The thing about remote teams is that you don’t realise how well they work, until you get together.
That’s my thought today as I fly home after a week of strategy. I’ve been in Dublin, with our exec team, figuratively locked inside a beautiful Airbnb home to rub brains, evaluate and iterate our business. We do this four times a year, converge in one location with a fluid agenda to engage in deep conversations. Our emotions run wild and the outcomes to date, fall nothing short if extraordinary. I’m pretty sure that if we were to look from the outside in, you’d see steam escaping our brains. My head literally hurts by day three and then, by day five, when we reveal the outcomes to the team, you get to realise that what we do is more than us really, there’s a definite magic that results.
I’d peg them on these three factors:
1. Vulnerability: they say you shouldn’t bring your personal life to work. If you’re human, regardless if your gender, you’ll struggle to do this. I find that when we allow ourselves to be vulnerable in front of our colleagues, we connect at a higher level. No need for judgement or comment, but acceptance that what you feel is real, and therefore relevant and important. It’s when we open our soul up to the team to peep inside, that the true magic of connection starts to happen.
2. Authenticity: We speak our truth; it’s hard, it’s raw, it’s real. If you were an outsider looking in, you might think we’re a highly dysfunctional crew. If you stuck around though, you’d get to experience the great shooters that happen as a result of bringing your whole self to the party. Warts and all.
3. Execution: Shit actually gets done. Instead of documenting conversations we document actions. Who is responsible for driving what by when. For me this is the plump cherry on top of a double chocolate fudge Sunday. It’s the piece that speaks to accountability. We know deeply that these deductions are more than just words. Bringing them to life is sweet happiness in every possible way.
