Creating a Culture of Trust

When Stan Moss took over as CEO of investment firm Polan Capital in 2012, he made it part of his mission to create a workplace culture of trust amongst his team members. From his perspective, psychological safety is the pinnacle of workplace trust, and to get there, leadership must take this concept from words to actions. Back in 2012, Moss and his team began by reading Dr. Carol Dweck’s best seller Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, all about growth mindset. Believing that an individual, team, or business can continue to thrive in the face of challenges and failures innately empowers people to both collectively share their ideas, and feel comfortable challenging the way others think.

In order to foster this environment, Moss and his team adopted the practice of giving and receiving real-time constructive feedback, or what they call "radical candor”. It is not possible to maintain a growth mindset when feedback is received from a source deemed untrustworthy. No one enjoys having these difficult conversations, but if the receiver knows that the giver has their best interests at heart, and wants them to grow and thrive in their shared environment, it becomes a lot easier to hear constructive criticism.

To turn these abstract ideas into actions, Polan Capital first made David Horsager’s book Trust Edge a firm-wide mandatory read (they then went on to have Horsager give a keynote speech to the company), highlighting his eight pillars of trust. Every month, one of the eight pillars of trust got its own deep dive, and employees would nominate colleagues they believed embodied that trait. Through this, Moss believes, Polan Capital has ended up on the Pensions & Investments’ Best Places to Work in Money Management list seven years straight.

Establishing this bottom-up approach to trust has also empowered the leadership team to become “radical receivers”. Moss and his team regularly solicit feedback from those working directly with them, and they are committed to holding themselves accountable to it. Asking questions, and remaining open to others’ ideas are key ways in which higher-ups can avoid becoming defensive during these sessions.

As with any cultural shift, this did not happen overnight. It took years of commitment, continued education, and personal growth to get to where they are. But, ten years later the folks at Polan Capital are still thriving in the culture of trust that has been created. Check out Moss’s full article here for more real-world examples of how he and his team walk the walk of psychological trust in the workplace.

On the Road to Moral Insight

Often, when we encounter difficult problems, people, or issues, our initial reaction can be to run or try and shut it (or them) out. This is only natural, and likely led to survival back when the problem was a life-threatening predator. These days, however, our problems tend to be less dangerous, but far more morally complex. Daniel Pink, bestselling author and host of Pinkcast, posted one of his short yet informative videos recently about a simple linguistic change that can have a profound impact on your problem-solving abilities.

Based on research published in the Academy of Management Journal, Ting Zhang of Harvard University, along with colleagues Francesca Gino and Joshua D. Margolis found that there was one trick to use when trying to fix a dilemma. They found that posing the question “What could I do?”, as opposed to “What should I do"?” can generate moral insight and more creative solutions to the issue at hand. Not only is the ‘could’ approach inherently altruistic, but it also opens up possible solutions to the issue. Check out the full article here and see how this one small change can change your mindset the next time you’re in a difficult situation.

The Psychology of Resiliency

“Psychologically, we all have long COVID by this point,” says Lauren Eskreis-Winkler, an assistant professor of management and organizations at the Kellogg School in her new research. Although some of us may not have been directly affected by the virus itself, not a single person has been able to escape the long term psychological stress. So how do we thrive - and work - through these times?

We would all like to think that we are learning and improving through our (many) failures over the past few years, but Ms. Eskreis-Winkler’s research says otherwise. Because failures, especially repeated failures, threaten our egos, “People often choose to disengage. They choose not to attend to their failures, and as a result, they learn very little.”

Many of us are experiencing these setbacks on an almost daily basis. This kind of experience does not lead to the resiliency we all need right now. The good news is, leadership can take steps to create a work culture that embodies a ‘growth mindset’, and lives up to the resiliency goals we all aspire to. Check out Kellogg’s new article featuring this new research, and what leadership can do to help change the perspective.

Feedback That Builds Confidence

Wharton’s blogs have been shared here many times for their science-based insight, fascinating interviews, and wide array of topics. One of the more interesting series are their “nano tools”; brain hacks that leaders can use to immediately impact team motivation and success.

The newest nano tool to be featured concerns performance reviews and feedback, and the ethos “they can because they think they can”. Like the Little Engine that Could, employees are inspired by leadership’s confidence in them and will more often than not rise to the occasion. The new article contains not only action steps, but real-life examples of how those in leadership use them. Read up and see how inspiring words can drastically increase productivity, foster a growth mindset, and result in more overall employee retention.

Will My Company Survive?

The most important thing that leaders can manage right now is themselves.  Many are asking whether their businesses will survive.  Vistage Speaker of the Year Dr. Eve Meceda offers two resources to help you answer that question in the affirmative in a six minute video.  

The first is a simple formula, “Beliefs ---> Behaviors ---> Outcomes,” for you and your team that will constantly remind you of the power you have. 

Second, the stories you tell yourself, and your team, are more important than ever. Dr. Meceda reminds us that the core of storytelling is what’s called “the hero’s journey.” (i.e. yours).

Learn more about “The Hero’s Journey” in her new video (the first of several to come) “Will My Company Survive? because now, more than ever, the Hero’s Journey is your journey. 

Dr. Eve Meceda

Incredible value for ANY leader in just a six minute video.  Thank you, Dr. Meceda!