The ONE Thing
Taking on big things – like changing your organization’s culture – can seem overwhelming. The Axela Group believes that when feeling overwhelmed, it’s important to pick just a few, even just ONE, thing to do to move forward.
There is something YOU can do TODAY to influence change at work (and in your homelife, too, for that matter). It doesn’t matter what your job or industry is – this is the thing YOU can do TODAY. It is attainable and has been road tested – most recently among those working in healthcare.
Last month, Alexa took the stage at The OrthoForum’s Physician Academy in Phoenix, Arizona to talk about change, humans and healthcare. Healthcare’s challenges are anything but a secret – they’re visible in the headlines about the rising costs of health care, in the body language of clinicians suffering from demoralization syndrome, and on the faces of patients unable access care and essential medicine.
The challenges are real. Physician Academy is about equipping leaders in Orthopedic private practice to lead – and leading today means being a change maker.
Alexa knows that change making is messy and complex from her years of leading change and working side by side with social entrepreneurs addressing some of the world’s most pressing issues in health and education. Even through complexity, patterns of successful change-making emerge over time.
The ChangeMaker’s Secret™ is a formula Alexa developed from watching – and being – a change maker. While this blog doesn’t go into The ChangeMaker’s Secret™ formula in depth, there is ONE thing you can do TODAY that comes from the formula directly. You, as an individual, need it and the human beings you work with need it too – Psychological Safety: the belief that you won't be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes.
What does this have to do with you? EVERYTHING. As shared with the participants of Physician Academy,
“If you take just ONE THING away from our talk today, hear this: Psychological safety starts with you. You set the tone.”
So now what? What can I do today?
Self-awareness is the path to effective leadership and psychologically safe teams. Self-awareness is at the root of how you show up at work – and how you show up sets the tone for others. They decide whether to walk on eggshells and hide who they are or to reveal their dreams and share their wild (and wonderful) ideas. Your state of mind matters – it impacts team performance – and there is research to back that up. So know your mindset and be equipped to act with intention, instead of being on auto-pilot, or worse – emotionally hi-jacked.
Acting with intention means you can invite participation and respond productively in times of challenge. Check out the tips below to get you started on the path to self-awareness, and ultimately equipped to contribute to a psychologically safe workplace:
Check-in with yourself: Be present and notice what is happening for you in the moment. Notice your mindset and how it impacts your thoughts, emotions and body. Need to reset? Try this.
Get perspective: Ask for feedback, take a self-assessment or take a 360 assessment. Self-assessments like DiSC or EQ-i (Emotional Intelligence) can reveal your natural style and identify blind spots that might be limiting your effectiveness and team psychological safety.
Lean into your strengths: Most teams have diverse talents – that’s good – but without awareness of one another’s strengths, these differences can stir conflicts on a team. Know and share your strengths. This unlocks potential.
Experiment and Adapt: Self-awareness means you have a choice about how you show up. Use mini experiments to try new ways of engaging, reflect to learn and then make choices about what and how you’ll adapt.
Giveaway: Tips for Building Self-Awareness Infographic
As you set out on the path of self-awareness, consider these wise words of 19th century ChangeMaker, Israel Salanter:
"When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world.
I found it difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation.
When I found I couldn't change the nation, I began to focus on my town.
I couldn't change the town, so, as an older man, I tried to change my family.
Now, as an old man, I realize that the only thing I can change is myself.
And suddenly I realize that if, long ago, I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family.
My family could have made an impact on our town.
The town's impact could have changed the nation,
and I could indeed have changed the world."