Speaker: Learning to say ‘yes’ transforms teams

LOVELAND — The secret to highly functional teams has to do with being with teammates in the moment, to truly hear what they are saying and positioning yourself to say “yes,” according to teamwork consultant Galen Emanuele.

Emanuele addressed the annual Loveland Business Appreciation Breakfast conducted Thursday at the Embassy Suites Loveland, 4705 Clydesdale Parkway.

Emanuele, a practitioner of improvisation, told the crowd that the tenets of improv are the same as those necessary to promote high-performing teams.

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Those tenets are:

1. Say yes.
2. Listen and be present.
3. Make others look good.
4. Embrace change and failure.
5. Be positive.

Emanuele led the crowd in a series of exercises that demonstrated the difference between being heard and not, between hearing “yes” and hearing “no.” 

“What’s important is what people think when they recognize that they are not being heard,” he said. “When people recognize that they are being heard, 100 percent of the time, they want to do business with you,” he said.

He said the practice of assuring that coworkers and customers are heard does not necessarily come naturally. “We have to choose to show up like that,” he said.

He said organizations can experience transformation when staff members hear “yes” to an idea, which inspires more idea generation.

He acknowledged that businesses can’t always say yes in every situation, but they can “say yes to the person but no to the idea. It’s not whether we say yes or no but how we say yes or no,”  he said.

He said being a person who is approachable is a matter of self awareness. “There are people in your life who are instant cheerleaders and others who are always going to be negative. Which would you rather be,” he asked.

Sometimes, not being negative means not not speaking. “You have so many opportunities in life to shut your mouth instead of being negative,” he said.

“Be intentional in how you react and respond and connect with others,” he said.