#leadership culture

[saipushpalearner]

High Performing Teams Safety in Leadership

In today’s fast-paced corporate environment, building high-performing teams has become essential for achieving organizational success. While technical skills matter, high-performing teams' safety rests on a more complex foundation—trust, communication, and psychological safety. These elements are the true drivers of innovation and resilience within a team. From leadership to individual contributors, creating an environment where people feel safe to share ideas and take risks is pivotal for long-term success.

What is Psychological Safety?

Psychological safety refers to a shared belief among team members that their environment is safe for interpersonal risk-taking. Coined by Amy Edmondson, the term highlights the importance of trust and open communication within teams. In a psychologically safe workplace, individuals feel confident enough to voice opinions, ask questions, and even make mistakes without fear of retribution or embarrassment. This dynamic is crucial for fostering a culture of learning and continuous improvement.

Why Psychological Safety Matters

The absence of psychological safety can severely hinder a team’s performance. When employees fear judgment or punishment, they hold back, stifling creativity and innovation. In contrast, a team that feels safe can experiment, take risks, and learn from mistakes. This culture of openness encourages members to engage more deeply in discussions, leading to breakthroughs in problem-solving and performance.

Key Pillars of High-Performing Teams

High-performing teams are not just a product of individual excellence but the synergy between members. This synergy is powered by psychological safety and several other key factors. According to research such as Google's Project Aristotle, the following pillars are crucial for building a high-performing team:

1. Psychological Safety

The foundation of all successful teams, psychological safety ensures that members can take risks without fear of humiliation or backlash. Teams that score high in psychological safety tend to acknowledge mistakes openly, leading to greater innovation and efficiency.

2. Dependability

Team members in high-performing teams trust each other to meet deadlines and maintain a high quality of work. This reliability reinforces trust and allows the team to focus on more complex challenges without worrying about foundational issues.

3. Structure and Clarity

Clear roles, goals, and processes are crucial for any team’s success. Ambiguity can lead to confusion and frustration, while clarity fosters alignment and shared purpose.

4. Meaning

People are motivated when their work feels personally significant. High-performing teams ensure that each member finds purpose in their tasks, which contributes to overall engagement and productivity.

5. Impact

When team members believe their work has a tangible impact, they are more likely to be motivated and dedicated. This sense of contribution is a key driver of long-term success in any organization.

The Importance of Learning from Mistakes

Interestingly, teams that feel psychologically safe are often more willing to admit mistakes, but this openness makes them better in the long run. Admitting and learning from errors is not just a sign of maturity but a clear indicator of high performance. Mistakes become a stepping stone for innovation rather than a point of failure.

The Link Between Psychological Safety and Performance

At its core, psychological safety is a driver of team performance. When people feel safe, they are more likely to engage fully and contribute ideas. This openness boosts creativity, enhances problem-solving, and strengthens the overall commitment to the team’s goals.

In high-performing teams, members complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses in a supportive atmosphere. This makes it enjoyable for employees to work together, as they feel valued and understood. Over time, such environments cultivate a sense of belonging, increasing job satisfaction and retention rates.

How Leaders Can Foster Psychological Safety

Establishing psychological safety requires deliberate actions, particularly from leaders. Leadership plays a significant role in setting the tone for team interactions. Leaders who demonstrate empathy, encourage feedback, and model vulnerability can create a space where psychological safety flourishes.

Steps to Build Psychological Safety

Encourage Open Dialogue Leaders must foster an atmosphere where team members feel comfortable sharing their thoughts, feedback, and ideas without fear of criticism. Open communication strengthens trust, ensuring that everyone’s voice is heard.

Normalize Mistakes as Learning Opportunities Instead of blaming individuals for mistakes, leaders should focus on understanding why something went wrong and how the team can improve moving forward. This approach shifts the focus from blame to growth.

Promote Mutual Respect Ensuring that every team member feels respected, regardless of their role or background, is vital for cultivating trust. Mutual respect encourages collaboration and reduces conflicts born out of misunderstandings.

Show Vulnerability When leaders model vulnerability by admitting their mistakes, it sends a strong message to the team that making errors is part of the learning process. This empowers team members to take risks, knowing that failure will not be met with harsh criticism.

Conclusion

In conclusion, committing to high-performing teams' safety through psychological safety is not just a nice-to-have—it’s a necessity for any organization aiming to innovate and succeed in today’s competitive marketplace. When team members feel safe to voice their ideas and take risks, they become more engaged, creative, and aligned with the organization’s goals.

[serpentface]

Faiza performing the Kagnoma Odo (pretty literally 'lion dance'), a weapons dance and one of the more important ritual duties of Odonii priestesses. A relatively new addition to this traditional dance involves the musket as the primary weapon, which is fired mid-twirl into the ground at the climax of the dance. Faiza is experiencing an 'oh fuck' moment because her shot is more than ideally diagonal, but she’s being so cool with it.

This is a wholly ceremonial performance at the onset of the pilgrimage, performed in full regalia and lion skin (of the small, semi-domesticated strain) but no armor. It’s also distinctly a display of political allegiance between the powerful and beloved Odonii priesthood (and its loyal military) with the increasingly reviled and destabilized imperial family, with Faiza prominently wearing a bracelet of the royal serpent, which was gifted (along with the musket) by the usoma Stavis Amanti himself (Usoma is the Wardi word for king, which has been retained in the context of emperors).

The Kagnoma Odo is the ultimate demonstration of the Odonii as an embodiment of the Lion Face of God and living vessel of military might and sovereignty, demonstrating her fitness and proficiency with weapons and as a spiritual unifier for soldiers. It is accompanied by drumming and occurs in stages, running through the three keymost weapons used in war- the spear, the sword, and the musket. The musket is of the most significance, given the weapon has developed a particular esteem as the ultimate embodiment of might and superiority. Assistants (almost always other priestesses, occasionally high ranking soldiers) load and prime the musket to be fired at the climax of the dance, where it is shot into the ground as the priestess leaps out of range of the shot. The firing signals the end of the dance and the rite itself.

While not the utmost exemplar of trigger discipline, only fully inducted and senior (and therefore very thoroughly trained) Odonii are permitted to perform the dance, and injuries during actual performances are quite rare (though are known to occur during training, more than a few Odonii have burns and wounds on their feet).

The most important renditions of this dance are performed upon declarations of war and before battles (in this case, generally done in full armor along with the lion pelt). It is also done during some trainings (while a dance, it is carefully choreographed to include naturalistic maneuvers of the weapons involved and helps soldiers limber up and learn to move their weapons). It is regarded as an impressive and motivating sight and a morale booster, and, seen at a distance, potentially intimidating to enemies.

A special variant of this dance is performed as means of fully incarnating the Odomache, which is done in full nudity with the body covered in the blood of the freshly sacrificed lion and cloaked in its raw pelt (the lion has become the corpse of Odomache in the moment of death, as part of its recreation of God's sacrifice). Her public, full nude appearance once (and only once) in this act is what allows the Lion Face of God to incarnate within her. Those in attendance see the spiritually vulnerable, naked human body obscured with the sanctified and deified blood and cloaked in the sanctified and deified skin. It is a merger of the contradictions of mortality and divinity, the boundaries between the two indistinct in flickering firelight and the flash of musketfire. She is witnessed by her people, dangling in between humanity and divinity and leading them in dance, and and is thus transformed.

[langernameohnebedeutung]

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[longliveblackness]

On this day, 5 November 1843 an enslaved woman called Carlota Lucumi led a slave uprising in Matanzas, Cuba. Brandishing machetes, Lucumi and her co-conspirators summoned other enslaved people with a kettle drum, then killed the cane plantation enslavers before heading to neighbouring plantations and farms to free other enslaved people.

While Lucumi herself was soon executed, the rebellion lasted until the following year, when Spanish colonial authorities succeeded in violently repressing it.

The abolition of slavery in Cuba was eventually achieved in 1886.

•••

Un día como hoy, 5 de noviembre de 1843 una mujer esclavizada llamada Carlota Lucumí lideró una rebelión de esclavos en Matanzas, Cuba.

Llevando machetes, Lucumí y sus co-conspiradores hicieron un llamado a otros esclavos utilizando un timbal y luego mataron a los escalvizadores de la plantación de caña. Luego se dirigieron a plantaciones y granjas vecinas para liberar a otras personas esclavizadas.

Aunque Lucumí pronto fue ejecutada, la rebelión duró hasta el año siguiente, cuando las autoridades de las colonias Españolas lograron reprimirla de manera violenta.

Eventualmente, se logró la eliminación de la esclavitud en Cuba en 1886.

[commonsensecommentary]

“Given how often our nation’s elites today use their power and influence to rob us of our freedom of speech and rights to self-determination—because we are apparently not to be trusted to govern ourselves without their malign interference—we cannot continue to allow our current crop of misguided and deeply un-American leaders to remain in control of our nation and its vital institutions.”

[tmarshconnors]

50 African proverbs.

"A bird that flies off the earth and lands on an anthill is still on the ground."

"If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."

"The lion does not turn around when a small dog barks."

"When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers."

"The wise create bridges, the foolish build barriers."

"He who learns, teaches."

"Unity is strength, division is weakness."

"Do not look where you fell, but where you slipped."

"Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors."

"A tree is known by its fruits."

"The one who loves an unsightly person is the one who makes him beautiful."

"The strength of a crocodile is in the water."

"The old woman looks after the child to grow its teeth and the young one in turn looks after the old woman when she loses her teeth."

"A wise person will always find a way."

"Where you will sit when you are old shows where you stood in youth."

"Do not be a spectator before life; participate!"

"The rain beats the leopard’s skin, but it does not wash out the spots."

"No matter how full the river, it still wants to grow."

"Wisdom is like a baobab tree; no one individual can embrace it."

"When the mouse laughs at the cat, there is a hole nearby."

"The goat says, 'Where there is blood, there is plenty of food.'"

"By the time the fool has learned the game, the players have dispersed."

"He who is destined for power does not have to fight for it."

"The chameleon changes color to match the earth; the earth doesn’t change colors to match the chameleon."

"The heart of the wise man lies quiet like limpid water."

"If you close your eyes to facts, you will learn through accidents."

"You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do."

"A wise person learns more from his enemies than a fool from his friends."

"You cannot climb to the mountain top without crushing some weeds with your feet."

"A roaring lion kills no game."

"Knowledge without wisdom is like water in the sand."

"Where there is love, there is no darkness."

"The strength of a nation lies in its homes."

"The best way to eat an elephant in your path is to cut him up into little pieces."

"He who refuses to obey cannot command."

"It is the calm and silent water that drowns a man."

"Patience is the mother of a beautiful child."

"A good deed is something one returns."

"When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends."

"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."

"If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."

"When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion."

"No matter how tall a tree grows, the leaves always fall to the ground."

"When the moon is not full, the stars shine more brightly."

"A leopard cannot change its spots."

"A village without elders is like a well without water."

"The sun will shine on those who stand before it shines on those who kneel under them."

"The eye never forgets what the heart has seen."

"A dog with a bone in its mouth cannot bite."

"The axe forgets, but the tree remembers."

[usefulquotes7]

To impart a moral responsibility to exercise fairness in leadership builds greater leaders of strong character. Wayne Chirisa

[thepersonalwords]

To impart a moral responsibility to exercise fairness in leadership builds greater leaders of strong character.

Wayne Chirisa

[dayz-ina-daze]

I think it would be a neat part of Warriors world building if they referred to leaders who stepped down/retired as “fallen stars”.

[financialfreedomforever]

[butcharyastark]

really interesting that one of armand's first scenes in introduction to louis and claudia in the flashbacks is berating his coven--mostly non-native english speakers, some of them like him being nonwhite non-native english speakers, all of them now parisians in paris--for not using english both on and offstage in their personal lives for the sake of "developing the art" for their performances (or backstage work!!) for the mostly white english speaking audience. which hes doing in the name of managing the coven, fulfilling his "role" as maitre. hm.

[bonefall]

So what do your leaders do all day? In the cannon clans it seems like they just sit around at camp all day and let the deputies do all of the work. Until the plot needs them anyway.

Leaders are given 9 lives for a very important purpose; they are supposed to live as their Clanmates do, understand them, and guide them as shining examples of what a warrior should be.

A leader who's inaccessible is considered a failure. Clans can't do anything about this until ASC and it's rare to begin with, but their clan WILL get upset about it.

Patrolling, sparring, hunting, and even cooking are all things a leader should be doing. Is it still very high-pressure? Yes. Ultimate authority rests on them.

So what's a deputy for?

Busywork. Day-to-day decisions that would prevent a leader from actually engaging with clan life. Setting up patrols, gathering news, settling small disputes, etc.

You could consider them a very authoritative secretary. If a Clan is being TOTALLY run by its deputy, that's a problem. If a Clan is BARELY being run by its deputy, that is also a problem.

So, expect to see cats like Firestar just around more often. It's not shocking to see him return from patrol or a little walk, carrying a mouse or two.

[mrgaretcarter]

Honestly I think it would do us all well to go back to kinda cringy feminism again for a little bit idk cause I think maybe for some people the discourse somehow circled back around to supporting sexism just rebranded or whatever so its more aesthetic

[theexodvs]

Disney movies aren't real. The Hallmark Channel isn't real. The Princess Bride isn't real. Romance novels aren't real. Adult videos aren't real. Hashtag-riddled Instagram posts of celebrity couples aren't real. 80s love ballads aren't real. And, as much as I hate to say it, The Addams Family isn't real.

Most Americans' (and Canadians') view of love is primarily influenced by one or more of these. Before one gets married, one needs to disavow all of these things as remotely realistic depictions of how couples are to love each other. Loving is an action, and if your concept of the act of loving is based primarily in self-fulfillment and emotion, your relationships are all doomed to fail.

[commonsensecommentary]

“I believe the 2024 elections boiled down, when all was said and done, to a single, overriding factor: Voters are sick of the incessant nagging and scolding of easily offended and perpetually aggrieved Democrats who sneered at the concerns—and denigrated the values—of those whom they deemed less educated, less worthy, and less enlightened than they.”

[trendynewsnow]

Julio Bocca Takes Over as Artistic Director of Argentina’s National Ballet

Julio Bocca Appointed Artistic Director of Argentina’s National Ballet Julio Bocca, widely regarded as the most celebrated Argentine dancer of his generation, is set to take the helm as the artistic director of Argentina’s national ballet company, a position he will officially assume in February. This announcement was made on Tuesday by the iconic Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. Throughout his…