The most important aspect of integrity is your example. How you act is what your team sees and reacts to, so you need to get that right first. In today\u2019s edition, we cover the value of meaning in your work, a new book of the month on the ever-important topic of stress, and revisit a classic Lighthouse blog post for skeptical leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s dive in\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Table of contents:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u27a1\ufe0f Did a friend forward this to you?<\/strong> Get every issue <\/em>straight to your inbox by signing up here<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Note: <\/em>This is a preview of our weekly leadership newsletter, Lighthouse Leadership Weekly (LLW).<\/p>\n\n\n\n To get this sent to your inbox every week, along with our latest long form essays on this blog, you can sign up here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \"Unless the manager is bad - in which case that dominates - in my experience <\/em>this is usually the largest factor in happiness<\/em><\/strong>, even more than compensation.\" - <\/em>Marty Cagan in his book, Empowered: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Results<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n As I've continued reading Marty Cagan's product leadership book, Empowered, I was reminded of this important lesson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, you're probably wondering what this magical, largest factor is that can help make you and your team happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And it's something so simple, but so easily overlooked: Meaning.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Your work has to matter. You need to feel like there is a positive purpose to what you get up every morning to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet, too often this is overlooked. As Cagan went on to write:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \"But it's not always clear to the product person how or why her work is meaningful, or how her one small team contributes in a meaningful way. So <\/em>it's important to very clearly and explicitly discuss this and reinforce this frequently, both publicly and privately.\"<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n He was speaking about product managers, but I think this is true of just about every role at every company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I've yet to meet a company that talks about meaning too much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cagan is not alone in believing in the value of making the meaning of someone's work very clear to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, says<\/a>, \u201cTechnologies will come and go, so you need to be able to both ask and answer the question: What do you do as a company, why do you exist?<\/strong>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Meaning for every person in your company and on your team comes downstream from your company's \"why\" for existing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And it's your job as a manager to explain to each of your team members how they contribute to that mission and meaning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But this isn't about charity. This shouldn't feel like a chore for you, because when you do this, it leads to better performance!<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a study<\/a> of workers at a call center:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \"[Call center employees that] read stories from the beneficiaries<\/strong> of the fundraising organization, who described how the scholarships they obtained from the organization had a positive impact on their lives... earned more than twice<\/strong> the number of weekly pledges (from an average of 9 to an average of 23) and more than twice<\/strong> the amount of weekly donation money (from an average of $1,288 to an average of $3,130).\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n If explaining meaning and purpose to call center employees can lead to 2-3X improvements, imagine what you'd see with your team!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Knowing that meaning is so important, let's talk about how you can make sure your team understands and feels the meaning in their work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Try to practice a couple of these this week and watch how your team responds:<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the easiest ways to share meaning is to tell your team what you hear from a customer when they make a difference. You can do this individually when it's one person's actions that mattered most, or you can tell your whole team in a group meeting or group chat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Just remember for the latter you still need to break down how individuals on your team impacted the customer. It's very likely everyone had different parts to play and you should never assume it's self-evident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To really hit home on the personal side of this, your 1 on 1s with your team members are a great time to remind them of their meaning and purpose. It gives you a private time to really go deep and see both what they think their purpose is, and share multiple stories and reasons their work has meaning. (Get more detail and ideas here)<\/a>\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n Big efforts are the most important time to remind people of the meaning of their work. That's when people can feel drained and exhausted, and then throw their hands up thinking, \"What's the point?\"<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n You can prevent that by making sure that when you ship big projects you take time to talk about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Share your gratitude with your team so they know you see how hard they worked. Then, really make an impression by also talking about why each person's work specifically mattered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Did that new feature save a key customer? Did their quick communication keep you on schedule? Did they solve a really important problem? Tell them!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remembering to do all the things we talk about in this newsletter can feel exhausting. How does anyone remember to do it all?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The answer is simple: Make it a habit.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n And one of the simplest ways to make sure you regularly talk about meaning and purpose is to put it as an agenda item every time you have a team meeting of your choosing. That's how you end up compounding 5 minutes in a weekly meeting into over 4 hours of meaning-centered discussions a year from those agenda items alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At first, it may be hard to come up with new things every week, but remember that repetition is your friend<\/a>. You'll get better at it over time as you build the habit, and you may be surprised how much your team enjoys hearing about why their work matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether you're in Slack, Microsoft Teams, or another tool, this simple tactic can work wonders. All you have to do is create a special channel for wins, shout outs, and meaning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, start posting meaningful moments that reinforce you and your team's purpose. Make sure to provide enough detail so it's obvious and clear what you're referring to, while not writing a novel no one will read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you post a few, encourage the team to start sharing them, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is how you build a virtuous cycle of your team praising and thanking each other, and reinforcing the meaning and purpose behind the work they do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And all you have to do is get it started and then nudge it along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ---<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meaning and purpose are things we all know help you feel better about work, but it's easy to forget to get around to talking about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That's why we've called this out in various ways across a few editions of the newsletter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Will you take a few minutes this week to put one of these into practice, so your team can perform at a higher level and love their work more?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Stress is bad, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not quite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I read Dr. Kelly McGonigal's book, The Upside of Stress<\/a>, I was amazed to finally see a mystery answered: Why do some people thrive under pressure and others struggle?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It turns out, it's all in your head. Really.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Dr. McGonigal's research, she found that depending on how you think about stress, your body will react differently; your body will literally release *different chemicals* which help or hurt your body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Want an example? Think about a pro sport you like or are familiar with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now imagine two players in a key moment in the game:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I saw this last weekend with my favorite team, the Pittsburgh Steelers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u200bBut what about your team having integrity?
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\u200b<\/strong>It comes down to being clear with your team on expectations, and having open discussions when there are issues.
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Yet, no matter what your team does, it's really important to remember it's partially <\/em>your responsibility<\/em><\/strong> as the leader.
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Yes, hold your team accountable, but <\/em>you need to hold yourself accountable first,<\/em><\/strong> including taking some responsibility for when your team comes up short. It can take awhile to get used to that, but there are *always* things you could have done to avoid problems (i.e.- you could have more closely monitored the situation, assigned the task to a different team member, or been more supportive.)<\/em>\u200b
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\u200bWhen you demonstrate integrity in your actions and your accountability, you may be surprised how your team acts in response.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\n\ud83e\udd58 Food for Thought<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Meaning matters.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Marty is in good company.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Easy, day-to-day ways to help your team understand the meaning behind their work<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
1) Share relevant customer stories<\/strong>.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
2) Talk about meaning and purpose in their 1 on 1s.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
3) When big projects ship, recognize your team AND talk about the meaning<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
4) Make it a recurring ritual for you and your team.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
5) Create a group chat channel to share meaningful moments<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\ud83d\udcda Book of the Month <\/strong>on Changing How You View Stress<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n*You* decide<\/em> if stress is good or bad.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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