Huddle Up and Effervesce!
Would you like to:
- Bring your organization’s mission to life?
- Serve your internal and external clients with greater care and compassion?
- Increase team member engagement?
- Help individuals know their value?
- Hold team members accountable?
- Create a sense of belonging and focus for your team, clients and culture?
I will help you create a culture of team synergy, joy, belongingness and outcomes with Huddles as part of your success!
There is a name for what occurs in the very best huddles…..collective effervescence! It is a contagious euphoria coined a century ago by the French sociologist Émile Durkheim. “It’s that glowy, giddy feeling where your sense of self slackens, yielding to a connection with your fellow, synchronized humans.”
At my niece’s softball game I watched her team huddle around the pitcher’s mound at the beginning of each inning. While that really is not an odd practice, what I observed was notable: a tight knit group of heads bowed into the center, deep listening, taking turns speaking, direct eye contact, leaning in, nodding, sometimes laughing, and smiles as they put all hands in the center, raised them to the sky and chanted a cheer. After the huddle they all reported to their positions on the field. I could tell by their foot cadence and could see that they showed up looser and more relaxed, clearly impacted by the huddle.
That got me thinking about how the huddle and resulting collective effervescence has shown up throughout my life and how important it has been in creating a synergy that directly impacts outcomes…..I have been thinking about what ingredients have been baked into the most powerful and inspiring huddles I have experienced and led.
Last month we celebrated my dad’s life and as the family all gathered in the kitchen of the church before the service to walk in together, the minister huddled us up to pray. After that we all put our hands in the middle and decided to shout “Scranton”, our last name, on the count of 3 before heading to the front of the church……what ensued over the next 12 hours was true collective effervescence alongside hundreds of those we love as we huddled in many forms!
As an Human Resources Director at the Ritz-Carlton I learned the value of the Three Steps of Service. Without giving away any trade secrets, every interaction has three parts: a beginning, a middle and an end. Every gathering with more than one person has these three components. In fact, I will go on record by saying the huddle is foundation to the indisputable success of the award winning hotel company. Every department starts each shift, all 365 days a year, with a huddle. The mission is brought to life in these huddles through stories, and department specific discussion points relevant to the strategy and service standards of The Ritz-Carlton. There was a beginning, middle and end and everyone had the chance to contribute and belong to something special.
The huddle should be quick. It is the content and agenda, along with the space of authentic sharing provided by the leaders that is the magic sauce! It is how one feels in the huddle and the behaviors that follow that matter.
Where else have huddles shown up in my life?
- Playing high school and college basketball brought the huddle into each practice and game—Ingredients: strategy, inspiration, team work, outcome focus
- Twice a year at the Girls on the Run 5K’s, with the staff and sponsors before we address the crowd and with the VIP’s who are handing out medals to the girls as they cross the finish line—Ingredients: inspiration, mission, alignment of purpose
- GOTR lessons begin with the girls in a circle shoulder to shoulder—Ingredients: eye contact, energy, acceptance and connection
- At our wedding, we huddled with the wedding party before being introduced to the crowd—Ingredients: sharing gratitude, love and laughter
- At the beginning of each Drop Below the Surface retreat we huddle up—Ingredients: energy exchange, common purpose, authenticity and sharing
My favorite part of the huddle is that it serves as the inspiration for individual contributions to emerge to create powerful and unexpected outcomes, otherwise not discovered until that moment. The huddle is that space where deep connection and contribution is born. Huddle up and Effervesce with me!