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To feel a sense of belonging is to feel accepted, to feel seen and to feel included by a group of people, believing that we fit in, trusting we will be protected by them. When the sun shines on us we are alive, we are strong. For we have had passed down to us a culture that immerses us in deep belonging. We feel safe and respected. We share beliefs and a sense of belonging. We feel safe and respected. We share beliefs and a sense of identity with those around us and this anchors us. We share a purpose with them. We share a vision of the future. We fit in here. Rituals and traditions tie us together. The experiences and wisdom of those who walked in the light before our time are passed on to us.” And for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from three years and more than 150 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com
An understanding of the environment and its impact on people is more important than charisma and passion. Plus clarity of thinking. “Humans flourish in environments where the leadership is consistent and composed; they don’t tend to thrive in environments where there are wild mood swings and inconsistency of behaviour.” Initially a navigator’s strength came from their ability to simultaneously carry in their hands both a grand vision and an intimate understanding of the detail. For Eastwood’s ancestors the grand vision was new land, and the intimate understanding of the detail was the sun, the stars, and the constellations - all of which were used to navigate at the time. True leadership to me starts with the idea that we have come together. To make sure that we take care of everybody. And we are in pursuit of a mission to give it, no doubt about that, for the wellbeing of our tribe. But along the way, we will take care of everyone and we don’t damage people or sacrifice people on the way. What about when an outcome like winning is necessary? CBD has been shown to have benefits for anxiety, inflammation, aches and pains - and it may even be good for long term brain and heart health. And anything that helps keep me well in the long-term rather than having to fix lots of niggles once they arrive gets the thumbs up from me. Combined with their supplements range, Puresport are paving the way in the natural wellness market. When our Us story is weak, we are weak. We should talk about how to do tasks, but it’s integral not to forget the what and why too.
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So what is the common ground between the collectivist and individualistic models of society? Personal meaning. Once a common purpose has been articulated, each person should have an opportunity to attach personal meaning to it. For those individualist societies, this part of the process is particularly important. They need space to work through how the collective purpose also enhances them personally. The most important question every leader must answer: What is the optimal environment for this group to perform to their best? The answer always contains a component of belonging. The challenge. To create an environment where everyone feels like they belong, regardless of who they are and what they believe.
The heroes in our stories personify the best version of Us. The villains fall into two camps: Them, but also the individuals within Us who are selfish - those who put themselves before Us and thereby risk our safety, stability and status. His only adjustment when working in individualistic cultures such as in the UK and United States is to have two conversations early on rather than one: “Firstly, about what we want to achieve together as a team; secondly, why this is good for each individual … I strongly believe you focus on building a healthy environment, and then we fine-tune performance from there. This induction is the most critical time as an individual is most open to this new experience - our first experiences have a long-lasting impact on our sense of being part of this team.Belonging is a must-read for anyone interested in building a long term high-performing team' - Stuart Lancaster We can be ourselves. We feel that we are respected and that we matter. We feel included. We can be a good teammate here. Our own identity, and that of the team happily coexist. Belonging is a vital book for our disconnected and leaderless times. It’s one whose lessons should be taught in schools across the world, because the power of creating a sense of togetherness could help heal our fractured society.
Despite his considerable career success, Eastwood is a self-effacing operator. Search online, and you’ll discover surprisingly little, apart from some excitement about his recent engagement by the Harlequins rugby team. The publication of Belonging could change all that. And to have a book from him feels particularly appropriate given that his approach is so rooted in the notion of storytelling. “Our story is an unfolding one: we just happen to be part of one of its chapters. So it’s incumbent on us to have a clear idea about how to make things better for those who come after us,” he affirms. You want some ideas about how to create groups or teams where belonging, trust, and aligned vision are the core of what you do Eastwood believes responsibility for culture must sit at the top of sporting organisations. He argues that boards should be setting the “cultural blueprint” for their sporting environments, not leaving it up to the whims of the latest head coach. Belonging is a must-read for anyone interested in building a long term high-performing team.' - Stuart Lancaster Finally, a huge thanks to my sponsors, Puresport. Their range of CBD and Nootropics supplements have had a significant impact on how I sleep, manage stress, and focus throughout the day. I can’t recommend them enough.Owen’s a New Zealander with a unique approach based on an evolutionary understanding of what makes teams of humans strong and weak. Control and Autonomy: Eastwood refers two of his own ancestral concepts: tapu and noa. Tapu describes aspects of life that are sacred, prescribed or non-negotiable – in a workplace, these could be values, or even protocols that everyone must abide by. By contrast, noa are areas of life that do not share these rules and allow more self expression. The idea is that to create true belonging, we should clearly understand what in our lives is tapu, and what is noa – the balance is important, as too far one way could be demotivating, controlling, or chaotic. Creating an Us story involves immersing yourself in three dimensions of an Us story: the past, present and future. One of the wisest books about winning you'll ever read...Powerful lessons beautifully expressed.' - James Kerr
Us Story: Eastwood spends significant time explaining the importance of storytelling, and particularly in creating an ‘Us story’. In other words, exploring who the group is, why they exist, and what their history is. Eastwood helps organisations and teams look at their past (ancestors, origins, legacies), then the future (where are we going, what do we need to do this) and finally the present (do we have a sense of identity that flows into everything we do). There are many examples in the book of how groups have created their own ‘us story’, but something of note is that we resonate more with everyday traits, actions, moments of synergy – ordinary people working hard to achieve excellence, rather than ‘superhero’ stories of individual brilliance.Wellbeing is directly tied to group belonging. Studies reaffirm the correlation between chronic loneliness, poor health and early mortality. When we experience a sense of belonging our body produces a hormone soup that enables oxytocin, serotonin, dopamine and endorphins to work their collective magic. Our need to belong is, therefore, not just in the mind, but a physical state. Belonging is a must-read for anyone interested in building a long term high-performing team.’– Stuart Lancaster We talked about Whakapapa, when we talked about the sun shining on us. And when we come into a specific team that is set up to pursue a specific purpose we understand that it is conditional on performing, and therefore the sun might not be on us for very long, or it might be on us for 12 years. We don’t know. Time will tell what’s important is that when the sun is on us, is that we are full in. We are part of this team. We feel belonging and we can trust those people around us. And that is the environment that is being created. But we fully understand that we have been put together for a purpose, and if our performance isn’t good enough, then I’ll tell him we’ll move on. So there’s no contradiction there. The right way to treat people Neither do we exist merely to execute plans or strategies or KPI’s disconnected from an Us story. That is soulless.
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