The Power of Listening to Your Teams

I want to share some exciting insights with you about tapping into the incredible potential of the people in your business. After all, it takes everyone to shape your company's success and drive its growth.

What am I Missing?

If you've found yourself eagerly awaiting that one ground breaking idea or cultural shift that will turn your customers into devoted brand advocates? Or perhaps you aspire to foster a flexible, fearless environment where your team members introduce innovative initiatives with ease and embrace an intrapreneurial spirit?

Well, here's the secret: The most successful thought leaders we work with have realised that it's not solely their responsibility to identify and drive new strategies for revenue growth.

Instead, they understand the immense value of "listening to the brains in their business" and harnessing the astounding diversity of thought within their organisation, tapping into the Social Brain.

Today we are highlighting three evidence-based and easy-to-implement social brain techniques that can help you with your teams create a collaborative culture with well-defined boundaries that align with your businesses purpose and values. After all, your company culture is always being shaped.

Everyone has the Right to Share Their Ideas

So let me take you back to my early career in one of the top 10 London creative advertising agencies at the time. It was an exhilarating but nerve-wracking experience. I felt like a small fish in a big pond, surrounded by people who seemed to possess an innate understanding of life, human behaviour, and how to craft ideas that truly resonated. I was in awe, yet utterly terrified.

However, I was fortunate to have an Account Director Maggie who was open and encouraging, and a CEO who genuinely valued my thoughts and actively listened to me—something quite rare in my life until then. Their support made all the difference. I felt confident, safe, and energised. I knew my voice would be heard and being in their presence felt like being part of something greater.

This experience taught me a valuable lesson: It's not all about me. I wasn't the centre of their universe. Instead, I realised that I was a vital part of a larger whole.

My perspective contributed to the creation of something meaningful. I understood the power of social connections and how our brains, as social creatures, thrive in an environment of shared trust and belonging. A safe brain culture emerges from the collective rather than individuals, as relationships make us feel part of our tribe.

On the other hand, when trust is lacking, an area of the brain's emotional detector system, known as the Amygdala, triggers warning signals based on past experiences of mistrust. This response shuts down the executive control part of the brain, the prefrontal cortex, leaving us unable to think clearly but with enough energy for the fight or flight response.

The Impact

The crucial "so what" here is that if you want to create a strong, adaptable environment that fosters an intrapreneurial spirit, it's essential to give your people space to:

• Cultivate meaningful, trusting relationships, especially in our hybrid and multi-generational world, so that emotions are regulated and self-awareness becomes an essence of your culture.

• Design the working day to include time for reset and reflection, such as 20-minute power naps (the evidence for their benefits is overwhelming!).

• Encourage collaborative thinking, emphasising how diverse brains can work together seamlessly, like a well-tuned orchestra. Trust that each team member knows their role expressing their talent in an authentic way to them, while you, as the conductor, guide and identify new horizons for growth, innovation and creativity.

Only then can you gain a competitive advantage. By truly listening to the diverse minds within your organisation, you foster a tribe that operates in harmony and achieves collective excellence.