In the digital economy Leaders need to cultivate a winning team culture where teams create value even

remotely in a network organization with personal power They lead people with physician power they manage work they know

the difference So they manage by head to enforce order and lead by heart to stoke morale they adapt

their leadership style to the work situation They nurture relationships with the right enablers to promote agile team performance

not individual performance to do it well they hone three critical skills empathy engagement and

execution In the previous episode we learned the orb 4.0 leadership paradigm in the context

of the new workplace we reviewed the results of decades of research that have provided answers to key

questions underlying the paradigm the desired culture the relationships and psychological climate that enable agility

and the critical skills of an effective digital team leader In this episode you will take a deeper look at

the challenge of practicing idea meritocracy which can only be realized when relationships in your team have

matured to the highest level of unity in the orb 4.0 relationship bar What makes a winning team unique

psychological climate called idea meritocracy separates the winning team from the rest of the pack That

rare climate makes it possible to have open and meaningful two way communications between the leader

and its members and among its members winning teams believe in radical transparency opinions are expressed freely without much hesitation

without fear of punishment or ridicule opposing ideas when expressed openly do not make its leader or its

members feel attacked or offended So they practice radical honesty they open their minds to the ideas

of other people They are ready and willing to accept without much reservation that the other idea just might be

better than theirs In some way Everyone in the team is fully aware that nobody has a monopoly of

the best ideas As a result the team has a much better chance of exploring discussing and finding the best

idea among alternatives Where will your journey of building a winning team begin Let's take a look This is where

it all begins human relationships A relationship potentially begins when two individuals interact Almost all interactions

in the in the context of work are triggered by individuals who need to achieve

something The interaction will surely start with an effort to arrive at a shared meaning A shared

understanding of the work at hand This is the essence of communication It is the effort to transmit and share

a message using words and actions The effort creates a state of one entity being

in relationship with another Entity the two entities are united by a shared interest to work together In

order to achieve their respective goals From the lowest level of cordiality or simple formality to the highest level called

solidarity People experience four levels of unity Let us examine them In turn the lowest level of unity is the

unity of space It is effortless Unity of space is experienced by individuals who are in the same

space at the same time when you're inside an elevator or riding a bus a plane or

a train you and your fellow passengers are experiencing unity of space United by coincidence the indifference

is understandable one or both of you may decide to offer a nod a polite smile or a

cursory greeting Members of a team that have just been introduced to each other start their

relationship at this level of unity The unity of space Let's go back to the elevator What will happen if

it suddenly grinds to a halt The passengers will surely rise to a higher level

of unity The unity of thought facing a common threat that could spell danger Their indifference turns

into co-operation They will start talking in earnest They will bring their minds together to agree

on what can and should be done to be safe under the circumstances in the workplace

Most teams are at this level of unity They have goals and standards to achieve

they interact and work together under a leader to achieve them workers are seldom free to choose the team that

they like duty calls for them to co-operate with whoever they assigned to work When

leader and members interact to achieve the team's goals and standards there can be disagreement misunderstanding even

conflict hybrid work from home and work from office arrangements increased the likelihood of miscommunication and introduce difficulties of

cooper operation Unconsciously the ego can feel if it is being attacked when there is a difference of

opinion only a leader who can nourish the right psychological climate can raise the level of unity The next level

the unity of context When the demands of ego are seen in the larger context of the company's mission people

become less defensive should become It is at this level of unity that the team is able to forge a

trust bond in a way Unity of context is a testing ground Are my team

members worthy of trust The decision to rise beyond unity of thought is usually aimed at reaching the highest level

of unity The unity of spirit usually unity of context calls for a member to forsake the ego for

a higher good It is a serious trade off The trust bond being forged by the team's

members will be put to test any member who feels that the trust bond was betrayed will retreat to

unity of thought and stay there But if and when sincerity backs up the trust

bond team members will see that they rise to the higher level of unity with good

reason Unity of spirit is that highest level of unity that they can aim for And now it can

be seen as achievable because trust is being proven to be worthy validation of trust Bond gives birth to

solidarity When members experience unity of spirit fierce open debate does not trigger ill feelings

at all Even when it is done tactlessly sometimes passionate exchanges are perceived in the context of

the common good consensus becomes a natural expression of solidarity which in turn promotes speed and

flexibility during execution Later on it is very difficult to bring a team to this level of unity The

unity of spirit decades of research show that less than 20% of all teams in large companies rise to the

level of unity of context less than 5% reach the level of unity of spirit Why is this what normally

happens when individuals take opposite sides to an argument Start with tension People who have a low

level of self-awareness don't even realize it They will see opposition as an attack for them This agreement triggers the

fight or flight reflex protect yourself or escape the psychological climate of the team is often defined by moments like

this especially when it takes place between the leader and the member the team's leader

sets the tone by setting an example How will the team member be treated Will the leader

use position power to summarily overrule the dissenter will the dissenter be ignored ridiculed or scolded or will

he or she choose to use personal power Will the leaders set an example that

encourages members to express their opinions consenting or otherwise appreciate radical honesty and radical transparency Set aside the egoistic

demand for recognition and support In short nourish a psychological climate that promotes idea meritocracy discourage idea autocracy What

is ideal autocracy Think of that famous wall poster or Mimi about the two important rules in in the

office Rule Number one the boss is right Rule number two if the boss is

wrong see rule Number one you know that's idea autocracy discourage idea democracy What is the idea of

democracy It's what happens when the majority vote determines the right idea isn't it a shame when the best idea

is not chosen because it is not popular enough Discourage idea bureaucracy What is the idea of bureaucracy Imagine two

coworkers who decide to give up and end their passionate discussion abruptly with we've talked

enough already Let's just ask the boss what he or she thinks and spare ourselves The heartache the decision

is left up in the air with neither a conclusion or a recommendation without completed

staff work Those three behavioral norms put your company at a disadvantage Idea Meritocracy is the

responsible thing to do The right idea is the boss The monument of knowledge is built by

the conflict of opinions where an idea comes from Should not be an issue neither should its

popularity radical honesty and radical transparency should be appreciated not condemned opening up to the idea of

others should not come with a feeling of inferiority All these make it easier for the team to

reach sincere consensus and sincere consensus greatly helps execution forsaking the ego When solving problems and choosing the best ideas

promotes growth the maturity needed to nourish the psychological climate of idea meritocracy coincides with

reaching the highest level of unity unity of spirit Classical Indonesian literature has a word for this highest

level of the manifestation of humanity of recognizing our individuality It's called LGE Say it

African culture also has a word for it It's called Ubuntu Moon Ubuntu The oldest civilizations have a word

for it Moon enables trust and solidarity The two preconditions for the psychological climate called idea meritocracy It is

the climate that encourages candor and open-mindedness This is the anatomy of human relationships We will

end this foundational episode by featuring two outstanding CEO s from different continents Theodore Permadi Rachad

is the founder and Ceo of Trutta Group a highly diversified business conglomerate that employs over 63,000 people

Raymond Thomas Dalio he is the founder and co Chief Investment Officer of Bridgewater Associates one of the world's

largest hedge funds They employ just over 1000 people to manage assets worth well over $160 billion in

to the paradigm In 1988 we used it for a highly successful leadership and culture

development program at Astra International a company that still enjoys the highest market cap value on the Indonesia Stock

Exchange Annual revenues grew from $1 billion to $7 billion in seven years During that

time our firm trained over 4500 managers to build a winning team culture We define it

as a culture that champions respect for the individual respect for the individual is the

clearest manifestation of idea meritocracy Mr Rachmat went on to build his second business Colossus

Tripura with the same orb es tagline excellence through people and Process Mr Dalio is the author

of Principles Life and Work This excellent book was featured on the New York Times bestseller list as a

open quote gospel of radical transparency close quote The corporate culture of radical honesty and radical transparency

at Bridgewater is legendary Their website greets visitors with pride in the idea meritocracy that defines

their corporate culture Critics think that idea meritocracy relies on utopian expectations of the human condition But

is it good for business Bridgewater has consistently outperformed done better than market since its inception in

the global market crash than Bridgewater's clients Close quote What do you believe is man capable of

Mong Ubundu Can your people be trained to nourish the psychological climate of idea meritocracy Think

about it In this episode we learn the four levels of unity experienced by individuals

in a relationship We examine the preconditions of trustworthiness and solidarity needed to grow your

work team to unity of spirit where you can practice the candor and open mindedness of

idea meritocracy You now understand the challenge to make Muan Koon to a way of life in your

human relationship and see why it can only be nourished by the shared understanding and commitment of

a leader and all the members of your team In the next episode you will learn to reflect on

and assess the quality of your relationships using the orbs 4.0 relationship bar