When you’re thinking about courage on your team, how do you embrace it? How do we exhibit courage to improve our performance, in the midst of intense change? Below, we’ll explore why courage is important for team performance (always but especially during times of intense change), the role of the Team Lead – what they can do to build courage in their team & what can get in the way, and the importance of shared purpose as a foundation upon which to build and strengthen courage.

So, why is courage important for a Team?

1. Improved performance: Courageous teams have more confidence to push their limits, stretch towards more challenging goals which can lead to improved performance. A study by the Harvard Business Review found that teams with a culture of courage were more likely to achieve their goals than teams without such a culture.

2. Increased Creativity & Innovation: Courageous teams are more likely to take on risks and try new ideas, which can lead to innovation. If we don’t try anything differently, we get the same results. So building a safe to fail culture, where experimentation is encouraged, can build innovation, which in turn gives companies a better chance of building market share and revenue growth.

3. Stronger Resilience: Courageous teams are better equipped to deal with challenges and setbacks, which can lead to greater resilience. A study by Deloitte found that companies with a culture of courage were more likely to adapt to changing market conditions and recover from crises.

4. Foundation of Trust: Courageous teams often have higher levels of trust among team members, which can lead to improved collaboration and communication. In this sense, courage can take the form of speaking up, including others, embracing and challenging (positively) different perspectives. By respecting the underlying people (humans) on the team but being open, honest, candid and not shying away from healthy conflict, courageous teams build trust which is a foundational pillar of psychological safety upon which team performance must be built.

5. Employee satisfaction & engagement: Courageous teams often have higher levels of employee satisfaction, engagement and productivity which can lead to improved retention and results.

What can a Team Leader do to build courage on their team & What can get in the way?

1. Model Courage: We’ll start with one of our much-used phrases (and part of our philosophy) at PurposeFused: “you have to live it to give it”. At a truly fundamental level, a Team Lead has to exhibit courage themselves, especially during times of turmoil and change. This means articulating a way forward, taking risks, owning up to mistakes, being responsible for the team’s performance and having their back (in addition to encouraging them to have each others’). Equally it means asking the hard questions, hearing the challenges, concerns and perceptions and acknowledging them as the current reality. Like any leadership behavior, the only way courage will be embedded on the team, is if the leader models it themselves.

2. Promote Clarity & Consistency vs Ambiguity: Being super clear about what the change means (and doesn’t) for the team and each individual, why it’s happening (the purpose), the vision of where it should take us, what goals we should be focused on. Additionally, being equally clear on how each person can contribute to these goals (what, how, when). Checking the teams pulse, not through surveys but through conversation, to understand their reality and with that in mind, hone their focus on the things that are in their control (and the team’s control). This minimizes the gray space, lack of certainty, mis-perceptions, frustrations, or even resentment, that can lower confidence, motivation, contribution and even trust.

3. Encourage Calculated Risks vs Fear of Failure: Encouraging and empowering the team (and members) to experiment, try, refine, improve. Fostering an open, transparent and honest environment where people feel it is safe to make mistakes, which are accepted (for what they are) as an opportunity for learning. This reduces the fear of failure and repercussions (whether real or perceived) of trying something new or different.

4. Focus on Possibilities & Progress vs Gaps: Articulate the vision (hearts) and how the nearer term goals that get us to a better place (minds), align to that vision. Most importantly, ask and involve the team in how they can contribute (individually and collectively) most effectively to work towards these possibilities. Set some performance parameters and celebrate people’s success along the way. This helps each person see the road ahead in a way that resonates with them and their contribution to moving forward, and hones and simplifies focus for the way ahead. This breaks down the big gap that otherwise could be paralyzing, demotivating, or too complicated for people to know what they need to get done.

5. Embrace Change vs Hold Status Quo: As we all know change is the only constant, so we might as well embrace it. That takes courage as it’s harder than maintaining the status quo. Embracing change is about consistently articulating a better future (after this particular season of change) to build positivity, motivation, hope and belief; acknowledging the current reality as that’s the only true foundation upon which change can be built; then guiding people with the right blend of challenge, autonomy and support so they develop the skills they need to experience and drive success. It’s that or sticking with the tried and tested for as long as it will last and with the current rate of technology driven change – that isn’t going to be very long!

How can Shared Purpose build courage and performance on a Team?

It may sound obvious that a team with a shared purpose has a stronger sense of commitment to each other, they are better equip to deal with challenges and change due to their common sense of direction, meaning & desired impact. More likely to ‘feel like a family, play like a team’ from having a better understanding of the essence of what drives each of them, the unique qualities and strengths they bring individually and collectively, the trust and confidence in each other to perform. If that is the case then, why is shared purpose so overlooked as a foundation upon which courage and performance can be built?

The short answer is that by definition, ‘shared purpose’, needs to start with ‘individual purpose’. It’s rare that companies encourage and support their employees in discovering, articulating and sharing their individual purpose. In our (obviously slightly biased) opinion this is the single most effective way to build connection, clarity & commitment. From these flow courage, contribution and collaboration. That’s a lot of c’s but just consider, if each team member understands and can clearly articulate with their team mates- the essence of when they are at the authentic best and making a difference, it’s easy for their team mates to understand how they can support each other, in being at their best. Further, how to challenge, and hold each other accountable, even if that means difficult conversations. As a result therefore, it’s easier for them to align on a shared purpose with a similar make-up.

We look at shared purpose in the same way as individual purpose. Passion – what are we best at (our strengths), what do we enjoy, what do we care about, what do we believe in; Impact – what difference are we here to make on Me (each of us), We (our team together) and World (company objectives, community objectives, ESG objectives, etc). With a clear understanding of the intersection between our Passions and Impact – what are we going to do about it? How does it hone our time and energy focus, how does it help us prioritize, how does it help us navigate seasons of change?

You can exhibit courage and high performance without understanding individual and shared purpose. However, your ability to do this sustainably and in times change, is far superior for teams with a shared purpose. These teams have the resilience to overcome and bounce back better from major challenges, the motivation to continue to perform better every day, the alignment towards clear goals that simplify their focus and cut the clutter, the confidence to test, refine, experiment – not just go with the flow. Teams with shared purpose have the courage to do what’s right and do it well, for each other, consistently.

Now that’s the kind of team I like to be a part of!

If you’d like to tackle change with courage on your team, please get in touch.