Lead your team by prioritizing safe connections

Openly admit your weaknesses and ask your team for help
If you’re the leader of a team, admit your mistakes openly instead of hiding them. If you’re facing a scary situation, share your concerns with your team and then ask them for their input. Ask them questions like “What am I missing?” or “What do you think about this problem?” Then give everyone a chance to voice their opinion.

Hire for commitment and cultural fit rather than skill
When hiring new employees, take your time to identify candidates who are a good cultural fit and can contribute to your team. Spend some extra time to instill your organization’s culture into the new employees from day one so they feel they belong to the group.

Identify and eliminate non-belonging behavior early on
If you spot a person who’s disrupting group sessions, not pulling their weight, or deliberately demoralizing their colleagues, deal with the situation immediately before the negativity spreads to others. Double down on sending more belonging cues to your team so that they can focus on cohesive rather than disruptive energy.

Create spaces for your team to freely interact and share ideas
For example, you can redesign the office by installing water coolers or coffee machines in places where people can conveniently gather and interact. If you have a cafeteria with tables that seat 4 people, replace them with 10-person tables so that more people can interact at a time.