Assume good intent. But if people are trying to make decisions that align with the organization's objectives, then we ought to trust them. Trust people first because your trust in them will affect their behavior. They will work harder, stay longer, and unlock more discretionary effort when they feel trusted.

Second, failure to complete also takes a toll on the humans in the organization. No completion moments mean no celebration moments. One hour merges with the next, one day into the other. Without completion, we do not feel a sense of progress for what we've accomplished or learned.

The language changed in three ways:

. We replaced a reactive language of convince, coerce, comply, and conform with a proactive language of intent and commitment to action.

• We replaced a language of "prove and perform" with a language of "improve and learn."

• We replaced a language of invulnerability and certainty with a languag

Encouraging people to speak up, or even "empowering" them with statements like "don't hesitate to change course" in an environment of top-down decision-making, simply does not work.

Leaders say these things to assuage their conscience. When things go wrong, they can blame others for not speaking up despite the leader's encouragem

Doing is important, but action must be balanced with thinking. Just like Fred and Sue in the introduction-too much activity without thought results in wasted or erroneous actions and bad decisions, and too much thinking without action results in inaction and frustration.

The key to learning and growing, as a company and as a person, is correctly bal

This is a problem because people are typically attached to their previous work and now we need them to admit it could be done better. We need to help them shift out of their prove mindsets to an improve mindset. We need to leave the prove mindset behind and almost think of ourselves as detached observers of what we have previously done. We call tha

I had a client that used the word "exposed" a lot and in a negative way. They wanted to make sure no one felt "exposed." This reluctant exposure is a symptom of low trust and vulnerability and high levels of judgment. They are doomed to mediocrity because they infantalized their employees and no one will risk a new idea. The key

2. Admit You Don't Know
   
   It's hard to connect with a know-it-all, and a know-it-all is not going to care what you think. Instead, we get the sense from know-it-alls that all they care about is what they think. For a long time, I made a living being a know-it-all. I was supposed to know all the answers and have all my decisions be correct. I was not rewa

Whether it is a conversation with a boss, a peer, or a colleague who reports to you, every conversation is an opportunity to reengiheer the way we interact. You can shift yourself into a temporary state of bluework, then pause and reflect on the situation in order to come up with a response that's deliberate rather than automatic. Just ask yourself