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354: How to Build a Resilient and Unbreakable Team

Best Christian Workplaces : September, 11 2023

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354: How to Build a Resilient and Unbreakable Team

Listen to this episode if you want to uncover how you can infuse new energy and a foundation of resilience into your team so that you can meet the challenges of the future. Our guests are Warren Bird and Léonce Crump Jr. They’re seasoned leaders and coauthors, along with Ryan Hartwig, of The Resilience Factor: A Step-by-Step Guide to Catalyze an Unbreakable Team.

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In this episode:

We need resilience because the world will continue to be marked by resilience. We're not going to go back to a normal life. The new world requires innovation, imagination, and resilience (04:38)
"After you've been punched in the face and knocked down and you get up and you're punched in the face again, do you have that resilience to keep getting up with the same energy and the same sense of hope and vitality as before you were first knocked down?"-Warren (05:20)
Four characteristics of a resilient team: candor, resourcefulness, compassion, and humility. (05:49)
"If you approach the world believing that disruption is a break from reality rather than understanding that it is reality, then you're going to be in a world of hurt. And so being able to weather and navigate that and stay energized, stay focused, keep your vision and mission clear, I think that's going to be paramount for every organization of every kind." -Léonce (07:10)
Your book includes eight movements where you take teams through practical steps to build resilience. The first movement starts with prayer and assessment. (07:37)
How Léonce and his team made hard decisions and processed the decisions together to lay off some staff for financial reasons. (08:10)
"We don’t make decisions in a vacuum. I don't think good leadership makes decisions in a vacuum. I think you consider the collaborative voices of your team."-Léonce (10:10)
We know that fantastic teams create consensus, direction, and momentum to establish, grow, and sustain a flourishing culture. (13:22)
A core part of building a resilient team is clarifying its purpose. Warren, you talk about the five Cs, a practical framework for making sure that a whole team is working on a common purpose. (13:30)
"What is the distinctive purpose of your team toward contributing to the whole?" -Warren (14:30)
Trust is a byproduct of a team's focus and a pursuit of a common purpose (18:41)
"It's the little wins that build the trust. It's that next step into psychological safety on a team where I feel I can be honest and vulnerable that build the trust." -Warren (19:20)
"Our bond was not around trust falls and, you know, sharing deep secrets over marshmallows. It was formed and forged through a common purpose and all of the challenge that comes with trying to move anything from here to there with a group of people." -Léonce (21:03)
Meetings are one way that teams get work done, and yet a lot of meetings aren't useful or well run. (23:32)
"You should only call a meeting if it is the single best option to get done what needs to get done. And if it's not the best option, then there are a variety of other options to be able to communicate effectively." -Léonce (24:32)
The acronym—A, B, D: always be developing (28:57)