Lockdown 2020: How Cultivators thrive
Image by Bianca Idas on Unsplash
If you’ve got people in a Cultivator state, you’ll be seeing the new approaches you’ve adopted during lockdown grow, improve and evolve. You might also be a bit nervous about where this could go – possibly to territories you hadn’t thought of and aren’t prepared for. That raises a big question for leaders:
How do I let my Cultivators take ownership while ensuring we stay the course?
A leader I worked with last week told me about a team member who is all Cultivator for new ideas around growth, improvement and evolution, but doesn’t always align that to big things the organisation is here to achieve. I reckon the leader’s job here is to help Cultivators connect widely across the organisation, while making sure they have frequent, open conversations about the big picture. The more Cultivators hold clarity of that big picture, the more likely their ideas will help to bring it to life.
Keep your Cultivators strong by connecting them with others
I’ve already likened Cultivators to that magic yeast that turns water, barley and hops into beer. Of course, a single yeast cell can’t do this. It requires time, the right conditions to activate and a lot of other yeast cells. Your Cultivators too will work at their best when they have other Cultivators to connect with to do the work of change. Individually, Cultivators are limited in their reach. Typically though, they are keen to connect with others so – as a leader – enable this. By connecting Cultivators with each other, you create the environment for change to exponentially accelerate.
Autonomy and ownership enhance mana and nourish Cultivators
I love the Māori concept of mana, even though I’d say I’m only starting to scratch the surface of understanding it. Wherever your people are in the change quadrant, it’s important you are leading them in ways that enhance their mana.
For Cultivators, this means:
providing support for them to try out things that evolve change;
challenging them to broaden their influence;
giving them ownership of the change.
It also means moving aside a bit so they can try this in their own way – that could include them grazing their knees, discovering consequences and more visibly becoming leaders of the change. If you let Cultivators work with you as a partner in evolving the change, chances are that change will become more impactful and sustainable than you can achieve by yourself.
Celebrate with Cultivators – colour in the big picture, tell stories of impact
Cultivators often don’t recognise the impact they are having. They can cruise along, often under the radar in organisations, and might not hear the stories of progress. To some extent, they aren’t that interested in the one-off wins. Instead, celebrating with Cultivators is about helping them see the difference they’ve made to that aforementioned big picture.
I often tell the story of helping out on a high ropes course at school camp. Jeff, the head instructor, was a Cultivator. His big picture was about getting kids to go further than they ever thought they could and learn they’ve each got ‘what it takes’.
The three other states clearly played out in our group of kids – Observers, Participants, Drivers. Jeff was low-key but engaging; slightly gruff but warm, crystal clear on safety and relaxed everywhere else, and the kids loved him. He would walk around the complex, stopping to chat to kids, ask them questions about their experience, get a feel for their limits, then challenge them to go one better than they’d done before. Then he’d walk off! He didn’t stick around to watch, encourage or applaud, he’d just move on to the next group and do the same thing before leaving the kids to their own adventure. He had a Cultivator impact: after he left a group, the kids were still talking about him, and daring each other to take up his challenge. In particular, he was great at getting Observers to participate. He didn’t ask for more than they could handle, he just wanted them to do something they’d never tried before. One kid’s limit wasn’t even to complete a challenge. Instead, he got up a ladder higher than he’d ever climbed then got brought back down. Jeff’s response? He came over, patted him on the shoulder, told him what a great effort that was and acknowledged the challenge this kid had faced getting up there. Then he walked away and left a young lad – who might otherwise have felt like he’d failed – standing tall in the knowledge he’d stretched himself and it had been noticed.
The ladder example aside, Jeff wasn’t so interested in individual achievement by the kids. Nor did he urge them on so he could pat himself on the back about his own success in pushing 60 kids through his course in a day. Instead, he knew his big picture win – if every kid goes further than they’ve done before, they’ll be changed in some way.
One last thing about Jeff the Cultivator. I went to thank him at the end of the session. He was already deep in conversation with his other instructors about ideas for making the experience better for kids like the one who climbed the ladder. Always looking to grow, improve, evolve.
When you want to keep building up people who are in a Cultivator state:
Be explicit about how specific situations have filled in a bit more of the big picture change we are aiming to achieve;
Share stories of how a Cultivator’s contribution has impacted people, rather than just about how they’ve progressed change;
Reflect on how their challenge to thinking and approaches along the way has changed the big picture and is helping us get a better outcome.
People in a Cultivator state are great for helping others be at their best. If your Cultivators have achieved the juggling act of maintaining rate of progress while working with one other person in the team to help them be at their best for their state (Observer, Participant, Driver) – that’s a win. It will mean the team has taken a step forward. So celebrate that with your Cultivators this week.
To keep Cultivators going, ask them to connect with a different person in the team this week and help that person to be at their best for the state they are currently in. Set them a quest - once they’ve slowed to match the other person’s pace, then walked that pace with them, what will they do to challenge that other person to be the best version of an Observer, Driver or Participant they can be?
What’s next?
For most of us, each of these states are a point in time relative to the change we are facing. People who are in a Cultivator state right now will encounter change that puts them into other states at some point. The ‘what’s next?’ piece with people who are Cultivators right now is to build their self-awareness about what puts them into each of the four states. That way, when they are faced with those situations that throw them off balance, they’ve got a reference point for how to be most effective for the current state they are in.
My Cultivators are still trying to cater to everyone
Cultivators overplay their role by slowing down to accommodate everyone at the expense of maintaining change progress. If that’s what you’re seeing, they might have a different version of what big picture success looks like. Remember the two main things that are likely going on for Cultivators:
I’m totally up for this – it’s great we’re finally underway; and
There are better ways to make this happen that will bring more people along
You might need to spend time comparing your ‘big pictures’ to make sure you are both aiming at the same light on the same hill.
You might also want to test that you are giving your Cultivators enough space to challenge the status quo / approach / direction of change and that they are seeing their contribution reflected in the way this change is evolving. Cultivator effectiveness dries up when they are constricted by things like key messages, handbooks and instructions on how to role model change. They must have space to shape the change in ways that fit the needs of the people they are working with. If Cultivators aren’t feeling like they are making a meaningful contribution to change, their other strength – connecting with and influencing people – is where they turn, and this may start to take a divergent path from the change you are trying to achieve.
What if I’m in the Cultivator state?
You know the deal here - you’ll find yourself in this and all the other states in various change scenarios. As a leader, you’ve got a Cultivator role to play with your team. That can be tough if you are feeling like you are in another state, so I reckon honesty about where you are strengthens the relationship with your people and sends the signal that it’s okay to be in any of the four states.
If you’re in a Cultivator state more widely, that can create some tension as a leader. On one hand, you have to be the leader your team needs right now; on the other, you’d love to be getting involved in other areas of the organisation to help grow and evolve this change.
Here are a few things you might keep front of mind:
As with all the other states – check your own wellbeing. What habits do you need to start/continue/stop to help you feel healthy and in balance during this change?
Sketch out the big picture of change your team is painting. What parts can you colour in? What needs to be in pencil because you know it needs more work to evolve or improve?
Spend time connecting with each person 1:1 this week. Figure out where they are in the change quadrant, and plan how you can help them be at their best in that state. Remember, there should be an element of stretch for each person so they feel like they are contributing to the team making progress.
Check that you have stepped back far enough to let others take self-responsibility for their progress. Take Jeff’s lead and connect with your people in the moment, then walk away and let them do their thing.
Righto – we’re done for the lockdown series! Thanks to those of you who have provided feedback along the way with this. If you’re interested in how I can work with your team or organisation in change, I use this model in a group coaching series I offer for people who are leading change or teams experiencing change. If you’d like to chat more, get in contact and we’ll make a Zoom coffee happen!
This post is part of my 2020 Lockdown series. If you’ve found yourself thrust into new ways of working and you want some tips on helping your people navigate this unforeseen change, I’m providing ideas for leadership all the way through New Zealand’s lockdown. Check out the rest of the posts here.