It can be a game-changer for leaders to look at how much psychological safety and accountability they create in their teams.
As I discuss in my book, Trusted to Thrive, (you can download a free chapter here), there are four different team zones based on the intersections between psychological safety and accountability.
These zones represent where our teams are, our direct reports and even ourselves. Of course, our team is more likely to be in the zone we are playing in.
Not that long ago, I did a keynote to 200 leaders in the room. Using an electronic poll, 65% of the leaders nominated themselves as being the Achievement Zone.
Of course, this is no easy feat. And pretty rare. It requires a lot of dedication and self-reflection to stay in the Achievement Zone for any sustained length of time. Things can easily move us out of the zone - either personally or outside of our control.
You also can't improve your results when you think you're really good at something. It's important as leaders that we take an honest, non-judgemental look at where we are now, so we can work out the right steps to where we want to go. Otherwise, we keep living our life on autopilot and getting frustrated when we don't get the results we want.
With that in mind, take a look at the statements below and work out how many statements resonate the most with you. The more you have in any of the four quadrants, then the more likely you are to be in this zone. You can refer to my book, articles on my blog or join my Leadership Mastermind for advice on how to move through the zones.
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Achievement
- I love my team and I would do anything for them.
- I am excited about what the future holds in our organisation.
- I love optimising processes with my team and making things better.
- I get energised by solving problems with my team.
- We have a lot of hurdles to get through, but working with my team makes everything easier.
- I am motivated to get out of bed in the morning and go to work.
- I am in great health and have energy to burn.
- I reflect on how I lead my team each week and I modify my approach.
- I love learning and I’m always sharing new things I’ve read or seen to my team.
- People say I’m a positive upbeat person.
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Anxiety
- I often feel I work really hard to please my boss or customers.
- I often feel that I am not valued for all of the extra hours I work for the company.
- I get overwhelmed by extremes of emotions.
- I feel totally consumed by work pressures and find it hard to switch off.
- I often get sick either during or after high pressure work deadlines.
- I get upset when I see people slacking off in the team when I’m working so hard.
- The only social life I seem to have is with people from work.
- I often worry about not getting things done on time or to standard.
- I swing between being positive in my work to being really negative.
- I feel I am learning and growing on the job.
- I struggle to make timely decisions.
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Abatement
- I feel directionless and that life is passing by.
- I have a fixed view of what I can and can’t do.
- No matter how hard I work, I don’t feel valued for who I am.
- I know I can be the best at something, but I’m not sure how to fulfil my potential.
- People tell me that I fake being positive.
- I have trouble finding the motivation to get excited about the company vision.
- I feel that I’m not being held accountable to hitting my team’s goals.
- Sometimes I secretly worry that our team’s successes are now in the past.
- I look forward to the weekend and I don’t like Monday mornings.
- I just do the work I’m expected to do, there is no point in doing anymore.
- I’ve learnt what I need to lead people. There is no need to do anything differently.
- I don't feel challenged in my job.
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Apathy
- I feel like other leaders have a lot of control over me.
- I'm not really learning anything new in my job.
- I feel like I don’t have much say.
- I wish other people would do a better job.
- I feel so tired and burnt out that it’s hard to get out of bed and go to work.
- I just do the work I’m expected to and I hope I don’t get told off.
- I am looking for another job, but I’m scared no-one will want me.
- I wish I had more control over my life.
- Work is boring, but it pays the bills.
- People call me really negative and sometimes I can see they have a point.
- I don’t really like leading people. I’d prefer to be doing the work myself.
©Marie-Claire Ross Pty Ltd
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If you see yourself in any of these statements from Anxiety to Apathy, then changing old beliefs and habits is important to improving your situation. Otherwise, it will be hard to maintain or create the beliefs needed to stay in the Achievement Zone.
Getting a coach, working with a mentor, seeing a therapist or working with an accountability group can help. All it takes is the willingness to want to improve through changing how you see the world and do things. It all starts with honestly reflecting on where you are now.
If you'd like to join my Leadership Mastermind to help, there are some limited spaces available. You can find out more here.
