Welcome to 2019! What would make this the best year yet for you? Since a major responsibility for you and all leaders is to continue to inspire and motivate others to achieve extraordinary results, you may very well be thinking about fresh ways or ideas to influence and support a positive work culture, where people continue to care deeply about the work and about each other, even in challenging times.

A former superintendent of mine used to say, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” While he was not the one to originally coin that phrase – he took the phrase to heart and modeled caring as well as encouraging us to care about each other. I’ll never forget that example. In a way – it captures the main message from all the brain research for leaders. Let people know that you care about them and that they are a vital part of the team. Give them your time and attention and listen to what they have to say. When this happens, it’s much more likely that they will give you their very best. After all, when people feel safe and cared for, in small and authentic ways, they will work much harder than when in a non-caring environment. It’s all about psychological safety.

Interestingly, that same message is still being spoken today. The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups, by Daniel Coyle (2018) emphasizes the importance of providing a positive sense of belonging to the people in your work group. He explains that for people to feel they belong at work, they need to feel a sense of caring – or as he puts it – emotional safety.

Coyle says, “Group culture is one of the most powerful forces on the planet. We sense its presence inside successful businesses, championship teams, and thriving families, and we sense when it’s absent or toxic. We can measure its impact on the bottom line. (A strong culture increases net income 756 percent over eleven years, according to a Harvard study of more than two hundred companies.) Yet the inner workings of culture remain mysterious. We all want strong cultures in our organizations, communities, and families. We all know that it works. We just don’t know quite how it works.”

Coyle goes on to say that he spent four years visiting and researching eight of the world’s most successful groups, and found that their cultures are created by a specific set of skills, which are explained in more detail in his book through interesting and factual stories. Here are the three skills for a quick review:

• Skill 1—Build Safety—explores how signals of connection generate bonds of belonging and identity.
• Skill 2—Share Vulnerability—explains how habits of mutual risk drive trusting cooperation.
• Skill 3—Establish Purpose—tells how narratives create shared goals and values. The three skills work together from the bottom up, first building group connection and then channeling it into action.

How do these skills align with ways you lead and support a strong work culture? What, if anything, are you thinking needs a little freshening up with the culture where you work? It all gets down to the caring and sharing as you complete the challenging work before you.