Hey Reader,

The question of what to do when your team isn't building and shipping fast enough (or right enough) comes up a lot in work with my clients, and sometimes on my own team.

The question I ask first is always: Well, what have you put in the way that's keeping them from building and shipping?

It's a good inversion. We've got to remember most of the people who joined the teams we're talking about here, came to do the building, shipping, and doing, because they love it.

So if they're not doing what they came for, something else is going on.

The day-to-day actions (or in actions) of the team are not matching up with the vision and mission of the organization.

If you’ve been reading the Pulse the last few weeks you know where I’m going with this — yes, it’s an air sandwich.

The same five challenges I’ve been talking about are at play, except in a team setting we change head trash a little bit. Head trash is more about your personal internal narrative. So for teams we switch this one to belonging — or more accurately — low belonging.

Belonging is that sense of shared meaning, psychological safety, and membership you feel in a group.

The Team Air Sandwich

1. Competing priorities
2. Low belonging
3. No realistic plan
4. Too few resources
5. Poor team alignment

If your team isn't building, shipping, and doing at the level you hoped for, instead of focusing on them, start by thinking about which aspects of the air sandwich are getting in their way.

The Power of Belonging

Belonging is what turns a group of people into a team.

A group is a collection of individuals which you can be part of without a sense of belonging. Even if everyone in the group is ostensibly working toward the same goal, members might not be aligned around how to achieve that goal. Without a strong directional relationship it can be hard for them to know how to work together effectively.

A team is a group that’s highly aligned, where the members feel a sense of belonging and a shared sense of purpose. The team relationship is directional, meaning that members are guided toward something beyond just being in the relationship. This combined sense of purpose — imbued with belonging — is what causes a team to be effective at achieving their goals.

In other words, groups flail while teams sail. And belonging is the key ingredient.

How to Build a High-Belonging Team

​A few weeks ago I shared the keys you can use to address the five challenges that make up the air sandwich. Now that we’ve established that low belonging is the team equivalent of head trash we can start to look at it in many of the same ways.

The keys you need to use to address low belonging on teams are the same needed to take out your head trash: awareness, courage, and discipline.

Be aware of not just what’s being said, but notice when your team is avoiding difficult conversations. This is an indicator of low psychological safety and trust.

Have the courage to bring up, address, and stick with problematic patterns when they arise. Notice I said patterns not people or person — it’s about rallying the team around a shared issue, not against a person or group.

Be disciplined and follow through on your word even when it feels hard. Courage without discipline leads to fits and starts rather than deep change.

What do you do when your team isn’t building and shipping? Figure out what’s getting in their way and get to work removing the obstacle. If you’re looking for a place to start, start with belonging.

Stand Tall,

Charlie

P.S. You’ll be hearing a lot more about belonging over the coming year. It's one of the eight team habits covered in my upcoming book, of the same name, out in print this August and now available for pre-order.

Other News & Features

🎙 I had a chance to interview Ruby Vesely and Eric Spencer, two of the co-authors of You, Me, We: Why We All Need a Friend at Work (And How to Show Up As One!)* for the Productive Flourishing podcast. They weighed in on how we can form meaningful connections in the workplace, and be allies, starting with ourselves. Listen to the full episode here.

👨‍🏫 Belonging will be the topic of our first Fireside Chat in the Productive Flourishing Academy, this Wednesday, January 25, 2023. As a regular part of our leaders curriculum, each quarter we’ll dive deep into a core team or leadership topic — we’ll discuss current trends, how they apply to your team, and practices to get you and your team moving forward. To be a part of the growth and conversation, apply to join the Academy here.

📗 I cover the air sandwich in detail in Chapter 2 of Start Finishing. In its workbook companion, the Start Finishing Field Guide, you’ll find exercises to help you navigate its challenges, along with other how-tos, scenarios, and tools to help you go from idea to done. Available in paperback or as a downloadable ebook (PDF) on our site.

🏝 Registration closes this Friday for the Level Up Your Life and Leadership Retreat in Mexico, February 19 - 26, 2023. This week-long retreat is for leaders (inclusive of entrepreneurs) who want to re-center, re-vision, and realign their efforts to the future they’re leading and creating. Know you want to be there but payment is the barrier? Let’s remove it! Respond to this email or reach out to Angela directly and we’d be happy to answer any questions you may have or see how we can make it work for your budget.

*affiliate link