Inspired by Brené: Establishing ‘Strong Ground’ for Your Team

In her book Strong Ground, Brené Brown observes that many of us, lacking human connection and stability, are feeling unsettled. While the focus of the book is individuals, I could not help but think about applications for a team setting.

What can leaders do to help a team feel grounded?

What tools are available to help facilitate this?

I found some answers in the book...

Clear Communication

Brown talks about the importance of communication and the role that context-setting plays in the workplace. Given the fast pace of work, I find that people often take shortcuts in sharing information, and/or we rely too much on emails in place of discussions. In the book, Brown shares the model of the “5Cs for Mission Clarity.”
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The 5Cs for Mission Clarity*

• Context: What’s the broader context?
• Color: Describe your vision of what this looks like, and how it works.
• Connective Tissue: How does this (plan/strategy/decision) connect to other (plans/strategies/decisions)?
• Cost: What will it cost us to do this (money, time, bandwidth, priority shifts, focus, etc.)?
• Consequence: Are there consequences for not doing this?

​The next time you are preparing to delegate a task, remember these questions. Walking through your own responses will allow you to gain ‘mission clarity’ for yourself—before you communicate with others.

Alignment on Rules

Brown discusses the “rumbles” that can happen in a workplace when there are issues such as interpersonal challenges or poor team dynamics. She shares a model for “Meeting Ground Rules” that are great guidelines for workshops or for meetings where there is an issue at hand. 

Meeting Ground Rules*

• Everyone is responsible for the energy they bring into the room.
• Everyone is responsible for letting the group know when they go ‘below the line.’ (Acknowledge it and get a time out.)
• We’re not looking for bad people; we’re looking for bad systems.
• We’re going to start by surfacing the stories that everyone is making up about what happened.

 
These rules help surface awareness on how we want to show up. They also are excellent conversation starters and invite engagement and participation versus an autopsy of blame.

Culture Talk

Brown provides a series of questions to shed light on the team or organizational culture. These questions are useful even if you are not conducting a thorough assessment. Responses will include insights, stories, and personal examples that shape individuals’ views of the organization.

Team Assessment Questions*

• Why is armor necessary and/or rewarded here?
• What makes it difficult to speak out and challenge ideas or strategies here?
• How often do you receive feedback/coaching?
• How does what you do every day allow us to execute the mission?
• How many conversations about trust have you had with your manager? In a team setting?
• How openly can folks talk about power here?
• When there’s a failure or setback, how openly do people discuss the learning and how quickly is it embedded across the org?
• Who is giving you cover when you’re encouraged to take risks? Have you seen that play out?

 
Talking about “culture” and “values” can often lead to vague statements or sweeping generalizations. These questions, however, will invite examples and, through the examples, you’ll gain a clear picture of the key pillars of the culture of the team or organization.

Intrigued?
There’s so much more to the book! Check out my book notes on the CliffsNotes Book Club portal.

*I am referencing these three concepts from the book Strong Ground, but note that I have edited and adapted them for this discussion. Refer to the book for more details.