Why do teams need positivity?
Think of a great team you were a part of. Then compare that experience to a team that stressed you out.
What was the difference in performance between these two teams? Which one brought out the best in you and which one did you want to stay with longer? Odds are very good that your great team was more positive, more productive and more sustainable.
Teams we enjoy have more trust, mutual respect between team members, and they produce quality results with more reliability. These teams are also more sustainable. Sure, it is possible that you were on a stressful team that produced great results or on a positive team that didn’t. Those are likely but neither are sustainable.
It is not magic, nor chance
Positivity creates more openness between people, allowing the safety to share your innovative thinking and the curiosity to be open to others’ ideas. This leads to mutual trust and powerful co-creation.
Positivity helps your brain work better; it generates emotions of trust and connection. Negativity, blame, lack of trust, and loss of respect all create divisions that slow down the brain and generate destructive emotions.
Stress caused by distrust, blame, tight deadlines or uncertainty only reduces the brain’s output and enhances the negativity and distrust. Negatively oriented teams do not know how to support each other during times of stress. Where positive teams pull together and support each other to handle the stress.
In that great team of yours, you likely pulled together, bounced ideas off each other, listened to each other’s input; you created something together and succeeded together. Your success created more trust, which led to more collaboration and positivity. It all works together.
Maybe the question is not, why do teams need positivity, but how can a team survive without it?
If you want to see how reinforcing positivity can build greater trust and connection in teams, come to the WBECS live demonstration of team coaching on Thursday, February 18th.
(You can now watch the recording)
Spirit of the skate parkOvercoming the impossibility of fairness