RAFFIAPALM

When people value relationships over status, they stimulate the brain chemistry that supports nurturing. They move from a fearful state of mind to a more trusting state of mind. Even in the face of difficult challenges, focusing on relationships shifts the conversation, which shifts the outcomes. As we will see, when relationships start to go bad in a healthy company, people use the tool of priming to address the issue quickly and directly. They focus on raising the bar on what good and great relationships look like — they focus on mutual support and understanding rather than personal gain.

When we focus on relationships first, we create a safe space for connecting with others heart to heart, and people move toward one another with compassion and understanding rather than away from each other in fear and judgment. We bring the skeptic on board.

— Conversational Intelligence: How Great Leaders Build Trust & Get Extraordinary Results by Judith E. Glaser

We’ve learned that time-tellers can become clock-builders, and we’re learning how to help time-tellers make the transition. We’ve learned that, if anything, we underestimated the importance of alignment, and we’re learning much about how to create alignment within organizations. We’ve learned that purpose — when properly conceived — has a profound effect upon an organization beyond what core values alone can do, and that organizations should put more effort into identifying their purpose.

— Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by Jim Collins, Jerry I. Porras

When things are going best is when you have the opportunity to be the strongest, most demanding, and most effective in your leadership. A strong wind is at your back, but it requires an understanding of the perils produced by victory to prevent that wind from blowing you over.

— The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership by Bill Walsh, Steve Jamison, et al.