Courtney Abbott's Key Ideas from Exceptional
by Daniel M. Cable

Connect the day-to-day work directly to a higher, meaningful purpose that helps people and makes a positive difference in the world.

Fulfill emotional needs for significance and impact, not just completing tasks. Help people see how their efforts contribute to serving others and align with their values.

Inspire through purpose.

Build an energized community spirit within teams through shared experiences, camaraderie and interpersonal connections that fill people's deep need to belong. Make time for personal interactions, team building activities, and creating bonds between members.

Treat people like human beings, not just workers.

• Allow appropriate autonomy for people to express their unique talents, creativity and personas.
• Avoid rigid conformity. Enable people to customize aspects of their work experience to align with their authentic selves.
• Empower them to have a voice in decisions.

• Emphasize shared values, purpose and principles more than enforcing strict rules.
• Ensure values align to higher purpose.
• Allow flexibility in how people uphold the values day-to-day.
• Nurture personal alignment over blind rule-following.

Lead through empowering others rather than commanding. Serve team needs with compassion.

Remain grounded by listening and avoid ego. Guide with humility, wisdom and care, not just authority. Seek to understand and lift others up.

• Promote constant learning, development and growth mindsets.
• Help people build new skills, knowledge and competencies.
• Provide challenges, training and mentorship.
• Enable ongoing career progress and transformation vs. status quo.
• Remove obstacles to growth.