Create an amazing culture for your team - in one easy step

There’s no two ways about it – people are complex. On one hand, we possess some special skills and qualities – our ability for learning, kindness, empathy, creativity, teamwork etc. all coming together in a package that the world has never known before. It’s philosophically mind-blowing to consider how wonderfully unique humans are…

And yet, in reality there’s some common behavioural obstacles that restrict our success and undermine our ability to work and live together

…We distort others’ intentions “she’s having a dig at me in that email”

…We’re persistently negative “I’ll be better when my shift's over”

…And we imagine things to be true, which are not… and don’t see things that are obvious  “I got sent on a Positive Thinking course last week - it was shit - I knew it would be...”

…We forget things 

…We’re cruel to ourselves, and others

…And we find ways to ‘win’ by dominating people and situations

Now the most interesting realisation, having coached clients around the world, is that most of us are walking around deploying ineffective behaviours without any awareness whatsoever.

It’s often unhelpful and potentially damaging behaviour, and yet it happens unconsciously!? Simple put, our behaviours are running us - most of the time we're not consciously in control at all !!

And behaviour gets even more automatic when we’re provoked!

Behaviour is so deeply engrained – and rather than tackling the hard work of becoming brilliant at behaving, organisations tend to focus on the numbers, the efficiency, the metrics, the cash. 

In workplaces all over the world behaviour is playing out right now – both motivational, effective behaviour and undermining ineffective behaviour. Notice how I don’t judge it as good or bad. Our behaviour is a part of who we are, and nothing about us should be labelled as ‘bad’. Maybe we’re making unhelpful or wrong choices, but we’re not bad people. There's a very good reason to be curiously compassionate about Behaviour: it often comes from a place of positive intention - behaviour is rarely intended to harm - humans develop behaviour to protect, to care, to 'help', to fill a void.

For the past decade I’ve been helping organisations to notice and consciously choose their behaviour – I suppose the buzzword is building their ‘Emotional Intelligence’. If an organisation creates the conditions for its people to behave in a common way, we call it a culture, and having an uplifting workplace culture has long been a holy grail for many organisations. It’s the sweet spot of motivation, productivity and profit.

"Culture eats strategy for breakfast"

Peter Drucker - Management Guru

The most powerful, transformational and lasting way I’ve found to achieve behaviour and culture change is by helping leaders to embed the Heartstyles philosophy. The best thing about Heartstyles is that it’s an experience. Not simply “another model” to be lodged in the brain, leaving underlying behaviours unchanged. 

Here are 3 ways in which taking the easy step of embedding the Heartstyles philosophy into your organisation will shape behaviour and build a strong culture:

READY-MADE CULTURE RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX

As soon as people are exposed to Heartstyles, they immediately start processing the reality of their own behaviour. This is an emotional and powerful moment. Realising how I’m being, and how it’s affecting those around me, is a challenging and important step. Heartstyles gives us the tools to gently wash away the unhelpful stuff we carry around with us, allowing our inner qualities to shine brighter. For organisations with no defined culture, implementing Heartstyles will save you months of planning time.

It’s measurable too – imagine being able to measure the progress of something as ethereal as Culture to monitor the year on year engagement.

CONNECTS PEOPLE DEEPER THAN SPREADSHEETS

The Heartstyles experience connects people together on a deeper level. Deeper than the job. As both a personal and shared journey of discovery, it unites people like nothing else. That's why it works equally well in Board Rooms and Malawi Villages alike. Heartstyles, and its unique language, has been crafted for people - not organisations. Heartstyles enables us to see the person underneath the behaviour that they express on the surface. It’s the emotional intelligence to hear anger, and respond with compassion, rather than retaliating. This makes it applicable to my life - not just my work.

“Your Heartstyles programme has enabled us to have conversations as a team that we’ve never been able to have before – thank you”

Andy A. - Clinical Director, NHS

PROVIDES A TEAM DIAGNOSIS & RE-DIRECTION TOOL FOR BEHAVIOURAL SELF-SUSTAINABILITY

The 4 Principles of Life explained within Heartstyles, gives teams a shared language to diagnose and sustain an ‘Above The Line’ culture. In addition, the tool works like a compass to offer a lens through which real-life problems can be solved. For example, “what would it be like to lead people through this change if we approached it with Pride / Fear / Humility / Love?”  

The previously difficult conversations such as giving and receiving feedback, improving individual behaviour and dealing with conflicting priorities, become much easier with Heartstyles. Simply having the common language to approach these conversations with positive intent and growth is a massive improvement on traditional methods.

Copyright Heart Brands UK Ltd 2020

In summary, by giving everyone the insight to know themselves better and the tools to choose their behaviour, Heartstyles offers organisations an easy path towards an amazing culture. It has the potential to craft a reputation for your organisation as one of the best places to work, bringing huge talent and productivity benefits as it has done already to many organisations around the world. 

And helping people to behave effectively, from a personal and professional perspective, enables us to live more fulfilling and healthier lives. Heartstyles data from over 100,000 participants globally shows that when your team spends more time ‘Above The Line’, the healthier, happier and less-stressed they will be – and that’s somewhere we’d all like to work.

To take the easy step towards an engaging and uplifting culture for your team Apply Here for a free consultation and to enter the free prize draw for a Heartstyles prize bundle (ends October 2020)

Simon Thomas (DHypPsych. CMI. CIPD. MHFA. BSc)

Founder: www.optimusteamlearning.co.uk

Accredited Heartstyles Consultant & Behaviour Change Specialist