7 Proven Ways to Create a Thriving Workplace

Most entrepreneurs are crippling their teams or stunting the growth of their teams. The reason is that the entrepreneur feels like they have to be present, the one steering the business, the one doing the work. And the best way to firstly gauge the strength of your team, more importantly to enable them to grow, is to.

So I just returned from a six week sabbatical and it scared the out of me.

It's the longest period of time that I've ever been away from my labor of love my businesses since I've been an entrepreneur. But it was necessary and it was inspired by other people, mentors of mine who encouraged it. And I faced the fear. I did it anyway. And throughout the sabbatical I had no access to anything. My team changed my passwords to all of my software that would enable me to access workflow and team members. It was scary. After a few weeks in, I almost felt expendable because my teammates weren't reaching out. I didn't feel like I was needed and that was a very strange feeling to process. But it was all really me just making that up in my own head. And whenever I would check in with folks, they would say, hey, we miss you, we can't wait to have you back, but don't ask us anything about the business or how it's going cause we ain't going to tell you. After about four weeks into the six week sabbatical, that's when I really found that I got into my rhythm and I was feeling comfortable with it. And then a few days prior to coming back, I had that adrenaline rush of wanting to get back at it, wanting to be with my teams. And my first day back was like I was roaming the halls of a business that I didn't own anymore. That's the best way that I can describe it. I felt awkward. What am I going to do today? Does am I needed? What's going on? And after getting back up to speed, I'm about a week back into it. I feel like I'm starting to get back into my my rhythm. But I recognize the biggest transformation for me is that there's always something new to learn. There's always a next phase of my own growth personally. And I've got to climb, so I've got to strap my gear on again, get on the ladder, look up and climb so I can bring more value, more unique capabilities to the business and get rid of stuff that was otherwise energy draining. And maybe perhaps I didn't see it as clearly as I do now. And so I'm looking Forward to doing more things that fascinate me and bring me energy and so are my teammates. So my biggest lesson I think that I would pass along to other entrepreneurs who might be thinking about this or who might receive some inspiration to begin thinking about doing this. Trust really matters. Trusting your teammates to get the good work done, building a self managing organization. And I want to do it again.

Most entrepreneurs are crippling their teams or stunting the growth of their teams. The reason is that the entrepreneur feels like they have to be present. The one steering the business, the one doing the work. And the best way to firstly gauge the strength of your team, more importantly to enable them to grow, is to get away from the business. Take a sabbatical. I took a six week sabbatical. One of the best things I've ever done. The measure of the strength of your team is when they know they can't get in touch with you. There's no connecting with you. So whatever problems come up, whatever opportunities come up, they have to be the ones to confront them and, and to resolve them. There's no better feeling than coming back from that and seeing the growth in your team. Give your people a chance to grow. And if they hit the guardrails, if they fall down, if they make mistakes, that's where the best learning is. And so let go.

CEOs need to see their team members as an investment, never as a cost. What do you try to do inside of your business? As a CEO, you're always thinking about how do I drive cost out of the business? What I'm always thinking about is how can I go and recruit the best talent as an investment in the business. And I would encourage other CEOs to do the same. Do you truly understand what your customers value? If you do, then provide that if it aligns with yours. And make sure you've got the right teammates. Make the investment, go get the right people. If you're viewing them as a cost, you're setting yourself up for failure. I promise you, as sure as I'm sitting here, your people are an investment, never a cost.

As a CEO, you've got to view vacation time and time away not only for yourself, but for your team members as a profit center, not as a cost center. When people have time to rejuvenate, when they have time to recharge, they come back refreshed, full of new ideas, full of solutions to problems that maybe they didn't really have time to process or they felt they were over scheduled. Your people and you can never achieve your Full potential. If you're over scheduled, you've got to take time away, time to think. And everything begins with the way that we think. You've got to firstly set the example, but you've got to teach your team members how to take vacation, turn off the technology, change your passwords if you need to. I did. When I went on sabbatical, my team members, they changed the alarm code to the building. I couldn't get in the damn building even if I wanted to. Don't feel like you need to demonstrate to your boss that if I'm plugged in 24 7, I'm somehow more valuable to the business. Any smart leader with experience in this area is going to quickly recognize that you're going to become a liability to the business, not an asset. Because you're going to create an expectation, especially if you're leading others, you're going to set the expectation. That's what you want from the people who report to you. And believe me, as I'm sitting here, that is a recipe for disaster.

So one thing that good managers, good leaders do with a players, I think first and foremost is that they understand what that a player's unique abilities are and they make sure that a player is operating in that unique ability. An a player typically is going to say, hey, listen, I'm, I want to get involved in everything because I want to contribute. And I feel like the more activities, the more tasks I take on, the more contribution I'm making. A good manager and a good leader recognizes that the less that a player is doing, the more in their unique ability, the better the results are going to be for the business. And you've got to look at yourself in the mirror too and say, listen, what stuff am I doing that's energy draining? And who on the team possesses the unique ability that would find that activity fascinating and energizing? If you're doing things that fascinate you and bring you energy and you feel like you're making your best contribution versus showing up to work, going, I got to do these things that for the most part are energy draining. I've got a couple of things on my calendar each day that really bring me energy. Which one would you prefer? So managers, leaders, connect with your people, make sure that they're operating in their unique ability and make sure that you're doing it too.

Everybody hears about collaboration, the power of collaborating, but I want to zoom in on what happens inside the business. If you've created this culture of collaboration within your teams, someone on the team has to Make a decision at some point, otherwise nothing happens. If you're dealing with that and you find yourself, gosh, you know, we continue collaborating, I really don't feel like decisions are being made and we're moving forward. You have to create that culture within your teams that you decide and you commit and then you get off your and get going, even if you disagree. So you've got to be transparent and honest with everybody because as long as people have a voice, but they also recognize it's not about any one individual's playbook, it's about the team. It's about winning or losing together as a team. Decide, commit, get off your A and move forward. And if a decision can't be reached, someone and everyone has to be clear on who that someone is. And it's got to be the leader has got to step up and say, this is the decision. Let's decide, let's commit, get off our ass and move forward. What's the order of things? Collaborate first. Talk about the commitment. Make a decision. Everybody's got to commit to that decision, even the ones who disagree. Once you've done that, you built confidence. And where you are today is a direct result of the level of confidence that you have, whether it's at the team member level or at your company level. And then you build capability and then you repeat that cycle all over again.

A good leader is going to hold you accountable regardless of whether you're an A player or not. And the A players need the most coaching. And so a good leader spots that and says, listen, I recognize that you're an A player, but if you truly want to become the best version of you, you recognize that that's never a destination that you're going to get to. You've got to continually strive to grow. I'm going to help you, but I'm going to tell you what you need to hear. And for me, as a leader, accountability is a word that's thrown around loosely. People talk about it, it's a platitude. Don't blow smoke up people's on your team. Be real. Ask them, what does accountability mean to you? And if I'm showing up and holding you accountable and you're leaning into it, you're going to grow. For me, accountability is all about looking within. And the best team players want the most coaching.