I received an email from a listener and I thought it would be a good topic to cover on today’s episode. This person’s team had just suffered a major failure. The team is struggling to cope with it, people are wondering where to go from here and ultimately…they want to know how to restart this team effectively.
I am going to sound like a broken record here, but you start with listening and empathy. The team is hurting, if you have a good team of solid performers, a big failure truly HURTS. I can cause shame, frustration, anxiety, anger, and a host of other emotions. With that the best thing to do is let them release those emotions. There is a good chance you will take the brunt of the vitriol, and rightfully so, you are the leader, it’s your job to take it.
The key here is to make sure you keep your boundaries, hate and demeaning talk isn’t acceptable…as long as you are good there, the main key is to not let it go one for months and months. I made that mistake before and I thought I was helping by letting them complain and be frustrated for weeks and weeks. Maybe there was a therapeutic aspect to that over time, but whatever I was doing, it wasn’t leading.
After a few sessions (at most) of frustration and commiserating, where you told them I hear you, I understand how you feel, etc. etc…it’s time to start pivoting their negative emotions into things that will bring about a positive outcome for them AND the rest of the team. Venting is great for a spell, but as soon as it drags on, it becomes unhealthy. You can’t avoid sitting in the mud with your people, but you can eventually help pull them out and start getting back to a path of balance and fulfillment.
I hope this was helpful, if you have any questions, hit me up on any social platform or email at the website below!
