Avoiding a Fear State During Startup Team Transition

At every quarterly off-site meeting that I facilitate for team bonding, we do the following exercise: 1. I ask all team members to open a document that only they have access to and write down their thoughts about the company when they source their joy, excitement, sadness, anger, and fear. 2. For their thoughts of anger and fear, each person writes

write-up should include both a detailed description of the issue and the proposed solution.

Rolling out a new plan gives leaders the opportunity to create strong buy-in, trust, and excitement for the work ahead. Don't squander it.

The first: Have each person imagine that they are the CEO and ask themselves the question, “What are the most important issues (maximum three) for me to solve in the next ninety days?” Allowing people to put themselves in the CEO role gives them permission to think like an owner. The second: Just as people’s fullest thoughts about someone can be dr