Team Wellness

Underneath the many ways we define wellness – fitness, relationship, career, financial, etc. – is a foundation supported by the effectiveness with which we cope with the world. How we manage unexpected events, how we recover from setbacks, and how we navigate new challenges are among the countless measures of our health and wellness. Before we can evaluate the quality of our interpersonal relationships, the accomplishments of our teams, or the success of our careers, we have to establish a lifestyle shaped by effective coping skills. It is upon that platform that the other definitions of wellness are empowered.

It would be a mistake to view your work team, your closest interpersonal relationship, and your own growth and development as separate experiences. You are at the center of each of these universes and uniquely drive the wellness and vibe of each one. Your strengths dictate how well you interact with the environment (micro), your friends and family (mezzo), and your workplace culture (macro). Unfortunately (or fortunately), your personality glitches, poor coping skills under stress, and unresolved psychological issues have plenty of impact, too.

Everyone knows that struggle builds strength. But take a moment to think about the people in your life who have navigated adversity in their past and how they respond to current challenges. Whatever the circumstances, the usual story is that they are the calmest and most poised in a crisis when the proverbial shit hits the fan. They buckle down and keep moving forward.

“Well, that’s not going to fix itself.” This was the mason’s reply when he saw the plaster damage to the interior ceiling from the tuckpointing problem on the exterior of our building. You can treat the symptom or the source. A little spackle would fix the cosmetics, but the problem was sure to return if we didn’t address its cause. A little fix now or a big fix later. Your choice.

…twenty years ago, right? And the second best day is…drumroll… today. This well-worn adage applies to almost anything we wish we’d known or done in hindsight. It’s the very nature of an epiphany – the sudden flush of clarity only lasts until you realize how obvious it should have been. Very few teams enjoy the gifts of launching their culture from scratch and building the right norms and values from day one. In reality, most teams are stuck fixing something that someone else broke.

The clinical and organizational worlds merge when teams are under pressure. The lens through which we measure adaptability is both strategic and psychological. Sometimes we use the perspective of workplace wellness by focusing on culture. Other times we zero in on human coping skills and view the world through a behavioral health perspective.

The older you are, the more likely it is that it’s both. There’s a window of opportunity in adulthood to shift direction. Once past that window, most of your energy serves to keep things the same, no matter how miserable. Pain gets normalized over time. It’s easier to endure a known discomfort than it is to risk the consequences of change.

Imagine you’ve been given a blank slate. You get to pick your teammates and choose your mission. You can choose how fast or slow to move and how cautious or risky to act. You have unlimited funds and a vast pool of talent. You get to start from zero. What’s your first move?

It’s time to get clear about what is sanctioned in the workplace. Psychology 101 teaches us that dysfunction is considered normal by children until they reach sufficient emotional maturity to realize it’s not. Do you mean all dads don’t abuse moms? No way? I thought treating people like $#!T was the way all families operate. Unless and until you have that epiphany, you are extremely likely to select a workplace culture that perpetuates your own personal pathology. Most workplaces are populated by employees who haven’t figured that out. That’s the prime reason healthy cultures are so rare.

Everyone carries a burden. We live in a world where showing your pain is a sign of weakness, so most people’s burdens are not visible. Stanford University uses a duck as the metaphor for invisible effortlessness. The objective is to make accomplishment look easy so imagine the water fowl gliding swiftly across the water while his webbed feet are paddling like mad, out of view, to move forward. Most people respond with “fine” when asked how they’re doing. Are they really fine?

Growing up, most of us are taught how to succeed as individuals. The formula is simple: set goals, take initiative, work hard, and persevere. Succeeding on teams uses different competencies and they don’t always come naturally. The same skill set that gained you acceptance into an elite college probably doesn’t make you the best teammate. Teams are messy and complicated. Conflict is unavoidable and it only takes one disengaged teammate to ruin a culture. So how do we learn the skills and competencies to function in team settings? Clue #1: It’s not by taking personality tests and discovering what makes other people tick.

Everyone has advice and guidance these days. The paths to wellness, individually or as a team, are many. Like most fads, there’s always something new that catches the attention of social media and gets talked about among friends. While all of that is unfolding, there remain three simple tools that have stood the test of time. One at the micro level, one at the mezzo level, and one at the macro level.