The best leaders aren't those who have it all figured out—they're those who keep figuring it out. David Rock’s SCARF model provides a useful self-awareness framework for leaders to understand if they are triggered in threat or reward territory. It can also be used to better understand team dynamics.
Start with yourself and bring awareness to whether you are in a threat or reward state. Go deeper by checking yourself against the SCARF stimuli and consider what you can do to shift your current state as a result.
- Status: use effective feedback that builds on strengths and addresses negatives in a targeted, specific manner, plus acknowledge individual contributions.
- Certainty: acknowledging uncertainty with high levels of transparent communication. Break down what is known and the process of engagement moving forward. Focus on predictable routines even in ambiguous situations.
- Autonomy: providing options and choices for people, moving away from micromanaging by establishing goals and leaving the 'how' to them.
- Relatedness: identifying shared experiences and approaches as a base to build safety, reducing blame and supporting psychological safety.
- Fairness: again focusing on transparency, communication and ensuring that processes and/or third parties help to interrupt bias and provide greater objectivity.
Small actions like providing clear expectations (certainty), acknowledging contributions (status), or involving people in decisions (autonomy) can significantly impact team effectiveness by working with, rather than against, the brain's natural social wiring.