This is who you want to be in a foxhole with . . .
Want to know what happens when your leadership team starts to get honest and authentic with each other?
Just last week, I had the absolute privilege and honor to host a high-level workshop with the leadership team of a particular company.
This was a blue collar bunch of hard-working, nose-to-the-grindstone leaders who knows how to get stuff done…
And while this group was definitely used to experiencing a lot of success with each other - they weren’t as well versed - or comfortable - in sharing how they felt about some of their greatest struggles - and getting vulnerable with each other.
So, this workshop was designed to help them establish psychological safety (a staple in Radically Resilient teams) and channel their deepest character strengths. Everyone was expected to participate and share their feelings.
While I had high hopes for how this training would unfold - I was truly blown away by what transpired with this group. Here’s why:
We heard these leaders open up and share some of their greatest challenges - and subsequent victories - with several of them mentioning that they had never told anyone about these experiences before!!
And a number of these individuals had been with this organization for 20+ years - and yet - in this one day workshop - they forged an unbreakable bond of trust, respect, support, and radical resilience.
And after everyone had shared some deeply intimate stuff, I remember one man standing up and saying,
“Because of this workshop, if I'm ever in a foxhole, there's no other group I'd rather be with."
Wow, is that powerful!!
These workshops are extraordinarily powerful, and I am beyond excited and honored to have already booked events in multiple states - and with some phenomenal organizations!
Having said this - I want to pause for a moment and reflect on what made this past weekend’s workshop such a profound and transformative experience:
Number one, we weren’t sharing the tired old sayings of, “Just sleep more and eat healthy, you’ll feel better!” that you hear so often.
We emphasized the need for what I call “Strategic Recovery.”
Similar to what athletes do, we didn’t want these employees to just wait for things to get better or do something unrelated to distract themselves.
Instead, we helped institute policies that allowed them to leave their posts and take truly restorative breaks.
Simple things like walking, mindful breathing, or talking with a carefully chosen friend - can help these folks recharge and refocus in the middle of a demanding day.
Second, we provided this leadership team with a proven framework for leaning into tough, conflict oriented conversations - and do so in a way that consistently leads to win/win outcomes (it’s amazing how effective this strategy is!).
By doing this, each leader saw these conflict laden issues as less paralyzing and more as opportunities for growth. Instead of freezing at the sight of trouble, we helped them learn to assess and grow from it.
That’s huge for building radical resilience!!
Third, we dove deep into ideas like how cows handle storms versus buffalo… and why you need to charge right into your problems (with your Radical Resilience tools, resources, and strategy in place).
We also discussed the “Tennis Championship Difference,” which illustrated how the best players in the world weren’t the most talented—it was the most resilient and adaptive in tough situations.
Finally, we showed these folks that, when everyone shares a set of values and truly trusts one another (as brothers and sisters, not just coworkers!) you start to build radical resilience, both on a personal and company level!
I still remember leaving that workshop in awe of how deep we got… no exaggeration, it was a profound - almost spiritual experience (with Jesus right at the center of it!).
This is what happens when you create an environment for radical honesty, lean into grueling conversations, and demonstrate what makes a person and organization deeply resilient to their True North: