Mar 7, 2018
Chris Warner guided the first reality show on Everest and
safely led his team to the summit of K2, the world’s most deadly
mountain. He’s also an author, filmmaker, and Chairman of Earth
Treks. In this episode, Chris shares his perspective on
psychological
safety, and how that
support is needed for teams to reach their
summits.
Key Takeaways
[3:12] When leaders meet the six psychological needs of
their team members, they help good people become better and great
people stay functional. The six needs are
respect, recognition, belonging, autonomy, personal
growth, and
meaning.
[5:45] Chris suggests using a
spreadsheet to grade yourself weekly on meeting these needs for
your employees. When you consciously and consistently see that
these needs are met, you can have a true impact on success and
build a high-performance team. Deliver on people’s psychological
needs so they can be the best version of themselves.
[7:27] Build your organization around excellent people —
the A players. Anyone who is draining the energy and bringing petty
dramas to work, need to go. Chris tells managers to blame
themselves first if they have to fire someone. Are they
contributing to dysfunctionality? Gallup shows that only 18% of
managers are high-functioning, so 82% of managers are mediocre or
dysfunctional.
[10:33] Chris talks about climbing the north ridge of
Everest, around or over eight dead climbers frozen in place. He has
guided three climbs on that ascent. The top four reasons to die on
the summit are from human error. This is also the case in business.
If you can see the dangers before they compound upon each other,
you can save yourselves. It’s usually the third mistake that kills
you.
[16:58] Chris discusses merging
teams and integrating them. Merging is contractual and integration
is cultural. He talks about merging Planet Granite and Earth Treks
and merging the teams and culture. The Gartner Hype Cycle describes
the process of merging teams. Be sure to frame expectations and
minimize the hype slope, so the disillusionment trough is not too
deep. Use small increments.
[23:37] Not every day is summit
day, but you can still enjoy the view and the camaraderie. Chris
suggests framing your own expectations about what reward means and
how often it’s going to come.
[24:03] Assembling a team requires four elements. Four
key issues are passion
(the right emotional balance — no cynics),
vision (looking forward and
communicating objectives),
partnership (trust and caring),
and perseverance
(working smart and
hard, including the use of after-action reviews). The three
drivers of results are tools,
techniques, and
behaviors, with behaviors being
the most important.
[28:44] ‘Jerks’ get great individual results but do not
exhibit behaviors aligned with organizational values. The sooner
they are removed from the team, the better results the team will
get. 87% of people on teams with a jerk want to change jobs. 93% of
people on teams with a jerk report a loss of performance. 73% of
managers don’t feel comfortable dealing with jerks. Chris has a
rule of threes for firing. If you’ve spent more than 3 hours
complaining about someone, or three people have complained about
that person, they need to go.
[34:37] Chris has a romantic
view of how the world is supposed to work. He reads biographies of
the explorers and people who have large overcome real-life
situations. Then he goes into real-life adventures, to practice
what he reads. Chris climbed his first mountain at 17 and has never
stopped.
[41:37] Chris talks about
awareness. He cites Richard Barrett’ Seven Levels of Consciousness
model. Chris suggests taking the Barrett online core values
test. Barrett merged core values with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
The pinnacle is serving others. Selflessness creates
success. Core values and mission create high levels of
success.
Website: ChrisBWarner.com
Quotable Quotes
“There are six psychological
needs that everybody has as a member of a team.”
Deliver on people’s
psychological needs so they can be the best version of
themselves.
Consider as a leader of a fired team member, did you
cause that person to be dysfunctional?
“Only 18% of managers are …
high-functioning.”
“If we understand that there are
dangers out there and if we can see the dangers before they
balloon, … then we can save ourselves.”
It’s generally the third mistake that kills
you.
“Yes, you absolutely are allowed
to pout.”
“You have to come out of that
experience being a better version of yourself, otherwise you’ve
wasted your time.”
“I definitely have cured my
perfectionism through this process.”
“Really make it easy for people
to attempt things and if they’re unsuccessful at it, you know it’s
not the end of the world.”
There’s nothing as contagious as
emotions. Positive, happy people infect other people with
happiness.
If we’re negative and cynical,
we’re going to make other people negative and they’re not going to
perform at their highest level.
“There is a success every day.
There’s … an achievement to recognize people for,
constantly.”
“Not every day is summit day.
But you’re still going to enjoy the view; you’re still going to
enjoy the camaraderie.”
“It’s unclear objectives that actually cause teams to
fail.”
Teams that discuss their
experiences in an after-action review do 25% better.
“We came up with a rule called
The Rule of Threes: If three or more people spend three or more
hours talking about somebody, they have to be fired.”
“It’s important to read business
books but it’s more important to read books about people who have
overcome real-life situations.”
“I’m extremely proud of having
built a great company. That summit has been reached; it can never
be taken away from me.”
“There’s one thing that you
learn as a guide is how to serve others.”
“You have to change your
behaviors to reach the summit. What got me here is not going to get
me there.”
Don’t reach the peak and miss
the point.
Bio
Chris Warner has spent the last 30 years helping teams reach
their summit. Chris is a business leader dealing with the
day-to-day challenges of growing a company in a challenging
economy. His team of 700 employees, spread over multiple locations,
will serve about 2,500,000 customers this year.
Chris taught leadership at the
Wharton School of Business and to CEO groups, executives at Fortune
100 Companies and to covert and special operations teams in the
U.S. Intelligence and Defense Agencies. He specializes in teams
that face challenges in which failure is not an option. His clients
range from the NFL and NHL to Google to the National Counter
Terrorism Task Force.
Chris is also an author and an
Emmy Nominated Filmmaker. He starred in television programs on ABC,
NBC, and the History Channel.
Chris is one of America’s most
successful mountaineers. He has led over 200 international
expeditions. He guided the first reality show on Everest and safely
led his team to the summit of K2, the world’s most deadly
mountain.
Books mentioned in this episode
Drive: The Surprising Truth
About What Motivates Us, by Daniel H. Pink
High Altitude Leadership: What
the World's Most Forbidding Peaks Teach Us About
Success,
by Chris Warner and Don
Schmincke
Firms of Endearment: How
World-Class Companies Profit from Passion and Purpose,
by Rajendra Sisodia, David Wolfe,
and Jagdish N. Sheth
Good to Great: Why Some
Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't, by Jim Collins