In 1997, Don Miguel Ruiz released a book called The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom. These Four Agreements are the foundation to great leadership.
They are…
✅ Don’t take things personally
✅ Always do your best
✅ Be impeccable with your word
✅ Don’t make assumptions
Understanding them, living by them and telling others about them will aid you towards becoming a leader that is universally loved and admired. But if everyone on your team practiced the Four Agreements, how would that impact the work you do together?
Unless you’re brand new to me, you know something I believe in whole heartedly is living by the four agreements.
At a recent virtual retreat that I hosted, someone asked how the four agreements would apply to the workspace and what might change in their culture if the team actually lived up to them.
Such a great question.
I wanted to share my response (since embracing these four agreements will change EVERYTHING for you both personally and professionally…)
Let’s get to it ⤵️
➡️ If you / your team didn’t take things personally…
…you could identify root causes, make necessary adjustments, and improve results more quickly.
…you could also have better relationships because you would be honest about what you don’t know. And when you’re honest about what you don’t know, you can more quickly get the information you need which will automatically improve systems and general efficiency.
➡️ If you and your team commit to always do your best…
…you would want to let your team / team members know when you’ve got something going on in your life that will stop you from showing up at your typical level.
This means your team – who are committed to doing their best with you – will want to shift systems or move things around to support you and the work you do together.
➡️ If you and your team were always impeccable with your word…
…asking for help wouldn’t be so hard.
…people would give candid, performance-enhancing feedback on the reg.
…and there’d be a lot less workplace gossip to taint the culture.
➡️ If no one made assumptions…
…we would all take the time to understand, see things from others’ perspectives, and be more inclusive.
You would also ask more questions, check in with your team more often, and pay more attention to the details that so often make the biggest difference in achieving our goals.
So, yes.