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Magic in the Room #31- Unlocking EQ: Driving Engagement

Nov 17, 2020

When people are engaged, they do their best work. They are more productive because they feel energized, focused, and aligned to the purpose of the organization. Team members stick around longer because they feel challenged yet supported, appreciated, and valued by their team. In this episode, Luke, Chris, and Hannah explore what it takes to create an environment that fosters engagement and high performance.

 

 

Luke, Chris, and Hannah return to the Magic in the Room podcast after securing a recording studio. Chris asks the audience to look back to a time in their life to a situation where they felt super engaged and was striving to be better. A time where all of your efforts from intellectual to emotional were focused on reaching a goal. What were the habits of the people that led you to that place?

 

The hosts share their experiences. But how do we win a game that has no end? In the Infinite Game,  Simon Sinek  talks about the importance of building forward momentum and creating value. If we genuinely believe that every business needs to be in the game of evolution, the only way to get there is to have a company culture that supports it.

 

If a company doesn’t have a culture that allows people to create value and default to action to do things that move the company forward, it cannot adapt to the changing landscape.   General McChrystal  famously talked about how the seal teams are a tight knit unit, but it wasn’t always like that in the larger military organization. They didn’t operate in the same way. And that’s what we see mirrored in corporate cultures too.

 

You can have a toxic corporate culture, and yet you can have healthy teams within that culture. It’s all based on the local leader and the culture they set and what they do to create unity and a sense of purpose. But you can have a healthy corporate culture, and a toxic team culture. It all rises and falls on the individual leader and the courage of that individual.

 

Hannah shares how  Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott  was a pivotal book in her life. In book helped her understand that the conversation is the relationship. If the conversation stops, the relationship ends. When it comes to keeping people engaged, whether as a leader or in a family in any human relationship, it happens in an ongoing conversation. Learning how to talk to each other authentically and genuinely allows us to feel seen.

 

For Luke, it’s all about ownership. If you’re a leader and people choose to spend time with you, you have to take ownership of their experience and improve it. The moment we find ourselves blaming others for the lack of engagement within our teams, it’s time to reflect on why we are blaming others when we have the power to change the outcome for the better.

 

Chris shares the importance of using our language correctly. If we misuse it, we remove our responsibility and become part of the problem instead of the solution. Ask yourself, what does it take to drive engagement and be active within your models? If you can answer that, you will unlock the path that will move you from where you are to where you need to be.

 

By Sarah Whitfield 05 Mar, 2024
In today's episode of Magic in the Room, we continue our series on leading a team with the foundational skill leaders must have: the ability to build trust. It may sound cliche, but trust is the foundation of a high-performing team. In fact, Luke and Hannah argue that dogs have better lives and fewer people die when teams have high trust! When teams don't have trust, the result is lower performance, lower well-being, and ultimately, people leave. If you focus on one thing as a leader, it should be building trust. In today's episode of Magic in the Room, we continue our series on leading a team with the foundational skill leaders must have: the ability to build trust. It may sound cliche, but trust is the foundation of a high-performing team. In fact, Luke and Hannah argue that dogs have better lives and fewer people die when teams have high trust! When teams don't have trust, the result is lower performance, lower well-being, and ultimately, people leave. If you focus on one thing as a leader, it should be building trust. To download the free guide that goes with this episode, subscribe below: 
By Sarah Whitfield 06 Feb, 2024
Welcome to Season 5 of Magic in the Room! In this episode, Hannah, Chris, and Luke introduce the topic we will focus on this year: Lead a Team.  Everyone’s leadership journey starts with leading themselves, which was the topic of Season 4 of Magic in the Room. The next step on the journey may be having formal leadership over a team of people. As you make this leadership shift, you must change your definition of success from focusing on individual accomplishments to equipping your team to be effective. The transition is not easy! In this episode, we discuss what that transition is, how to make it, and the practical skills you need to develop to be an effective team leader. To download the free guide that goes with this episode, subscribe below:
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