EP. 37 How to Lead Virtual Teams With Humility

On today’s podcast, we interview Bert Sarkkinen, founder and owner of Arrow Timber Framing. Inside this episode, he shares with us that the secret to creating committed virtual teams is to embrace humility in leadership. As leaders practice humility, they’ll place a greater emphasis on listening rather than speaking and be more open to experimenting. Brett emphasizes that Humble Leadership is more about listening than speaking. Additionally, humble leaders should spend more time asking questions uncovering what’s in other people’s heads rather than spending time communicating what they are thinking. Humble leadership is more about just simply trying things and improving with each iteration  rather than trying to create the perfect masterpiece the very first time. What is Humility?Dr. Robert Hogan defines humility (in leadership) as the ability to be willing to admit mistakes, share credit, and learn from others. Humility in leadership is the magnet that grounds leaders from their egotistical state. It is perhaps the most important characteristic for engaging others and fostering communication and results. 2 Main Beliefs Inside The Humble LeaderLeading humbly is acknowledging that 100 brains is better than one. Humble leaders intentionally avoid the spotlight and move the spotlight to their teams. Humble leaders make decisions and take action based on three main beliefs. Belief #1 You Don’t Know What Someone Else is Thinking, So Listen More Than You SpeakThe humble mindset lies in believing that you really don’t know what someone is thinking. Humble leaders spend more time discovering what others are thinking rather than assuming that they know. The only action a leader can take is to listen more so all ideas are heard, put on the table, and considered for action. Humble leaders avoid giving tons of information to their teams right away for the sake of “saving time.” Humble leaders practice the “listen more than you speak” by allowing their team to work on projects at their own pace. As the team hits roadblocks, humble leaders give them the information they need, slowly, along the way. This approach offers more opportunities for the team to be open to learning, rather than getting flooded with information when they aren’t ready to receive it.To practice this, for your next project, instead of leading and directing the meeting, take a step back and instead ask your team the following questions. What are we trying to do?What is important here?How should we go about this?Belief #2 Misunderstandings HappenThe Humble leader understands that messages between the leader and listener can be misunderstood. As leaders and teams develop, their paradigms change. During this time of transition, messages are often misunderstood. Humble leaders recognize the importance of constant dialogue to align intention with consequence and to clear up misunderstandings. See blog for full summary. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Team Anywhere’s mission is to uncover Leaders on the Front Lines that are building teams and cultures where the majority of the workers are dispersed throughout the city, state, country, or world. We explore how these remote leaders foster engagement through trust, authenticity, and a sense of community. Ultimately, we are uncovering the new skills and practices that leaders must take on to connect, inspire, and transform their teams to compete in the new dispersed global economy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.