In this episode, Andy talks with Charlie Gilkey, author of Team Habits: How Small Actions Lead to Extraordinary Results. They discuss how small, often overlooked habits shape team culture and performance. The conversation explores practical approaches for enhancing team dynamics, instilling a sense of belonging, improving decision-making, and addressing everyday ‘broken printers’ in both professional and familial settings.

Charlie shares personal insights from his military upbringing and passion for team-based success, emphasizing that effective change and leadership start at the local team level. This is a practical and engaging discussion that will help you lead your team to the next level of success.

Sound Bites

  • “Time in, erodes awareness of.”
  • “Be the teammate you want your teammates to be.”
  • “Belonging is a macro word that includes feeling appreciated at work, feeling like your contributions and perspective matter, that you have moral and functional trust.”
  • “We do it because it’s the right thing and because this is how we want to be together and, oh by the way, it has these amazing other benefits.”
  • “I would rather over-index on caring.”
  • “So many families have a daily ‘broken printer’ that’s called the ‘getting to school runaround’.”
  • “None of us show up at work and opt-in to the CC thread from hell.”

Chapters

  • 00:00 Introduction
  • 01:44 Start of Interview
  • 05:36 The Broken Printer Metaphor
  • 08:43 How We Encourage the CC Thread from Hell
  • 12:21 Team Dynamics
  • 14:56 What If You’re Not a Senior Leader?
  • 19:27 Number One Rule of Being a Great Teammate
  • 21:18 Building Belonging Habits
  • 30:14 The Importance of Small Gestures
  • 38:34 Applying Team Habits to Families
  • 44:48 Wrap-up
  • 45:24 Andy Comments After the Interview
  • 50:17 Outtakes

Learn More

You can learn more about Charlie and his books at ProductiveFlourishing.com. Contact Charlie to learn how to buy a box of books for you and your team.

If you’d like more on this subject, check out:

    • Episode 366 with Michael Timms about his book on accountability
    • Episode 252 with Marcus Buckingham about the episode we discuss in this interview, and
    • Episode 342 with Krister Ungerbock, who uses the term TalkSHIFTS instead of habits. Though the terminology is different, the ideas are complimentary.

Project Management Courses

I would love to help you and your team level up your ability to lead and deliver. Join us for an upcoming project management masterclass! They are instructor-led, super engaging, and fine-tuned to help you and your team more confidently lead and deliver. Learn more at courses.i-leadonline.com. Thanks!

Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast!

Talent Triangle: Power Skills

Topics: Project Management, Leadership, Management, Teambuilding, Career, Psychological Safety, Belonging

The following music was used for this episode:

Music: Echo by Alexander Nakarada
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Music: Laughing Children Full Version by MusicLFiles
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

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