A short leadership talk identifying three observable signs that a team is quietly disengaging—(1) dropping speed/urgency, (2) lower mood/grumpiness, and (3) avoidance of the leader—and advising leaders to address the issue openly by naming it, asking questions, listening, and involving the team in solutions.
Chapters
Foreign. Here are three signs that let you know that your team is quietly disengaging. They're showing up, but mentally they've already checked out. Number one, speed and urgency seems to be dropping around the team. That's number one. Number two, mood levels seem to have dropped. People are grumpier than normal. Number three, Three, they're probably avoiding you and not talking to you at all. So how do you handle this? Remember this, that most people are motivated by getting what they want and they're demotivated by not getting what they want. So what do you do? The 500 pound gorilla that's now standing on the table, you put it on the table, you sit people down and you start asking some questions. What's happening? What's going on? Here's what I noticed. Let them talk and you'll watch the mood level immediately begin to come back up. But you've got to be able to respond to it in a responsible way and include the team in the process. Be awesome.