In this episode, Bart speaks with Marie-Claire Ross, author of Trusted to Thrive, about how leaders can drive high performance in their teams through a balance of high safety and high accountability cultures. She outlines why humans are wired to seek psychologically safe environments, and why it's so hard to build. Then she explains why safety without accountability leads to atrophy, why accountability without safety leads to loss of trust, and how the balance of both creates what she calls the Achievement Zone. Her practical guidance and specific examples make this conversation one every leader should digest.
Find out more about her book here. And find Marie-Claire Ross on Linked In here.
01:07 Teaser
00:33 Show Intro
01:09 Introducing Marie-Claire Ross and her book
02:23 How Marie-Claire got into this field
03:23 Working with troubled young adults
05:30 Making corporate training materials
07:01 Noticed lack of trust – and started her company to address this issue
08:25 Bart reads from her book
09:09 Why was trust not focused on by leaders?
11:41 How has Covid changed ideas on trust and leadership?
13:11 Had to delineate personal/work lives
14:03 How do you know when trust is present
15:21 Psychological Safety – what is it?
16:03 Trust is more contextual
18:25 How can leaders work with safety and trust?
20:14 Advice to leaders
20:29 Importance of connection and a meaningful future
21:37 Learning together helps
23:12 Stepping into a meaningful future
23:55 Leading in a virtual world
25:16 Make meetings better
25:44 Ask people questions
27:54 Just “safety” is not enough – you need accountability
30:31 The anxiety zone
32:47 Creating accountability
35:45 Clarity about goals and directive is key
37:22 Visibility and transparency are more and more important
38:20 Number one thing leaders should do
39:24 Being a self-aware leader
40:57 Thank yous
41:34 Where to find the book
42:17 Outro
