We're All in This Together: Creating a Team Culture of High Performance, Trust, and Belonging

by Mike Robbins

What makes a great team? Author, leadership expert, and corporate consultant looks at how businesses can build trust and achieve high performance.

Have you ever been on a team where the talent was strong, but the team wasn't very good? On the flip side, have you ever been on a team where not every single member was a rock star, but something about the team just worked?
We've all had these types of experiences. And yet, it can be difficult to understand what makes one team successful and another one not.
In this book, Mike Robbins dives deep into the ways great businesses build trust, collaborate, and operate at their peak level. As an expert in teamwork, leadership, and emotional intelligence, Mike draws on more than 20 years of experience working with top companies like Google and Microsoft, as well as his baseball career with the Kansas City Royals. And, while each team and organization have their own unique challenges, goals, and dynamics, there are some universal qualities that allow teams to truly come together and thrive.
The book's core principles include fostering an environment of psychological safety, fostering inclusion and belonging, addressing and navigating conflict, and maintaining a healthy balance of high expectations and empathy. Throughout, Mike shares powerful exercises and tools he's successfully utilized in the keynote speeches, group sessions and corporate retreats that he delivers, so that you and your team can communicate more authentically, give and receive feedback with skill, and create deeper connections.
We're All in This Together also features personal stories and interviews with high-level business leaders and thought leaders to provide insights into an ever-changing workplace culture.
***
"For us to do our best work, have the kind of impact we truly want to have, and unlock our full potential, we can't do it alone; we must to do it together. If you and your team are willing to do what it takes, you can build and sustain an incredibly strong culture of trust and performance, and accomplish remarkable things." -Mike Robbins

Genres: Leadership, Nonfiction, Professional Development, Business

208 pages, Hardcover

Published May 5, 2020

About the author

Mike Robbins is the author of five books: Bring Your Whole Self to Work, Nothing Changes Until You Do, Focus on the Good Stuff, Be Yourself Everyone Else is Already Taken, and his most recent, We're All in This Together, (April 2020). He's a sought-after keynote speaker and business thought-leader who speaks to groups of all kinds throughout the world.

Some of his clients include Google, Wells Fargo, Microsoft, Gap, eBay, Schwab, Adobe, Genentech, Citibank, the US Department of Labor, Harvard University, the San Francisco Giants, and many others.

Mike and his work have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and Fast Company, as well as on ABC News and NPR. He is a regular contributor to Forbes, hosts a podcast called We're All in This Together, and his books have been translated into fifteen different languages.

Mike lives in Novato, CA with his wife Michelle and their two daughters. For more information, visit www.Mike-Robbins.com or follow him on Twitter or Instagram @MikeDRobbins or Facebook, www.facebook.com/mikerobbinspage

Reviews

[Wen 🌸 · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book falls into the category of non-fiction/business books that should not have been a book in the first place. A long blogpost/ted talk would have sufficed, truly.

In summary, to create good teams you need four elements:
1. Create an environment of psychological safety where everyone can be themselves and communicate candidly
2. Focus on diversity and inclusion because they produce the best team results if you can harness everything that different individuals have to offer
3. Be brave to have tough conversations and face conflict, because successfully resolved conflicts often produce deeper understanding and better results for the team
4. Care and challenge your team members, so that everyone can be the best version of themselves

Throw in the usual suspects of modern psychology concepts that are rampant these days (Carol Dweck’s growth mindset, Brene Brown’s vulnerability), and you have this book.

While the points made were fine, they were nothing new and didn’t need to be belaboured upon so much. It certainly didn’t help that the writing was nothing special. It was a struggle to finish this short book and unfortunately I have to give it one star.

[CN · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book for the content and the way it's going to help me navigate leading my team. Excellent and easy read!

[Alison Chinn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read this for work and did not enjoy it. I felt like the author was just rephrasing his points in each chapter over and over. Not a recommended read for leaders

[Mary McManus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read Mike Robbins' "We're All in This Together: Creating a Team Culture of High Performance, Trust, and Belonging" in the Hard Cover edition last year. When he wrote "We're All In This Together" he did not know that it would provide a handbook for people navigating the turbulent times of a pandemic. He garners the wisdom from his decades of consulting to develop high performance teams (beginning with his own experience as a ballplayer) and consolidates it in a way that is simple to understand, emotionally engaging and addresses complex issues of what are the barriers to high performance teams. Mike blends story telling with theories to provide information and inspiration for individuals and organizations to perform at their highest level whether on the job, in our families and communities. Like a great musical score from a Broadway show that leaves you humming the score long after you leave the theater, the concepts in Mike's book echo and resonate as a guiding light in our lives. When I learned that the book would be released in paperback with additional content from the perspective of what happened during the pandemic, I knew it was the perfect opportunity to glean additional wisdom from Mike's teachings and to reread this gem. Whether you are a manager, or member of a team at work, at home or at play this book is a must read to improve the quality of relationships and remove barriers to successful performance.

[Allie Dulabaum]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😆😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😆work assigned reading😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂did the higher-ups read this 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂cause….anyway…😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂I wish this book came with a clown horn😂😂😂😂or like a goofy gulp😂😂😂wish it talked more about work place manipulation and retaliation😂😂 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 😂😂😂😂😂😂also idgaf about sports. Why was there so much sports talk😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂remember when the gun emoji was a real gun?😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂oh man😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're looking to create a great team, you can't go wrong in reading this book. The core principles and exercises around inclusion and belonging, working through conflict, creating psychological safety, and maintaining a healthy balance of high expectations and empathy, can help any team to thrive.

[Kriz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too few books really tackle the in the trenches point of view and offer solutions that are actionable and meaningful. I'm glad Mike's voice is here especially as we navigate such shifts in the workplace. A really valuable asset to my bookshelf and perspective.

[Andrew Deutscher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mike Robbins has an amazing ability to cut to the practical matters of teamwork and culture. His ideas are relevant, timely, and enduring. I love the four simple, yet not easy, pillars to to focus on as leaders and teams to create amazing cultures where teams can do their best work...together!

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I had this book earlier in my career. I really think it would have assisted me working with others, with teams, leading teams, and being able to handle challenging situations that arose in our teams. What a gamechanger!

[Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mike Robbins is absolutely one of my favorite authors. His insights and books aren't just talk, they create the results we are all searching and striving for. I highly recommend all of his books with this one being my favorite. It is also not only timely, but also, timeless. Any leader would benefit from this book and its most valuable information and insights. As a mom of four sons who all played baseball, I also appreciate his baseball references. It is clear he had an understanding of teamwork from an early age, which has given him and others lifelong skills and made a him a resource I trust greatly.

-Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino, author of The Change Guidebook and Chief Executive Officer of Compliance4

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you want more performance, trust, connection, and resilience on your team? How about better communication and results? This book should be required reading. The four pillars that the author describes in this book are all game changers for any business or organization looking to level up their performance / culture. And the author gives you actionable tools so you can take immediate action. Highly recommend!

[Ashok · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit repetitive if you have read Brene Brown, Kim Scoot and are close to DIBS initiatives / programs but I found certain frameworks super valuable still . The Authenticity equation for eg, appreciation and “if you really know me…” frameworks are another. Overall it’s a fast read and a good reinforcement of certain principles we know to be true (if you are following management topics pretty closely otherwise def a great read). Also more than anything recommend Mike as a speaker for your leadership or team building sessions - great facilitator.

[Amanda DuShane · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book was long and overwritten. It feels like I could add it to the list of assigned reading I have been given that is comprised of a basic narrative that someone who was out of touch finally realized for themselves and found extraordinary. If that is true, and it is, I just wish it was explicitly stated that “this is something I wish I’d known earlier but it took me a while to figure it out”. This is not remarkable or new information.

[Jere · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I hosted a bookclub at work with my direct reports and direct counterparts. Everyone got something out of it, and the exercises were very beneficial (though quite uncomfortable) for our team bonding. I would recommend this book if you are trying to improve team cohesiveness and trust.

[Martin Pérez · Rating 3 out of 5]

No está mal, pero creo que con solamente leerse el 1 y 3 pilar valdría. El 2 se siente como puro relleno y una justificación del autor de no querer sonar racista constantemente. El 4 es un poco repetitivo ya a esas alturas y no da muchas soluciones prácticas.

También se siente en muchísimas ocasiones como un escaparate de su primer libro, el cual no cesa de mencionarlo cada par de páginas.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful book about teams with content for both leaders and team members. Stories and examples help to cement ideas. Very helpful to those entering a new team or taking a leadership role.

[Ryan Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Business book

[Norris Howze · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book. Good insight on how to hold teams to a high level of function. Important values are discussed.

[Eric Shamis · Rating 5 out of 5]

East to read page-turner for those that love leadership books. I find myself referencing this book for topics on workplace psychological safety, diversity, and being your authentic self.

[Andrea Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up