the organization’s values.
When team members feel empowered, they are more inclined to adopt and respect organizational values. Empowerment entails granting your team the autonomy to make decisions within their scope of work, promoting innovation and ownership. It also involves acknowledging their efforts and rewarding successes, making them feel recognized and valued.
Leading By Example
As a leader, your actions carry significant weight. Your team members will look to you as a role model, so it is crucial to embody the organizational values you wish to see in your team. By exhibiting actions and behaviors that align with these values and priorities, you offer a clear and tangible example for your team to follow.
It’s important to be mindful of the consistency of your actions and focus. If your attention span is inconsistent or continuously shifting, team members might struggle to discern the organization’s true values and priorities. Leaders set the pace. So this confusion can lead your team to pay less and less attention to what you want, creating a disconnect between the team and the leader’s goals.
Steadfastly adhering to the organizational values in your actions and decisions serves as a constant reminder to your team of their importance. It sends a powerful message that these are not mere words, but principles that should guide every aspect of their work. Your consistent behavior serves as the blueprint for the team, reinforcing the desired behaviors.
Instilling A Values-Driven Culture
Creating a culture that promotes and rewards alignment with the company’s values is another practical strategy. This could be done by integrating these principles into the performance assessment process, recognizing and rewarding employees who demonstrate these values in their work.
As Edgar Schein noted in his pivotal work on organizational culture, “Leaders can quickly get across their own priorities, values, and assumptions by consistently linking rewards and punishments to the behavior they are concerned with.” If you want to see team members contributing more, reward those who perform at a higher level. If you’re disappointed by last quarter’s results, have a serious and frank meeting with the people responsible and outline the steps they need to take this quarter to make things right.
A values-driven culture fosters a sense of belonging and pride among team members, encouraging them to uphold these values in their work. Reinforce this culture through team-building activities, workshops and training that is centered on the organization’s core values. By connecting rewards and corrective actions directly to your values, you reinforce their importance and create a powerful incentive for alignment.
Continuous Learning And Adaptation
Aligning a team with organizational values and priorities is not a one-time event but a continuous process. It requires patience, resilience and a willingness to learn and adapt. Encourage feedback and foster a safe environment where team members feel comfortable voicing their opinions. This practice promotes continuous learning and allows for any necessary adjustments to be made in the alignment process.
The bottom line is that the cry for help, “My team doesn’t listen to me,” is more of a call for leaders to reflect upon their strategies and approach. It’s not about making the team listen to you; instead, it’s about enabling them to understand, appreciate and align their efforts with the organization’s values and priorities. Employing these strategies can provide a road map for leaders to steer their teams in the right direction, fostering more engagement and alignment.
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