When sports psychologist, culture coach and author Dr Pippa Grange was recently tasked with helping a tense team navigate a high-stress acquisition discussion, she intervened with a surprising activity.

“I took them trampolining. Everybody said it was ridiculous, but within 10 minutes they were all laughing. It broke the tension and helped them regain perspective,” says Grange, who is a keynote speaker at AHRI’s upcoming National Convention and Exhibition in Melbourne, and is also conducting a masterclass on identifying and leveraging deep wins at work.

“Fun is a form of release. It’s a neurological, chemical and hormonal reset, and an opportunity to rebalance from over-performance and stress.”

Grange has worked as a psychologist with high-level soccer, AFL, rugby league and Olympic teams, with extreme endurance athletes, and with businesses all over the globe. 

One of her career highlights was working with the England soccer team at the 2018 World Cup. 

“They got to the semis after a long period of underperforming and the nation celebrated with them,” says Grange.

No matter her client, she has one core aim: boosting performance while also fostering a healthy, supportive culture.

“HR and sports psychology complement each other. Both are about helping people find their best and perform well. In this way, leaders are like coaches, and vice versa – always seeking the balance between output and wellbeing,” she says.

She believes the key to high-performance cultures is building strong relationships through honest connection, storytelling and genuine feedback, whether on the sports field or in the office. 

“The quality and character of relationships that we have with each other will determine the level of performance that we’re able to output,” says Grange, who, after working in Australia for 20 years and Los Angeles for two, now lives in England’s Peak District.

She was originally attracted to sports psychology because she liked the idea of working with motivated people.

“I thought this would provide opportunities for both one-on-one and systems work. It felt like an opportunity to create real change.”

As she got into the field, she realised that motivated humans are complex. 

“Most of the work I’ve done is about the human being, not their performance. [I’ve helped] people understand who they are, how they operate best, what they want and how they can get there.”

It’s not about her coming in and being a performance “guru”, she adds.

“If you’re not focused on both the person themselves and the system they’re operating in, you won’t find high performance.”

Team bonding for improved performance

On the sports field and in the workplace, performance starts with teamwork, says Grange. But this can’t be imposed from the top; it needs to come from the ground up through mutual understanding and clear communication around goals.

“Start with understanding what actually motivates your teams. It might not be what you think. Motivation builders are communication, purpose and feedback. Discipline builders are clarity, feedback, clear methods and skill building.

“In sport, it’s not all about the end goal, it’s also about what we’re working on this week. And that’s a nice translation into some workplaces too. It’s about a group’s clarity of purpose over a block of time.”

Keeping a team on track requires regular debriefs, she says.

“The ‘hot debrief’ after weekly or daily performance and ‘emotional hangover work’ after big events both speak to strong, cyclical feedback cultures that normalise continuous conversations about performing and succeeding while being human.”

“We used to see resilience in terms of bouncebackability and grit. For me, it’s a lot more to do with adaptability and being allowed to be a whole human.” – Dr Pippa Grange, sports psychologist and author

Busting misconceptions about high-performing teams 

Over her career, Grange has sought to unpack, break down and replace some of the destructive narratives that shape our lives.

Part of that work has manifested in her book Fear Less: How to Win at Life Without Losing Yourself, which is about living with less fear and more freedom.

“Fear is amplified or lessened in cultures and environments as much as in individuals’ minds. There’s a lot you can do in systems and processes, and with symbols, language and power dynamics, to lessen it and build confidence,” she says.

Just as fear can hold us back, so too can a constant pursuit of productivity.

Grange maintains that high-performing teams shouldn’t come at the cost of wellbeing, and having good, caring cultures shouldn’t come at the cost of winning. High-performance and good culture aren’t mutually exclusive. 

“Workplaces are under so much pressure for profit or shareholder values, and this creates a downward flow where people can [feel like] never-ending productivity machines. The level of burnout we’re seeing is not random.”

To rejuvenate their minds and spirits, people need space to both rest and recover, which are two different things, says Grange. 

“Recovery is about finding the space to regenerate our creativity and curiosity, our humour and our energy.

“Creating ‘psychological space’ for people means they don’t have to perform constantly and can regenerate. Compromising on wellbeing is only a short-term gain for a person and an organisation.”

So how can companies help employees find psychological space to recover? It can be as simple as giving permission, setting good boundaries around working hours and allowing the sharing of stories and experiences, she says. 

“When companies start talking about what high-performance looks like, they need to recognise that it’s a triangle of work, rest and recovery. It’s not just a line between work and rest.”

What generates motivation, she says, is people’s ability to be authentic and share their stories with each other.

“Everybody who walks through the door of a workplace is asked to buy into a story, a vision and a purpose. Stories shouldn’t just come from the top, but also from the shop floor and the home offices. They should be an exchange. It’s making everyone feel like they genuinely belong and are part of something.

“You need practices that genuinely build on belonging, not just inclusion.”

Building more resilient teams

While some people may feel that ‘resilience’ has become somewhat of a buzzword that’s tightly linked to output, Grange says its meaning has evolved.

“We used to see resilience in terms of bouncebackability and grit. For me, it’s a lot more to do with adaptability and being allowed to be whole and human while performing, versus living in roles, categories and boxes. It’s about minimising drama [while] being real and honest, allowing emotions to arise, but still processing them.”

How do you help employees and teams foster resilience? 

“It’s principally about quality relationships that provide a social web for all challenges. Cultures that embrace courage, vulnerability, challenge, care and the will to change are resilient,” she says. 

Anticipatory guidance and foresight helps boost resilience, she adds. If something tough has happened, such as a round of redundancies, giving people space to ask questions, air concerns and share perspectives is important. 

“People find it much tougher to maintain resilience when they get ambushed by circumstances, or if they’re kept in the dark. Telling the truth about where things are at and allowing people to participate in being resilient makes a big difference.” 

Culture work is unlike other kind of organisational work, says Grange, and culture leaders often need different timescales, methods and measures to drive real change. 

“Culture, like ethics, should be a verb – a doing word. It’s daily work that lives in interactions and exchanges, as well as in big initiatives,” she says.

“It’s an ongoing effort to create an environment that supports psychological safety, trust and compassion, and it’s also building systems that actually reward and resist what you do and don’t want to see in the culture. Great culture is signified by an organisation that is present, observing, focused and active in considering ‘what ought we to do’ – and then actually doing it.”

A longer version of this article first appeared in the June/July 2024 edition of HRM Magazine.

Dr Pippa Grange will be speaking on  cultivating authenticity and vulnerability in the workplace at AHRI’s National Convention and Exhibition in August. Don’t miss the chance to hear from inspiring thought leaders and master practical strategies for now and the future. Secure your spot today.

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In 1996, Dr. Elaine Aron released the book, The Highly Sensitive Person, which introduced the idea of a highly sensitive personality type, something that’s now widely accepted. Individuals who consider themselves to be highly sensitive are often overwhelmed by busy environments, sensitive to loud noises, feel intense pressure to perform well at work, and are extremely attentive to detail.

How can HR help the estimated 15-20 per cent of people who have highly sensitive personalities feel more comfortable in the office?

1. Offer a less stimulating environment

Stimulating environments are incredibly overwhelming for those who have a highly sensitive personality. It can be almost impossible to complete work in conditions that are consistently noisy or busy. If an individual is having a challenging time working in their current environment, find an area of the office that’s less stimulating. Reduce distractions, noises, and add warm lighting to the office space. Also, as an alternative to a chaotic office, you can offer your employees a work from home option. Not only can remote working work save your organisation money, but it can also provide much-needed tranquility for the highly sensitive.

2. Lend an ear

The characteristics of a highly sensitive person can cause them to feel overwhelmed, even when accommodations have been made. Sometimes the best resource you can offer is your time and compassion. If you find that someone is struggling with these tendencies, start a conversation and make it known that you are available to listen to any concerns or difficulties they may face. Rather than trying to fix the issues described, listening can often be the best support needed.

3. Encourage team participation

In general, those with a highly sensitive personality thrive in team environments. This is likely due to the reduced visibility of individual performance, and the organised structure of project completion. When possible, it’s important for managers to facilitate team projects to better accommodate those who exhibit the characteristics of a highly sensitive personality (as well as for those who prefer team participation). More specifically, the highly sensitive work well in settings that require team collaboration, and an environment that’s supportive, while balancing the need for reduced distractions within the workplace.

Small steps can make a major impact

When making the workplace friendly for all personality types and work styles, it’s essential to consider the sizeable number of individuals with highly sensitive personality traits. Providing a calm work environment, lending a caring ear, and facilitating team participation are just a few of the best ways to make individuals with these characteristics feel as comfortable as possible.

Highly sensitive personalities are an incredible addition to the workplace for a number of reasons. First, individuals with this trait are excellent problem solvers and often more detail-oriented than the average person. This helps reduce the occurrence of mistakes and preventable errors, and can help teams work through tough situations. Second, people who have a highly sensitive personality are wonderful listeners, exceptional at communicating their passion for various causes, and are highly perceptive to the feelings of others. The combination of all of these strengths make them an asset to nearly every work environment.

Jane Sandwood is a freelance writer with an interest in health and wellness.

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Teams with relationships based on trust are pretty great. I know this because I’ve had the privilege of working with one. We out-performed all our competition, we punched well above our weight, we featured in Deloitte’s Top 50 fastest growing companies for five years straight. All while having a bucket-load of fun.

I’ve taken a long, hard look at this environment to try to understand how the company developed and retained such high performers. A key foundation was trust.

Trust, however, is a buzz word that easily rolls off the tongue. What mattered was how we managed to build trust, and more importantly, how we didn’t destroy it.

Giving trust

When we employed a team member, there was a baseline level of trust between the individual and the organisation. From that baseline, the trust could either spiral down or rocket up.

In the end, getting people to trust each other was actually quite simple. I can share in three words how we did it – ‘We gave trust’. I also learnt there were strong forces working in the opposite direction to literally prevent us from doing that. These efforts came from long standing corporate ‘norms’ designed to minimise risk to the business.

A real example presented itself when one of our team members was diagnosed with leukaemia. He needed extensive time off work for treatment and he soon used up all his sick leave, annual leave and paid time off entitlements. The treatment was ongoing and it was unknown if he would ever return to work. The “corporate norm” told us to cut off the risk and stop paying his salary, as it saves the business from potential loss. Instead, we made a decision to keep paying his salary and allow him to accrue annual leave debt. Fortunately for all involved, he eventually made a full recovery and returned to work.

At the time, I didn’t realise the message that our decision sent to the entire team and it wasn’t about extra leave. It was more powerful than I ever imagined. It sent a message that we had our team’s back when times got hard, that we were prepared to do more than the minimum corporate requirement. It showed we trusted the individual to stay with us while he paid off his annual leave debt.

This and other examples taught me that by doing more than what was required by corporate norms, by making a bet on someone, they become determined to prove you right.

Corporate norms can erode trust

When a business uses corporate norms to guide all decisions, it’s possible to quickly build an environment that employees consider grossly unfair. As a result, trust can plummet.

Imagine a team member that consistently puts in extra hours to finish tasks to make customers happy. One day, the team member asks for half a day off to pick up a sick child and they’re instructed, per policy, to put in a leave form. It’s immediately perceived as unfair because the team member puts in discretionary effort, but in return, receives no discretion from the company. It immediately breaks the accrued trust in that team member’s mind – that the company would treat their request fairly. The response is likely to be an unhappy team member that will go out of their way to never put in extra time.

We need to remember that trust is not just on a scale of 0 to 100 –  it can venture into the negative too. When it goes this way, you get the opposite of trust which is disbelief, doubt and uncertainty – the characteristics of a horrendous work environment I can’t imagine anyone would enjoy being a part of.

Back to my previous experience, when team leaders and managers referred  to our HR leader for policy guidance, she was able  to catch these types of haphazard decisions. She was awesome. She completely understood the trust equation and was pivotal in amplifying a culture of trust in our team.

Mark Lewis is the co-founder and CEO of Crewmojo.

See our previous article on the importance of trust for creating effective teams.

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Li Cunxin is no stranger to adversity. Growing up, he explains, he used to watch his father leave early each morning and come home late at night from his job. He describes what it was like to watch the man. “He was carrying huge, heavy sacks of 200 kilos of grain on his shoulder, day-in and day-out, with very little food. He came home each day a broken man. But the next morning he’d get up and go to work again. Because if he didn’t do that the survival of his seven children would be really at risk.”

It’s from experiences like these that Cunxin learned that adversity isn’t just an experience, it’s a lesson and a motivation. The lesson is in perseverance, and the motivation is never to return to a situation where you have to cope with adversity’s “bitter taste”.

As part of his current role as the artistic director of Queensland Ballet, Cunxin regularly deals with some of the most ambitious, and most talented people in their field. Only the best of the best even get to audition, and then, from a field of hundreds of dancers, the company will select just two or three every year.  So how do you get people who are so motivated on a personal level to dedicate themselves to the mission of your company?

Cunxin advises tapping into employees’ ambition by linking advancement  to both individual success and adherence to the company’s core mission. He stresses the importance of being a team player, saying, “Without that, I don’t care how talented they are, we cannot achieve great things as an organisation.”

To hear more of Cunxin’s inspiring story and attitude, and to pick up extra tips on how to manage high performing teams, watch the full video.

Want to learn how to build effective teams, or advance your HR career by developing new leadership skills? Check out AHRI’s short courses on management.

Footage courtesy of Queensland Ballet. Filmed by Pixelframe.

Music provided by Musopen.org

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When Peter*, a senior executive at a large financial organisation, began a coaching program with me, our conversations ranged from subjects as concrete as board relations to less tangible areas such as the emotional drivers for success.

Taking the challenge

It was a challenge for both of us to relate emotions and business success – and to explore the relationships between them.

We began with a 360 degree review of Peter’s leadership capabilities.

As his review progressed, an unexpected focus developed; tension between Peter and the executive team. We spent the remainder of the session discussing and unraveling the reasons for this tension amongst the executive team – and found that most of it originated from Peter himself.

Peter, though aware that he was personally challenged by periods of tension, had no idea about the effect it had on his team members.

This was Peter’s most difficult leadership experience in his time as a senior executive – and it was clear he needed someone to help identify his blind spots, as well as be a sounding board for his concerns.

Honesty can be difficult

Candid feedback is always difficult to hear and digest, no matter your position.

I had to help Peter to change his behaviour, specifically to manage his tensions for the benefit of his team and company.

The coaching process provided analysis and feedback on Peter’s actions; by comparing what he thought he was doing with what he was actually doing.

We worked towards a “systemic personal inquiry”: identifying what roles and responsibilities could be delegated and what he should focus on to ensure he could give his full attention to leading his business.

An essential part of the executive coaching process, 360 reviews help participants evaluate their positions, action and goals, providing information that can help shape their leadership and can provide reference points in their personal journey.

The insights of an outsider

In this instance, Peter learnt that he could become overly involved in his teams’ work, be too optimistic and consequently very tense when his expectations were not realised. Often this tension caused him to launch into attack mode, especially if he didn’t have full visibility of projects.

Through the 360 review process, Peter realised that his behaviour simply transferred this pressure to others and made them feel uncomfortable speaking with him. Consequently, his team members thought he didn’t appreciate how difficult their tasks were to accomplish and that he undervalued their efforts.

Spreading the power of change

After such honest critical feedback, it would have been easy for Peter to simply change his leadership style and to bury the new information about himself. Instead he chose to lead by example and share it with the rest of the company.

The result was a wave of change that created a more open and supportive environment for his leadership team; one that recognised that both emotional and business perspectives have important roles in a happy and productive workplace.

Peter himself now makes a point of going out of his way to recognise people and their efforts, sharing the learning he gained from the coaching process.

*Subject’s name has been changed

This article was first published at LinkedIn.

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Open-source innovation, cross-functional collaboration and a customer-first focus were all hallmarks of 2016’s Most Innovative Companies list, which was released this past week by The Australian Financial Review.

The Most Innovative Companies list is judged and curated by a panel of experts led by Amantha Imber, an innovation expert and founder of consultant group Inventium.

It was an exciting and competitive group of applicants, says Imber, and the quality of the companies that made it into the top 50 reflect this.

“This round was a much stronger field – we had more than 1000 companies nominate for this list,” she says. “This is twice as many as last year, so the judging was much harder. It’s really exciting that the country is finally placing a big emphasis on innovation.”

What does it take to make it on the Most Innovative Companies list?

Entrants are assessed on three criteria:

1. A full breakdown of two innovations the company has developed or implemented in the past year. Imber and her team look for how well the problem was articulated, how unique were the ideas for solving it, and what the impact the ideas had;
2. An innovation audit of the company, which asks staff to assess the company’s culture and whether it facilitates innovation; and
3. A series of open-ended questions about how the organisation approaches innovation, strategy and more.

Several organisations on the list are particularly interesting from an HR perspective. Employsure developed a resource for small- and medium-sized businesses to easily access legal, compliance, employment relations, and health and safety advice – 24/7.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia, which ranked third, won Best HR Innovation for its use of virtual reality in the workplace. Through Oculus Rift technology, the company created a way for candidates to experience their company culture and state-of-the-art office design before joining.

And to help increase collaboration, decrease siloed thinking, and emphasise continuous learning and development, Seamless developed a unique mentoring program to help employees ‘Level Up’ in an area of their choosing. Staff pick a discipline outside their expertise, and for three months they work closely with a mentor in the company who specialises in this area. Bonus: the entire process is gamified.

Winners spanned a range of sectors as well, says Imber, and include use of analog solutions with emerging, mainstream technology. The top 50 most innovative companies highlight some key trends to keep an eye on, says Imber.

Here are her top tips for businesses who want to increase innovation – and potentially make it onto next year’s list.

1. Focus on cross-functional collaboration

“A lot of companies work in silos, and it’s very hard to cut through them,” Imber says. But focusing on collaboration is a sure-fire way to drive a culture where innovation thrives. “We saw a lot of companies bringing employees from different departments or locations together to solve problems.” Afterall, research shows that diverse teams outperform homogeneous ones.

2. Look to open innovation

Imber says many entrants looked at ways to source ideas from outside the organisation. “I think it’s that more businesses are feeling that all the answers don’t have to come from within,” she says. One common way to do this includes asking members of the public or customers for input.

3. Keep customers front-of-mind

Putting customers and clients at the heart of the process was fundamental to how the most innovative companies work, say Imber. These organisations made an effort to understand what makes their customers tick, and involved them when testing new ideas.

4. Think about the innovation process

Before getting started, Imber says companies need to ask, “What challenges do we need to solve?” Once you have an answer, reflect on how the company encourages or stifles innovation, and how these issues can be addressed. “The most innovative companies deliberately build capability around innovation, as opposed to seeing it as something people either have or don’t have,” Imber says.

5. Make time for people to be innovative

In the top 20 most innovative companies, 90 per cent of employees were encouraged by managers to come up with new ideas and challenge the status quo. What’s more, 92 per cent felt comfortable voicing opposing opinions to team members and managers. If you look at the bottom 20 companies, the numbers are more stark: 40 per cent didn’t have an innovation budget that was protected, none had any form of innovation training, and 50 per cent of staff reported zero resources were dedicated to innovation.

“Innovation is a skill that can be taught and learned,” Imber says. “You need an environment where its value is realised, and people are comfortable and encouraged to challenge each other.”

To learn more about innovation in the workplace and how to build it, click here.  

You can view the full AFR 50 Most Innovative Companies 2016 list here.

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A new study conducted by Harvard researchers gathered data on economists to see how teaming up with others to co-author papers affects the likelihood of getting promoted (in this case, tenure). Turns out, working with others – especially men – on a project is correlated to lower rates of promotion for women compared to men. Women essentially experience a collaboration penalty, says lead researcher Heather Sarsons.

Women who solo author all their papers have roughly the same chance of receiving tenure as a man, according to the study. This gap widens as more co-authors are added, eventually reaching a point where women had a 40 per cent probability of receiving tenure compared to 75 per cent for men. Sarsons and her team found that on average women are 18 per cent less likely to receive tenure than men.

It’s tough to untangle whether the co-authoring penalty comes from employers not giving women as much credit for their work when they collaborate with men or if women are less likely to take credit for their work. There is evidence to support both scenarios, but what is clear is that when there is ambiguity around who did what work during a group project, men are favoured unfairly.

Results like these are interesting, especially when pulled up against studies that have demonstrated the benefits of men and women working on teams together. One study conducted by the London Business School of 100 teams of knowledge workers from 17 countries found that teams split equally between men and women were more likely to share knowledge, experiment and fulfil tasks. This is a result of what researchers coined the “safe communication climate” created by balanced work teams, which in turn drives innovation.

Another Harvard study, this one from 2013, found that teams with equal numbers of men and women performed better than male-dominated teams, while female-dominated teams had no corresponding decrease in productivity or performance.

“We thought this bias might hurt people when it’s not really clear who did what on a project,” Sarsons says. “My hope with this is not that women work in groups less. It is to bring attention to the fact that people might unconsciously be assigning credit for things differentially.”

The results of this study and similar ones are particularly relevant, as more jobs require teamwork and collaboration on projects. Work doesn’t always speak for itself, so employers and employees must be vigilant about assigning and claiming credit where credit is due.

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In a bid to remedy this, organisations have instigated a range of employee engagement programs. But while such efforts often work in the short term, they have failed to deliver lasting results.

There’s a growing realisation that the problem is not with the employees – it’s the way organisations are structured. We are starting to see that in an information-rich world where people want fulfilment and even enjoyment in their work, the old pyramid-style hierarchical systems are failing both organisations and the people who work for them.

Add to this trend the attitudes and beliefs of the generation now entering the workforce: entrepreneurial, team-oriented, and authority-phobic, they prefer the shared economy of Uber and Airbnb. This cohort does not respond to positional power the way previous generations have. They know how to challenge power, and they will do it.

The solution, according to a new wave of management thinkers and CEOs, is to reinvent management altogether. It’s not the work or the workers that are the problem. It’s the way we manage both.

Some organisations have already taken a leap of faith and redesigned themselves using self-managed teams as the operating model. These new ways of working are not just an add-on. They require a wholesale reinvention of corporate decision making, processes and responsibilities. Their examples show that even large, complex organisations can operate on self-managed principles, and that the energy and potential that is unleashed is phenomenal.

Pioneers of the movement, the Management Innovation Exchange (MIX), an online community led by Professor Gary Hamel, talk about ‘hacks’ and ‘moonshots’ as they trial new ways of working. The MIX is sponsored by a network of strategic partners including Harvard Business Review and McKinsey & Company.

These early adopters show that, in general, the quality of work life and employee satisfaction (positive attitudes) are considerably higher, with consistent reports of significant reductions in costs along with increased productivity.

At Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, employees can outsource mundane aspects of their job without asking for permission. At a GE plant that assembles jet engines in North Carolina there is just one supervisor and 400 employees. Results have been so good that GE is rolling out this model in another 80 factories.

Under the leadership of Ricardo Semler, the highly successful Brazilian company Semco boasts an organisational chart that features concentric circles, representing autonomous, democratically run units that interact with each other. In just one innovation, Semco has done away with all restrictions on business travel. The caveat is that employees publish their expenses online where colleagues can view them. They are constrained not by the need for management approval or company guidelines, but by their peers.

The online music site Spotify has a flat hierarchy using autonomous eight-person ‘squads’. Each squad can choose what they want to work on, as long as they adhere to the internal company motto of ‘Be autonomous, but don’t sub-optimise’.

At California-based Morningstar, the world’s largest tomato processor, there are no titles and no promotions. Even with 400 full-time employees, no one has a boss and employees negotiate responsibilities with their colleagues. When decisions need to be made, they seek the advice of their colleagues before deciding.

Even the Australian Federal Police is moving away from a rigid paramilitary command and-control style to a focus on flexible, multi-skilled teams.

What can we learn from these pioneers? It’s easier to work with human nature than against it. And that employees can even enjoy work.

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Robertson is well-qualified for this type of book – a personal account of what it means to lead and be part of teams in crises or difficult situations. Her personal experiences are apparent throughout this publication.

She holds an MBA from Melbourne Business School, was one of Victoria’s youngest chief rangers, was part of the response team during Victoria’s Black Saturday bushfire tragedy, and has lead an Antarctic expedition.

Her real-life examples are excellent. I loved the story of ‘Mr Scrapey’, who had the annoying habit of scraping his cutlery along his plate. And the situation of the ‘Bacon Wars’ is priceless!

Robertson refused to allow a stop-work meeting for their $20 million program to discuss how to cook the bacon on Monday mornings, but she does admit that you need to take care of the little things. Robertson tells us that ‘Bacon Wars’ are symptoms of deeper issues – usually to do with respect. She insists that you must be patient and attentive as a leader in order to build a respectful team.

Building a team

The best part of this book is the (too) brief appendix, which addresses ‘building team work with no triangles’. This is a concept that Robertson explores earlier in the book.

A triangle exists if someone wants to tell you something about someone else, when you are miffed at another person and tell a third party, or you hear what so-and-so thinks about you. In a harsh environment where it gets to 40-degrees below zero, there’s nowhere to hide and you have to rely upon others to survive, such triangles can ruin a team.

Robertson provides guidelines on how to have a difficult conversation: choose the right time and place; don’t email; anticipate that you might not be on the same page; rehearse; ask questions; identify your role in what is happening; maintain eye contact and stay in control; clarify what is being said; don’t interrupt; use LADAR = ‘language radar’, and listen for ‘ping’ words like always, never, everyone, no one, can’t, won’t; and follow up and move on.

The book has lots of diary entries, which show Robertson’s lived experience of Antarctica and there are some great colour photos of the expedition and this marvellous place. It is a rich, personal story.

Overall, I recommend this book as a compelling narrative in being a team member and a team leader. It might lack some scholarship and an integrating model or framework for teamwork or leadership, but Robertson’s many ‘learnings’ and suggestions are indeed useful.

The post February book review appeared first on HRM online.