• by Kaila Colbin , Featured Contributor, October 6, 2023

We never talk about it, and yet it affects everything: how we engage with each other, the kinds of decisions we make, whether we have a growth or a fixed mindset. It shapes our meetings, the way we carry ourselves, whether we enjoy our jobs.

It’s not culture, although culture is a big part of it. It’s not our personalities, our thinking preferences, or our individual strengths. It’s not vision, mission, purpose, strategy.

It’s vibe.

You wouldn’t expect to see vibe in an annual report or hear it on an investor call. Vibe is not a corporate word: it’s too vague, too fluffy, too surfer. Noticing vibe requires a sensitivity to what’s going on, an ability to taste the unspoken.

We don’t look at or analyze our teams through a vibe lens -- and yet our team experience is all about vibe. How does it  feel when I walk into the room? What’s the energy? Are we open or afraid? Are we upbeat or downtrodden? Can we relax -- or can we cut the tension with a knife?

If culture is what you do when no one’s watching, vibe precedes culture. Culture is how we behave, but vibe shapes the mood -- and mood shapes the motivation.

Vibe can’t be faked. You can require people to smile, but the vibe will still reek of inauthenticity -- or worse, resentment. Vibe is an oh-so-subtle eyeroll or a genuine good-to-see-you. Vibe is, I can feel myself shrinking -- or I’m ready to take on the world, with you at my side.

So what do you do if the vibe is no good?

You can’t force it. Telling people to be more upbeat will drive the exact opposite result.

You can’t ignore it; it’ll seep out in a failure to have robust discussions, a lack of commitment, a disappearance of discretionary effort. You’ll try to tackle these with initiatives focused on discipline or accountability -- but nothing changes until vibe changes.

Here’s what you have to do: you have to  name it.

Name the elephant in the room. “Man, it feels gloomy in here!” or “Is anyone else finding this conversation really heavy going?”

Naming a bad vibe takes its power away. There’s a massive awkwardness when things are difficult but unmentioned. And the longer things go unmentioned, the more awkward things get. But here’s the upside: The more awkward things have gotten, the more powerful the relief when the awkwardness gets named.

Name it. People will be amazed by your courage and insight, even though you’re talking about something everyone was feeling.

Name it. You can’t force vibe to change, but the irony is this: Simply acknowledging it as it is, without judgment, will change it.

Vibe wants to be seen. It wants to be acknowledged. It’s giving us important information about what’s working and what’s not.

So let’s acknowledge it. It may be vague, it may be fluffy, it may be surfer. But vibe is real -- and it is massively impactful. Let’s stop pretending otherwise.