This is where I'll keep a daily journal and make at least a tiny bit of progress towards writing for my book, Create Every Day, and other projects. This was inspired by Episode 017 of The Future Belongs to Creators.
If you read this at the end of the day and there isn't an entry yet for that day, remind me on Twitter (@nathanbarry).
Worked on the outline for Company Culture for Remote Teams. It's starting to come together!
Nothing can kill a company faster than a disconnect between what you think about someone and what you're willing to say to them directly.
No well-intentioned person sets out to talk about their teammates behind their backs, but in nearly every organization that's the norm. Worst of all we do it with the best intentions. Someone doesn't carry their weight in a project, so the next time important work is about to be assigned you say, "Uh, we'd better give that to a person who executes better." But of course you don't talk to the individual about it directly. Negative feedback is hard to give and might hurt their feelings. So instead you settle for being nice and make a plan to help them on their next project.
Managers are actually the worst enablers of this. Your team member comes to you with feedback on a co-worker. You listen carefully, realize their complaints have merit, and then promise to talk to the offending individual and address the problem.
While it may feel like you're a good manager, you actually just took away a great growth opportunity and hurt your company culture.
Here's what happened, despite your good intentions:
You'll finish the block of meetings with a todo list far longer than you started! A series of difficult conversations you have to prep for, schedule, and then conduct. No wonder you end the week exhausted and emotionally drained! 3. You created a culture of talking behind people's backs — Worst of all, you taught each of your team members they should come to you with their problems rather than working it out directly. Unchecked this will destroy the culture you've tried to build.
All this when you were just trying to help and be a good manager!
Luckily I've got good news for you: there's one sentence that can change this entire paradigm and save your company culture.
The conversation starts the same way: someone brings a problem to you about another person on the team. You listen, ask any clarifying question, and then say this magic phrase: