Recipe for a Non-Violent Workplace
How do we create non-violent workplaces?
The promise of startup life is that it is better than the more corporate or cubicle’d alternatives. However, startups can be turbulent places. For as many changes there can be on a day-to-day, week-to-week basis, just staying ahead of the planning and execution in a fast-paced environment is a task in and of itself. How we are being in our organizations shapes how the culture feels to every member of the team. However, becoming conscious of how we are being with each other, and what we are creating in our organizations is the first step to setting up a different experience than the oft-touted, and oft-lived norm.
The fear and uncertainty that founders often face while navigating it all can trickle down in subtle and not-so-subtle ways to the team as a whole. This can show up in the interactions and relationships amongst teammates and leadership. The pace and turbulence of startups and high-growth companies can feel jostling, which can fly in the face of any sense of psychological safety.
The experience of working in the organizations we build as founders ripples through the lives of those who work for us; they either feel safe, or not. Take a moment to consider your previous work experiences.
- What work experiences have you had where you felt a sense of belonging at the company you were at? What contributed to that experience for you?
- Think about a work experience that wasn’t pleasant or a company that wasn’t pleasant to work at. What was happening there? How did you feel being there?
- When have you felt safe to show up as your whole self at work? If you considered showing up as your full self at work, what were you afraid might happen?
- What would it take for you to feel comfortable to show up as your full self to work?
In our work over the past 7 years, we’ve seen ways to create more non-violent workplaces that honor humanity. We know that better humans make better leaders, and better leaders create more humane workplaces. When we focus on organizations, our ‘bet’ shifts a bit such that Practical Skills + Radical Self Inquiry + Shared Experiences = Greater Resiliency + Enhanced Leadership + A Non-Violent Workplace.
What does it mean to have a non-violent workplace? One way we look at this is: A non-violent organization is an organization that is non-violent to the planet, its people, and the community. Another way we look at this is: What does it feel like to be at this organization? How are we being together? What fosters a sense of belonging and safety? Do your employees feel safe to bring their whole selves to work?
At Reboot, we believe that work can be a way to become our fullest selves. This transformation hinges on each member of the team engaging in the art of growing up. Such a task is no small thing: self-awareness is a prerequisite to the relational awareness required for high-functioning teams to work together. That relational awareness is what fuels every interaction in the organization.
We believe that transformation is possible within organizations and it begins with how we are with each other, which begins with how we are with ourselves. A non-violent organization looks a lot like humans being better humans. Self-awareness is the cornerstone of any conscious team, as it affects how we are with each other. Building a culture of leadership and resiliency doesn’t mean merely learning skills and tools in order to be transactional. What we learn and put to use in the practice field that is our organizations allows transformation to happen in and through the relationships and interactions we have day in and day out. Work flows better from each of us and from all of us operating together when we feel a sense of connection, safety, and belonging with our team.
This movement of self-awareness often starts at the top: is the leader of the company willing to do the work? As the leader of the organization, it’s difficult to delegate this work to HR and outsource it to other consultants. The leader’s willingness to be engaged matters tremendously for the culture setting of the entire organization. Engaging directly in the process, with a coach, with the team, with HR, and maybe even with outside consultants, sets the tone for a real cultural shift to happen, trending in the direction of a non-violent workplace. Staying one step removed from the process sends a different, but resounding message.
We’ve gathered a working list of traits and values that characterize a non-violent workplace. They are as follows:
- Supports employees to bring their whole selves to work.
- Values diverse people and perspectives.
- Cares how employees are doing.
- Responds empathetically.
- Listens.
- Gets curious.
- Leans towards inquiry before advocacy.
- Is present for each other and what’s arising. (Presence is being open to what an individual or group needs in the moment rather than being overly attached to my own agenda of what needs to happen right now.)
- Creates a sense of belonging and invites all voices at the table into the conversation.
- Slows down to explore what’s really going on and engages the dynamics at play in conversations.
- Fosters self-awareness and personal growth with intra- and interpersonal skills to support emotional awareness.
- Engages conflict in ways that discern oppression from healthy growth
- Provides internal support in the form of coaching and training so employees may grow into their best adult selves.
- Hires with clarity around what’s needed.
- Sets clarity around roles, responsibilities, and expectations.
- Has a healthy approach to making and honoring agreements, and how to recover when agreements are broken.
- Is practiced at both giving and receiving feedback.
- Learns from failure.
- Creates conditions where employees feel safe to speak up.
- Takes responsibility for the impact of leadership and decisions.
- Takes responsibility for individual and organizational learning and growth.
- Supports the coming and going of people entering and leaving the organization through healthy rituals.
- Cultivates a healthy relationship with uncertainty, the unknown, and risks.
- Understands that human beings experience transitions in a variety of ways.
- Recognizes that fears, worries, and concerns are best discussed collectively and without judgment, needing to be rational, or to ‘be fixed.’
- Supports one another when support is needed.
- Is trauma-aware.
- Knows how to shift from our less than well-resourced self, to our more full-resourced self. (Example: Learning how to manage anxiety.)
- Believe that engaging the diversity of perspectives and understanding may be the very thing that brings out the best we have to offer — to each person on the team, to the business, to the customers, and to the communities of which we are a part.
- Has solid operational execution, as well as a firm understanding of financial planning and accountability.
After surveying these bullet points, how many of these feel familiar to you? How does your organization feel in comparison as you consider these items? What do you see that’s working? What would you like to see more of? What ingredients above would you like to add to your team or organization?
What would you add to this list of characteristics that make a non-violent workplace?
