How do we build a great team? Or keep one together? It isn’t about just getting great people. We’ve all had groups of great individuals that underperformed as a team. No, the secret to a great team is to have a strong culture, because that creates a place for awesome employees to thrive, and for average employees to raise their games.
New York Times best-selling author Daniel Coyle spent four years studying a variety of highly successful groups, from Pixar to Navy SEALs. In his book The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups, he shows how teams with great cultures are built on three universal rules:
- Build safety
- Share vulnerability
- Establish purpose
Build A Feeling of Safety
The primitive part of our brain is always working to see if we are safe. This is true physically but also emotionally. An employee who doesn’t feel safe will hold back. Employees need to feel known and accepted. They need to feel that they belong and that together you share a common future. Safety is the foundation of a team’s culture.
Don’t assume that your staff always know that they are a valued part of the team. The message needs to be consistent and frequent. We tend not to say it enough; we need to say it more often.
Use key moments, like a person’s first day on the job, to establish belonging. Make sure you spend as much time learning about them as you do telling them about your store. What about giving them a welcome card signed by all the staff? Even better, a welcome card and a giant chocolate bar. Build store traditions that reinforce a sense of belonging, like gifts on employees’ birthdays.
Layer “belonging clues” into how you relate to your staff every day. Make sure that your staff feels listened to. Listen with an open face and body language and interrupt as little as possible. Overcommunicate your listening. Overdo your thank-yous. The sense of safety and connection you’ll generate will be contagious.
Share Your Vulnerability—So Staff Can Share Theirs
Another thing that Coyle found great teams had in common was that their leaders encouraged vulnerability. And they did that by first being vulnerable themselves.
I have to admit: I struggle with this one. It’s tough not to be the all-knowing boss. But the research is clear: That approach will squash a staff’s initiative. We need our employees to be comfortable making suggestions and giving feedback—they won’t do that if they feel that they can’t be vulnerable.
If you share your vulnerability, they will share back. You then create a “vulnerability loop.” This shared vulnerability will build trust. And, according to Coyle’s research, it will create awesome teams.
Build vulnerability into how you present ideas. Ask your staff: “What’s wrong with my plan?” Or do as Steve Jobs did and start with “This is probably a goofy idea…” (It seems to have worked out for him.) Let your staff know that you need them and that you value their feedback.
Unite Around a Purpose
If your team feels that you are all working together toward a common goal, they will be unbeatable. You need to define and communicate your purpose. (Newer, less experienced staff, in particular, may need this.)
Fortunately, we are in an industry that has a great purpose. Think of how much joy our dancers bring to their audiences when they perform. Think about how happy our dancers are when they head to dance class—happy about the life lessons they learn there; lessons about self-esteem, about teamwork, about belonging. We are a part of that. Our work makes that possible.
And yet, we don’t always tell that story. We don’t share that with our staff enough. We need to make our workplaces high-purpose environments. We can do that by filling it full of small, vivid signals, like posting photos of customers who have gone on to professional careers, or displaying thank-you notes from young dancers. Make your store’s connection to the art—and the good it does in the world—clear.
Achieving your purpose is made up of many small steps. Be clear about the things you need to do to get to your goal, and turn these steps into catchphrases. “Find the perfect shoe, every time” and “Turn every customer into a raving fan” are two examples. (I know you’ll do even better!)
These examples may sound corny, but catchphrases were used by every team that Coyle studied, including charter schools in the Knowledge Is Power Program and Danny Meyer restaurants. So figure out your catchphrases together with your staff, use them in training, plaster them all over the back room. They will unite your team in a common purpose—to make your dance store thrive.
Gilbert Russell is a seasoned dancewear retailer who helps independent stores thrive through his book Retail AI Unleashed, coaching programs, speaking engagements, and weekly newsletter.