THIS is how you build psychological safety!
Everyone take note of this excellent lesson in high performance leadership by James Vowles, Team Principal of Williams Racing.
https://lnkd.in/enViaQnA
One of their drivers, Logan Sargeant, hasn't had a stellar season. Crashes, disappointing results, and #F1 media all over him asking if these bad results are impacting his confidence. Throw a bit of toxic F1 Twitter into the mix, and you have a perfect recipe for a crisis of confidence.
It would have been easy for Williams to replace Sargeant. But in this video James perfectly explains why they won't just make that decision, all while teaching us important lessons in leadership:
1. "Logan has very clear targets of what he has to hit before the end of the season."
💪 Tough love, and clarity in communication. There is no beating around the bush. In the pressure cooker that is F1, your targets are clear, and you need to bring in results.
2. "We are working with him continuously, and that's the important point. We are working WITH him. We want him to succeed, and we want him in the car next year."
🤝 They all share the same goal, and they work towards it together. This attitude towards mistakes and failure increases accountability and ownership, while at the same time making sure Logan knows he's not in it alone.
3. "This is on us as well. We've taken someone straight from Formula 2, without any significant testing, put a day and half in Bahrain in this car, and wished them well on a season that has been awfully challenging for rookie drivers, full stop."
👉 When mistakes happen you attack the problem, not the person (the no-blame philosophy). This will actually increase accountability, because people will feel safe sharing their perspective on how they contributed to the situation, and what they can do to learn from it (and prevent it from happening again).
4. "Until the accident (Logan crashed at Suzuka), he was overlaying line on line, within a tenth, of Alex's performance as well, at one of the trickiest circuits of the season."
👁 Making people feel seen, heard, and respected for their contributions has a massive impact on intrinsic motivation, and therefore on performance. It is crucial for people to feel like their achievements are appreciated, and they are not only judged for their mistakes.
5. We will continue to work with Logan, and invest in Logan, as we want him to succeed [...]. Only at the point where all of us come to the conclusion that we've reached the end of that road will we make any decisions, but we're nowhere near that yet."
👊 Clarity in communication, and willingness to help. Teams that are willing to help each other through difficult times are much more likely to succeed.
Sharing this publicly will massively help in getting Logan through this rough patch, and it's a great lesson in building high performance cultures!
#highperformance
#leadership
Founder and CEO of Five & Fly | Reducing Veteran Suicide Through Meaningful Civilian Work | Host "It'll Buff" Podcast for Transitioning Military & Veterans
6moYou need throw a cougar in there! This is awesome!