With Hug Day on February 12, Self-love Day on February 13 and Valentine’s Day on the 14th, this should be a high oxytocin week!
Oxytocin, our trust and social bonding chemical, is one of our "feel- good" chemicals, connected with the emotions of liking, loving, pride, and feeling included – and we need it at home and at work.
If you’ve ever worked on a highly productive, top performing team, you know that unique feeling of being in flow. That level of team success isn’t possible without trust. Trust isn’t possible without oxytocin.
If we actively work to boost oxytocin, we can increase trust. Oxytocin is only released when we feel safe, included, and respected. At work, we can boost it by showing empathy, providing support, sharing information – or simply by making eye contact. (At home, oxytocin is released in massive amounts when we fall in love and have children. We can continue to boost it through checking on friends and family, socializing, and physical touch, including petting our pets. If you live alone, even just hugging yourself will give you a boost.)
These stats on the tangible benefits of high oxytocin, trust-based cultures are worth repeating:
106% more energy
76% more engagement
50% more productivity
29% more life satisfaction
40% fewer cases of burnout
13% fewer sick days
Paul Zak, The Trust Factor
Conversely, too much pressure and stress (especially for sustained periods) diminishes performance and erodes trust, in addition to burning people out. To arm yourself and others to successfully execute any strategy, start boosting oxytocin…trust will follow.
How would you rate the level of trust in your workplace? What will you do to improve it?
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