MindSPACE –Part 4 of 5: Connection 

Welcome to the next dynamic notion in our conversation on MindSPACE, which is Connection.

Part 1 of this series explored Shared Vision and the creative process of building inclusive working partnerships. Part 2 addressed Personality and the value of differences and diversity to help teams move toward higher levels of appreciation. Part 3 explored Accessibility– and tools needed to achieve named goals. In Part 4, we look at the power and importance of Connection. (insert links to previous articles in the bold words)

As you know, we are using an acronym to support each notion, using the letters in the word SPACE:

1. Shared Vision
2. Personality
3. Accessibility
4. Connection
5. Emotion

We invite you to repeat the formula for identifying needs and elevating your vision toward success. Choose a specific focus which could be a current work dynamic, a challenge, a situation, or a hoped-for change. Then assess the way things are right now using the colors green, yellow, and red to describe “what is” in a way that could easily be shared with the team or others. Remember:

Green – Stands for Go: All is working well.

Yellow – Stands for Caution: Meaning, this area deserves renewed attention.

Red – Stands for Stop: Before moving forward, there is a significant issue that needs to be addressed.

More specific instructions, a helpful checklist, and a printable MindSPACE performance profile can be found HERE to help you through this process.

Onward with Connection!

A lot of problems in the world would be solved if we talked to each other instead of about each other.

~Nicky Gumbel

What would happen if direct communication was one of our top values with one another and with our teams?

Tradition might tempt us into the lull of hierarchies, and ‘silo effect’ practices, where teams, levels, or departments are inclined to keep successes and goals from each other and end up fostering competitive gamesmanship.

Even when the intention of a group or company is open communication, it’s possible to lose the way, blaming it on expansion, misunderstanding, lack of time, or geographic proximity.

If our goal is Connection, we can’t allow for the blocks. Go back and refer to your own evaluation of how you’re doing. Green, yellow, or red- it’s time to break down those barriers.

Communication and leadership are often considered ‘soft skills.’ So, let’s embrace soft and take it seriously. It’s the leaders’ responsibility to open and soften commitment on behalf of supportive relationships. While taking time to listen and connect is time-consuming, the quality of relationships suffers if we don’t. We’ve heard stories of managers publicly or harshly criticizing employees, those who might be over-controlling or totally detached. And to what end?

The missing element of compassion is not expensive, is easy, and hugely effective. How might it improve your team or company? It’s not transactional- it’s a heart thing over a brain thing.

What we’re describing is a psychological component to what’s happening within our companies and in the world. What if we considered it an obligation toward the highest levels of success?

To make a habit of taking inventory of how your people are doing, to create opportunities for connection, idea sharing, support, and mentorship.

Taking just one example of setting up a new flexible work environment and the intention to expand employee satisfaction and optimize connection and productivity, let’s be aware of the pitfalls.

Breakdowns occur if:

• Leaders don’t connect with and trust their employees, therefore try to micromanage.
• Business systems aren’t set up to easily share and collaborate on working documents, schedules, and shared vision.
• The team isn’t regularly brought together to connect in a human-centric way that builds rapport and expands innovation.

Ask Yourself (and/or ask your team): Do your methods and approaches create space for engaged communication between team members, departments, and levels? If not, are there blocks to those connections that need to be addressed?

Isolation is a design for loneliness and narrow thinking. How can connection be a conduit for expansive thinking that is mindful, beyond ego, and within a context of service toward shared goals?

One of a strong leader’s tasks is to repeatedly engineer opportunities for connection as a part of a continual and evolving process. Emphasis in this area can change a disconnected organization into a healthy and sustainable organism.

Whether you are a small organization or team, a startup, or a well-established corporation, a “way of being” that is connected and visionary will garner shared talents, increase the flow of productivity, and impact the bottom line.

As much as we address shared vision, let’s always remember it begins with each of us individually. So, for you as a singular, aspiring human…

Ask Yourself: How can you as a person benefit from purposeful connections? We recommend building a Connection List. A list of people who are your top go-to people in various situations. Include a mentor role for advice, a new idea person for creative discussions, a reality check person, a company or thought leader, and others.

Also Ask Yourself: How can you as a leader open those lines of communication for your people? Where might we be blocking connection without knowing it?

Open lines of communication enhance productive conversations and innovative idea-sharing.

Awareness of the barriers to true connection is essential. And that is whether those barriers are internal, as in growing self-doubt and fear that we can’t reach out to others, or external, as in corporate blocks to keep a traditional hierarchical structure. In either case, the barriers must be removed.

Return to the self-reflection model of green, yellow, and red and ask what you and your team are doing to:

• Spark ideas
• Release stress
• Build trust
• Open minds
• Solve problems
• Lead to clients
• Grow revenue

Ask yourself: 

6. How does the above fit with your/team/company values?
7. How are you doing with honest and meaningful lines of communication?
8. How have you encouraged your team to rise to new heights?

• What more do you need to build a culture of Connection?

Following the acronym of SPACE, our next and final article in this five-part series will address a dynamic force that either creates difficulties or binds every team and company toward higher goals. The letter E stands for Emotion, and that’s where we’ll meet you next.

Don’t miss the final section of our MindSPACE series!