Applying Peer Group Learnings to Business Teams with Leo Bottary
In this episode of Training Unleashed, Evan’s guest Leo Bottary, founder and managing partner of Peernovation, LLC, gives you a different way of thinking about the culture of accountability. The conversation centers around applying the learnings from peer groups into teams in your business. Leo explains how peer groups can help with employee retention and engagement, AND retention of information taught in training!!!
When Evan asked Leo, how he decided to take what he learned about peer groups and recreate it inside an organization? he explained the concept has been a decade in the making. That in looking at what made a peer group effective and what made a team effective—there were a lot of similarities. In peer groups you have “individuals who come together to help one another achieve their individual goals. While a team comes together to achieve a collective goal or shared work product.”
Evan asked Leo to tell us what he’s learned about peer (groups) that can be brought into an organization?
One of the things that Leo touched on is the concept of psychological safety being fundamental to peer groups. That when people come together as a group, they need to trust each other and feel that they can safely talk about what they don’t know, what they’re afraid of and what mistakes they’ve made. Leo continued by explaining, “When they come together, they’re sharing, often times deep personal and business issues with one another, they have trust that what happens in the room stays in the room. And that they’re helping one another in that way. And in teams it’s not a lot different, you’ve got to be able to share and be open with one another as peer groups do.”
Leo shared five things that he thinks are important learnings from peer groups that can be applied to teams, as well as the best way to roll out the concept to your organization. Listen to the entire interview to hear them all… and remember to stay to the end to hear his one big tip!
About Our Guest
Leo Bottary is the founder and managing partner of Peernovation, LLC. He is a sought-after thought leader on Peer Advantage and Peernovation, emerging disciplines dedicated to strategically engaging peers to achieve personal and organizational excellence. A popular author, keynote speaker, and workshop facilitator, he also serves as an instructor for Rutgers University and Opinion Columnist for CEOWORLD Magazine.
Prior to teaching for Rutgers, Leo was an adjunct professor for Seton Hall University, where he led graduate-level online learning teams and on-campus residencies in the areas of leadership and strategic communication. In April 2015, he was named adjunct teacher of the year for its College of Communication and the Arts.
Earlier in his career, Leo served in senior leadership positions at Mullen and Hill & Knowlton, where he was also Director of Client Service for the US. In the mid-1990s, he founded a public relations agency that a leading industry trade publication hailed as a regional powerhouse, new media pioneer, and great place to work. Leo earned a BA from Jacksonville University, an MA in Strategic Communication and Leadership from Seton Hall University, and completed his doctoral coursework at Northeastern University.
