Intentional Conversations. Stronger Teams. Seamless Integration.

Designed to sustain what matters most: culture, performance, and well-being. 

Let us be your guide. Two StepBack Sessions provided each month to simplify your prep time!

 

  • Once you click the link, hit “S” on your keyboard to pop-up presenter notes.
  • Clip Set Up: Ed Catmull is the co-founder of Pixar and President of Walt Disney Animation Studios. He shares about a moment when a leader intentionally shaped a culture of creativity and contribution.
  • Questions:
    • What message is sent when a leader makes space for every voice to be heard?
    • What does that do for the team? And what message is sent when they choose not to?
    • Whether you are in a leadership role or not, what behaviors/habits of yours make it easier or more difficult for those around you to speak up?
  • Tool: Intention + Action
    • During a meeting, when faced with pressure, or under a time constraint, make the intentional practice to slow down, step back, and create space for other people/teammates to share feedback and insights.
  • Once you click the link, hit “S” on your keyboard to pop-up presenter notes.
  • Quote Set Up: Jimmy Johnson is a Hall of Fame football coach, and first football coach to win a college national championship and a NFL Super Bowl. In his hall of fame speech, he shared the following:
  • Questions:
    • When is it easiest to treat others based on potential, rather than their current standing? When is it hardest?
    • How might both belief and empathy together change how we interact with others?
    • How do we call out the potential in others without adding pressure?
  • Tool: Intention + Action
    • Step 1: Picture Their “Future Frame” Before giving feedback or assigning a task, take a 5 second pause and ask yourself: “How would I respond if I were speaking to the person they are capable of becoming?”
    • Step 2: Speak to That Version. Choose words, questions, and behaviors that reflect the potential version you pictured. Examples: “I know you can handle this”, “I see great leadership in how you handled that”

 

  • Once you click the link, hit “S” on your keyboard to pop-up presenter notes.
  • Clip Set Up: Simon Sinek shares a story about an interaction with a barista named Noah who worked at both the Four Seasons and Caesar’s Palace and how the same job was approached in two different ways based on the culture of trust.
  • Questions:
    • What behaviors or habits show trust most clearly in our culture?
    • Where do we as a team unintentionally communicate mistrust?
    • What would happen if our first instinct was to ask “What do you need and how can I help?”
  • Tool: Intention + Action
    • This week, find one person on your team you want to show trust towards and ask them: “You are doing a great job. What do you need and how can I help?”
  • Once you click the link, hit “S” on your keyboard to pop-up presenter notes.
  • Clip Set Up: Satya Nadella is the CEO of Microsoft. In taking over the role of CEO, he talks about how having growth mindset and wanting to be a “learn-it-all” rather than “know it all” was important to him and the culture.
  • Questions:
    • What are the signs that we are open to “growth and learning” on this team?
    • What situations for you personally often trigger a “know-it-all” response vs a “learn-it-all” response?
    • What do you or others lose when operating from this mindset?
  • Tool: Mindful Pause
    • This week, when you feel challenged on something you know or feel is right, notice the tension in your chest and your face. Pause. Take one deep breath and ask yourself: “What else can I learn from this?”
 
  • Once you click the link, hit “S” on your keyboard to pop-up presenter notes.
  • Clip Set Up: In the very early days of NVIDIA, they had a contract with SEGA to develop a game console. Their contract was keeping the company alive. Instead of lying or misleading them, Jensen Huang the CEO showed integrity and shared with SEGA the truth that they wouldn’t be able to deliver the technology.
  • Questions:
    • On the verge of failing as a company, how difficult do you think this decision was for Jensen to make?
    • When have you acted with integrity or seen someone act with integrity even when it would have been easier not to?
    • When is it hardest for you to do or say the right thing?
  • Tool: Mindful Pause:
    • Before a difficult conversation, decision, or moment where honesty feels risky, pause and reflect: If this were public later, would I be proud of this choice? Then choose the right thing, not just the easiest.
  • Once you click the link, hit “S” on your keyboard to pop-up presenter notes.
  • Clip Set Up:Adam Grant is a NYT best selling author, speaker, and organizational psychologist. In this short clip, he shares how we often falsely equate confidence with competence, and what we should look for in leaders.
  • Questions:
    • How does your own level of self-confidence show up in the way you communicate, whether you are speaking or listening?
    • When has your confidence helped you communicate effectively and when has it made it harder to take in other perspectives?
    • Where would adjusting your confidence, either up or down, have the biggest impact on your communication right now?
  • Tool
    • High Self-Confidence: Decrease. Practice taking up less time and space in a meeting.
    • Low Self-Confidence: Increase. Practice taking up more time and space in a meeting.

 

  • Once you click the link, hit “S” on your keyboard to pop-up presenter notes.
  • Clip Set Up: Sean McVay is the head football coach of the LA Rams. He shares about the importance of joy in his culture, and how success and expectations disrupted that joy for his team after winning the Super Bowl.
  • Questions:
    • What’s it like to be on a team where joy is missing versus a team where joy is present?
    • What tends to steal joy over time, personally or as a team?
    • What helps teams to protect joy, even when expectations are high?
  • Tool: Mindful Pause:
    1. Write JOY at the top of a sticky note.
    2. Around it, write 2-3 parts of the process that bring you joy despite the outcome.
    3. Place the sticky note where it is visible daily.
  • Once you click the link, hit “S” on your keyboard to pop-up presenter notes.
  • Clip Set Up: In this short clip from the TV show Shrinking, we see two different responses to helping someone who is stuck. Jimmy (Jason Segel) represents the behaviors of Low Support – he believes people should change, but his frustration turns into blame and impatience. Paul (Harrison Ford) represents the behaviors of High Support – he stays empathetic, patient, and non-judgmental without pushing for change.
  • Questions:
    • When people need help, do you find yourself communicating more like Jimmy (impatient and want them to figure it out) or Paul (patient, supportive, helpful)?
    • What happens to relationships and growth if our communication sounds only like Jimmy? What happens if it sounds only like Paul?
    • Where can you adjust how you communicate Support, either increase or decrease, to help people grow?
  • Tool
    • High Support: Say No: If your instinct is to step-in and help right away, say no to rescuing, and let them try first before you help.
    • Low Support: Say Yes: If your instinct is to push people to figure it out on their own, say yes to helping, but only after they have tried first.