Primal Teams. Harnessing the Power of Emotions to Fuel Extraordinary Performance

297 Pages·2014·1.71 MB·English

by  Jackie Barretta

PRIMAL TEAMS
American Management Association • www.amanet.org
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Primal Teams
Harnessing the Power of Emotions
to Fuel Extraordinary Performance
JACKIE BARRETTA
AMERICAN MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Barretta, Jackie.
Primal teams : harnessing the power of emotions to fuel extraordinary performance /
Jackie Barretta.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8144-3441-3 (hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-8144-3441-X (hardcover)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8144-3442-0 (ebook)
ISBN-10: 0-8144-3442-8 (ebook)
1. Teams in the workplace. 2. Employee motivation. 3. Psychology, Industrial.
4. Organizational behavior. I. Title.
HD66.B373 2015
658.4'022—dc23 2014014380
© 2015 Jackie Barretta.
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Printing number
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C O N T E N T S
Acknowledgments ix
Prologue: “Since Feeling Is First . . .” 1
1 Hidden Energy: Unleashing Maximum Potential 5
Sparking the Creative Brain 6
Deepening the Impact 11
Dampening the Energy 17
Going to the Source 22
Using an Emotional Savvy Gauge to Measure Your Team’s
Emotional Proficiency 25
2 Primal Emotion: Shifting Emotions at the Source 27
Using Novelty to Reignite Drive 29
Playing for the Fun of It 36
Sounding Off 39
Laughing Out Loud 42
Letting Your Face Do the Talking 44
Using the Emotion Shape Shifter to Modify Emotions at
Their Source 48
3 The Scary Stuff: Processing Fear and Negativity 49
Accommodating Negativity 51
Shining a Light on Fear 54
v
American Management Association • www.amanet.org
vi Contents
Creating a Diversion from Negative Thoughts 58
Desensitizing Your Team to Fear 63
Using a Fear Release Guide to Reduce Fear and Negativity 68
4 Emotional Contagion: Spreading Coherence in a Team 71
Spawning Good Cheer 72
Becoming the True Leader 79
Making Coherence a Competency 85
Using the Emotional Contagion Do’s and Don’ts to Spread Optimal
Emotions 91
5 The Sixth Sense: Detecting Emotions 93
Getting a Feel for Feelings 94
Making Your Team More Attractive 102
Enhancing Integrity 107
Using the Emotion Detector to Detect Moods and Emotional
Signatures 113
6 The Engaged Heart: Connecting to a Deeper Purpose 117
Inspiring Your Team 118
Resonating with Your People 126
Defining Team Membership 132
Using the Five Why’s to Define an Inspiring Purpose 137
7 Primal IQ: Activating Insight and Intuition 139
Learning to Work Creatively 140
Incubating an Insight 145
Tapping Intuition 150
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Contents vii
Mixing It Up 156
Using the Hunch Detector to Sense Intuition 159
8 Team Spirit: Building Emotional Bonds 161
Tightening the Connections 162
Avoiding Common Bonding Pitfalls 170
Broadening Perspectives 175
Using the Team Bonder to Provoke Deep Connections 180
9 The Balanced Culture: Restraining Runaway Egos 183
Moderating Egotistical Behavior 184
Balancing Competition and Cooperation 191
Tapping the Beginner’s Mind 196
Using a Team Agreement to Keep Egos in Check 203
Epilogue: When the Going Gets Tough 205
Notes 209
Index 219
About the Author 229
Free Sample Chapter from A Team of Leaders
by Paul Gustavson and Stewart Liff 230
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A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S
I’ve known for a long time that I would write a book about teams that
included scientific concepts you just don’t see in the typical business
book. My many years as a leader in various companies convinced me
that we need to learn so much more about the incredible power of group
dynamics, but I’ve found it difficult to express on the page what many
neuroscientists and I have begun to understand about unleashing that
power.
Gradually, however, I found the words as I have shared my ideas
with thousands of people during public presentations, corporate train-
ing, and consulting. I owe you all a great debt of gratitude. Readers of
my blog deserve special mention for giving me honest feedback and
tremendous encouragement. Thank you, each and every one, for listen-
ing to me, challenging me, and enlarging my understanding. I most
deeply appreciate the faithful and unrelenting advice of Jeffrey Barnes,
Steve Bell, Manoj Garg, Greg Sievers, and my father, Tony.
My agent and collaborator Michael Snell has served as my #1 listener
and shaper. He asked penetrating questions to help me hone the mes-
sage, suggested many of the right words to capture concepts and bring
them to life, and told me in no uncertain terms when he thought I had
gone too far or fallen too short in my musings. No author could wish
for a better teammate. Thanks, Michael, for all your support and good
humor.
I must also thank my editor at AMACOM Books, Bob Nirkind,
who read every word of the manuscript as it flowed from my word
ix
American Management Association • www.amanet.org