Leading people and teams is always hard, and even harder when the leader may struggle with messaging and keeping the team focused on the mission. Lately, I’ve been contemplating the divisions in our society—from national level politics down to the workplace. Such dissonance results in destructive erosion…of trust, cooperation, relationships…when what we need is constructive building. So, what can we all do, particularly those in leadership positions, to reverse this trend to unite and strengthen our nation and each other?  

Seek the Truth 

There’s a famous saying attributed to one of my favorite authors, Edgar Allen Poe: “Believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see.” I would expand that with Sandy’s corollary: 

“Believe nothing you hear, a quarter of what you read and only half of what you see.” In the hyper-accelerating world of Artificial Intelligence (AI), much of what we hear, read, and see may be generated by an intelligent model, not a human. Yet people are too often fooled by the models. They react instantly to what they hear, read, or see with inflamed passion grounded in self-righteousness to vehemently support anything that may validate their beliefs, or to undermine what runs counter to their beliefs. They’re no longer interested in seeking the truth, because they’ve established “their truth” based on their beliefs and biases.  

Human Nature versus the Algorithm  

It helps to understand some facts about human nature. There’s scientific evidence that two or more people may witness the same incident or be part of the same discussion or experience and come away with totally different perceptions. I’ve seen this many times during meetings that address complex topics. I learned to conclude each meeting with a wrap to align on the content, decisions, and way ahead. Otherwise, people would leave the room with differing perspectives, which created confusion and broke down trust.   

Same with operations during my years serving on Coast Guard cutters—following an intense evolution like taking a fishing vessel in tow during a storm, we would “hot wash” or review the evolution to evaluate what went right and what we could have done better. It wasn’t unusual for people to come away with different perceptions depending on their role in the operation. Each person experienced part of “the truth,” but seldom, if ever, did one individual have the entire truth of what happened.  

Social media has amplified this challenge of differing perceptions of the same incident by exploiting human nature. People scroll and click, which results in the algorithm pushing them more content that supports and justifies their beliefs. They’re then more convinced than ever that their position or belief must be the correct one because they’ve been validated by the model. Thus, human beings inch closer to believing the machines and models more than they do each other. And that’s convenient, because the model doesn’t argue back. 

Unite around Shared Purpose and Values 

It seems people can be willingly or unwillingly pulled away from traditionally shared values, common courtesy, and intellectual curiosity in the race to react and then judge. Instead of seeking to understand differing viewpoints and cooperating to achieve mutually acceptable outcomes, people are driven to “win at all costs.” They see compromise as a weakness.   

What I’ve described is a recipe for dividing and weakening when what we need in our society and our workplaces is uniting and strengthening around a shared mission/purpose and values. The challenge for leaders at all levels is how to break down barriers and unite people. Here are a few thoughts on how to do that:  

• Bring people together, preferably in person in their smaller teams, in a spirit of community where they can discuss challenges, concerns and how they can better understand and support each other to achieve shared goals. 

• Be willing to listen, seeking to understand. Invite someone in to ask them how they’re doing; it’s amazing what you might learn. Sometimes people just want to be heard and respected. 

• Show people they’re valued – don’t just tell the team they did a great job. Praise an individual in front of his or her peers or the supervisor, with a specific reference to the contribution or result. 

• Ensure people fully understand the mission/purpose and how their role supports it. 

• Model the way by sticking to the facts, living the organization’s core values, and requiring others to do the same. 

There’s no recipe for success, and as AI advances each leader will be harder pressed to find ways to overcome the forces that divide people, erode trust, and ultimately lead to team breakdown and mission failure. Don’t be fooled.  

Look in the mirror: What can you do to overcome the external influences impacting your workforce and unite people to achieve the mission?   

Please join me again next time for more on Leading with Character.  

If you enjoyed this post, please visit my website where you can buy my book, Breaking Ice & Breaking Glass: Leading in Uncharted Waters, and sign up for my mailing list: https://sandrastosz.com/book/breaking-ice-and-breaking-glass/