Are you bringing your team up or down?

Do you have those days when you wake up in a good mood then on your commute you have a bad experience with someone and it ruins your happy vibe? Or maybe there are meetings you don’t look forward to because you know someone attending will bring the tone down? I’ve had many of these! But I also remember the opposite, looking forward to certain meetings because of the good camaraderie we had in the team. If someone was down we would inject some fun to boost the mood because we all got on. All our actions or moods affect those we interact with, are you bringing people around you up or down?

The majority of the time I have a positive outlook but I know there are times I’ve been short or snappy with people. Sometimes we get chances to apologise, other times not. It can be hard to think about the part we all play in other peoples’ days.

Any team member can impact the rest of the team, it’s not only the lead. I’m sure we can all remember times when straight after a meeting finishes we need a lie down to recover! We all have a responsibility to the team, we are either helping or hindering. Bringing our best side to our interactions is important, even if it’s hard work.

If we recognise negativity or moodiness in our own behaviour then this is half the battle. It means you have a choice to find a way to change for the sake of the team. Even a five-minute workout or a short walk can reset your mood and benefit those around you (and yourself!)

Where we see this behaviour persisting in someone else it’s the leads responsibility to act with some candid feedback. There are different ways this can be done depending on the person but they have to know their attitude is negatively impacting the team. The more this continues the danger any psychological safety in the team will diminish.

As a leader, do you want to be remembered as someone who had the courage to act for the benefit of the team, or someone who left issues to fester?

Team health and happiness is so important yet also almost impossible to get right over time as teams change. Everyone has a responsibility, no matter their role, to bring their best self to the team. There will be good and bad days but it’s a team that cares for others that will be there to support in times of need.