After the past few weeks where the writing has been reflective and more long-form, today’s edition returns to a practical, tool-driven and shorter style. Concretely, we look at the 5 elements of a leadership framework I’ve used to drive a more human approach to teamwork and the 10 key questions we ask in its delivery.
I’m really excited to see some faces later today from the AEI leadership cohort, the reason I kick-started this weekly newsletter back in May (now in its 25th consecutive week). Have a great week everyone and see you next Friday.
Steven
Creating a Culture of Wellbeing
How do you create a culture of wellbeing? It’s a tough ask but looking closely at leadership behaviours has a huge impact.
The leadership vowels were first published as chapter 9 in the Chief Wellbeing Officer book in 2018. They came from my background in design and certain skills I learned training as a designer that I thought were critical for leadership.
Design is, at its core, about understanding and satisfying human needs and if the motivation is for leaders to act in a more human way, what better field could we draw from?
The framework became even more relevant during the pandemic when leaders had to navigate crisis but do it in a compassionate way. Vowels are the basis for language, so the 5 vowels for leaders to speak a more human language are:
A is for Ambiguity
Whether it be operations and innovation or short-term versus long-term results, leaders have long been aware of the need to build an ambidextrous organization that has to look both ways at once in order to thrive. The best business processes allow ambiguity to be a temporary state so it becomes an opportunity to be embraced while the window remains open, rather than an inconvenience to be endured.
E is for Empathy
For increased engagement in the organization, leaders need to manage in a more empathetic manner. At the end of the day, work is still work. Employees must maintain professionalism and understand their responsibilities, yet the employer has to take their duty of care seriously. This creates the foundation for compassion, care and taking positive action.
I is for Iteration
How might speed and experimentation unlock learning in your team? The experience of work is improved too, bringing fun rather than been bogged down in a never-ending quest for right-first-time.
O is for Observation
Often the precursor for asking more powerful questions how do you challenge assumptions? When was the last time you observed first-hand what is going on, or are you basing your beliefs on another person’s observations?
U is for Understanding
The power of the leadership pause. Creating space before execution allows for powerful re-framing. Funding the right question is often more difficult than the answer.
High-performing teams often have a strong culture of wellbeing and a lot of that is based on mutual support. That culture of care can be driven by leaders and we’ve used this framework to try and instill that care without forgetting about the business.
10 Questions
These wellbeing culture vowels have been delivered in sessions varying from 1-3 hours. Regardless of the time we focus on the following 10 questions. How would you answer? How do you feel when reflecting on them? Perhaps you could even frame a team meeting based on these ten.
1) Leaders no longer have all the answers so how can you lead in a more humble way?
2) What does humble leadership look like in practice?
3) How do you walk in another’s shoes without burning out yourself?
4) How can you lead through coaching and compassion?
5) Where can you experiment and ‘fail safely’? (or simply do different stuff)
6) What have you changed your mind about recently?
7) How do you overcome bias and ‘get into the field’?
8) What are the main assumptions you need to challenge to move ahead?
9) How can you ‘hold space’ in a busy day to re-frame?
10) How can you focus on defining the question before jumping to the answer?
How else could leadership support a culture of wellbeing, while still getting things done?
Leading Wellbeing
After the past few weeks where the writing has been reflective and more long-form, today’s edition returns to a practical, tool-driven and shorter style. Concretely, we look at the 5 elements of a leadership framework I’ve used to drive a more human approach to teamwork and the 10 key questions we ask in its delivery.
I’m really excited to see some faces later today from the AEI leadership cohort, the reason I kick-started this weekly newsletter back in May (now in its 25th consecutive week). Have a great week everyone and see you next Friday.
Steven
Creating a Culture of Wellbeing
How do you create a culture of wellbeing? It’s a tough ask but looking closely at leadership behaviours has a huge impact.
The leadership vowels were first published as chapter 9 in the Chief Wellbeing Officer book in 2018. They came from my background in design and certain skills I learned training as a designer that I thought were critical for leadership.
Design is, at its core, about understanding and satisfying human needs and if the motivation is for leaders to act in a more human way, what better field could we draw from?
The framework became even more relevant during the pandemic when leaders had to navigate crisis but do it in a compassionate way. Vowels are the basis for language, so the 5 vowels for leaders to speak a more human language are:
A is for Ambiguity
Whether it be operations and innovation or short-term versus long-term results, leaders have long been aware of the need to build an ambidextrous organization that has to look both ways at once in order to thrive. The best business processes allow ambiguity to be a temporary state so it becomes an opportunity to be embraced while the window remains open, rather than an inconvenience to be endured.
E is for Empathy
For increased engagement in the organization, leaders need to manage in a more empathetic manner. At the end of the day, work is still work. Employees must maintain professionalism and understand their responsibilities, yet the employer has to take their duty of care seriously. This creates the foundation for compassion, care and taking positive action.
I is for Iteration
How might speed and experimentation unlock learning in your team? The experience of work is improved too, bringing fun rather than been bogged down in a never-ending quest for right-first-time.
O is for Observation
Often the precursor for asking more powerful questions how do you challenge assumptions? When was the last time you observed first-hand what is going on, or are you basing your beliefs on another person’s observations?
U is for Understanding
The power of the leadership pause. Creating space before execution allows for powerful re-framing. Funding the right question is often more difficult than the answer.
High-performing teams often have a strong culture of wellbeing and a lot of that is based on mutual support. That culture of care can be driven by leaders and we’ve used this framework to try and instill that care without forgetting about the business.
10 Questions
These wellbeing culture vowels have been delivered in sessions varying from 1-3 hours. Regardless of the time we focus on the following 10 questions. How would you answer? How do you feel when reflecting on them? Perhaps you could even frame a team meeting based on these ten.
1) Leaders no longer have all the answers so how can you lead in a more humble way?
2) What does humble leadership look like in practice?
3) How do you walk in another’s shoes without burning out yourself?
4) How can you lead through coaching and compassion?
5) Where can you experiment and ‘fail safely’? (or simply do different stuff)
6) What have you changed your mind about recently?
7) How do you overcome bias and ‘get into the field’?
8) What are the main assumptions you need to challenge to move ahead?
9) How can you ‘hold space’ in a busy day to re-frame?
10) How can you focus on defining the question before jumping to the answer?
How else could leadership support a culture of wellbeing, while still getting things done?
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