How Leaders Create Flow Within Their Teams

Co-author: Phil Del Vecchio

Think of a time you felt wholly engaged in your work. When you had clear goals, were able to use your skillsets against exciting challenges, and you almost lost track of time as you completed your work with ease and comfort. That feeling of being in “the zone” is also known as flow. These moments full of clarity, focus, joy, high performance, and fulfillment are examples of Flow State.

The founder of Flow theory, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, determined that Flow is the state of mind that offers us meaning, fulfillment and engagement in our lives. Flow State can apply to athletes, leaders, and team members and can be linked to remarkably positive accomplishments in many professional fields. Mihaly’s TED talk on Flow and the secret to happiness has over 6 million views and connects Flow to happiness.

How is leadership related to Flow?

Everyday life is filled with opportunities to thrive and most of these opportunities appear as challenges. In fact, it’s how we respond to these challenges that defines us and allows us to flourish. This applies in work settings as well. As we face new opportunities, our perception of those, as challenges or occasions to shine, greatly impacts our outcomes. Leaders can help shape employee reactions to these opportunities and assist their team members as they navigate them.

The Flow Model below, represents a person’s skill level vs. degree of challenge for a task. Different levels of skill and intensities of challenge result in different experiences and feelings. When we feel anxious, it’s often due to low skill level paired with high challenge; we feel apprehension towards our ability to accomplish the task. When we feel boredom, it’s often when we have high skill levels and low challenges; we have more to give than the task requires. Both situations lead to burnout and low performance and are opportunities for leaders to clarify and support. The goal is to create the conditions for skill level and degree of challenge to match or slightly push/stretch skills by the challenge, resulting in Flow. This model highlights how important it is for us to be mindful of our challenges and skills, to accurately assess each of them, and to understand that our perceptions and appraisals of these variables can impact our performance.

Csikszentmihályi M (1990). FLOW: The Psychology of Optimal Experience

How can leaders assist team members in achieving Flow State?

Leaders can take a few key actions to help create the conditions for Flow for the individuals on their team and for their team as a whole. Leaders begin by Taking inventory of each team members’ placement on the Flow model and then partner with each person to modify and adjust the skill level and challenge to create the conditions for the Flow State. For example, if a team member is consistently anxious, leaders can provide opportunities to increase specific skillsets to meet the challenges of the role. Conversely, if you or a team member who is bored, you can increase specific challenges within the role to provide an enriched experience. Leaders can also empower their team members to be in Flow more often by helping them see challenging situations as opportunities to excel.

These strategic steps for leaders can assist team members in increasing awareness of skill levels and degrees of challenges, shifting where needed, and creating Flow State within their teams and organizations.

1.       Become curious and mindful of you and your team members’ positions on the Flow model. There is no judgment, no right answer. Are you and/or your team members anxious because of actual or perceived low skill levels for the current challenge? Are you and/or your team members bored because actual or perceived skill level is above what is needed for the challenge? Are you and/or your team members in Flow and thriving with balanced skill levels and challenges?

• Leaders can use their one-on-one conversations to better understand and define team members’ current position on the Flow model. You can start your one-on-one sessions by introducing the Flow Model. Bring a printout or draw the basic model on a whiteboard. Describe the model and help your team members understand the concept of Flow and the different pairings of skill level and degree of challenge. Then ask them to describe where they are on the model by task and overall in a given week. Of course, this conversation will be nuanced based on the task, week, month, or year.  

• If the leader and the team member have differing opinions on where a team member lands on the model, this is an opportunity for open communication, empathy and building trust.

• The manager could also leverage a time use audit with the team member to dig deeper into the number of hours they spend on each task per week and determine how investing more or less time in specific tasks would impact their Flow.

2.       Once there is clarity on where each person is currently on the Flow model, leaders can create tailored conditions to achieve Flow State using the following guidelines:

• Create clear goals that specifically address movement of each team member from their current placement to their ideal placement on the Flow model.

• These goals should align the correct level of challenge with each person's skill level. This might mean increasing skill levels, increasing or decreasing challenges, or modifying both the skill level and the degree of challenge. 

• Provide transparent and immediate feedback to assist the person in adjusting and expanding their performance.

 How can leaders support team members who are anxious, bored or in Flow?

Here are a few examples of actions and goals to move each team member from their current state into Flow State:

If team member is currently anxious and stressed:

1. Clarify your intent – Create a supportive environment and alleviate their concerns; this is not a punitive process. You are there to co-create a plan that will help them build their skills to meet the challenges.

2. Demonstrate a growth mindset – Share with them the benefits of skill development outside the current challenges, within their role, and beyond. Explore ways to grow the needed skills including training, job shadowing, mentoring, and coaching.

3. Ask coaching questions – Use questions to create accurate goals and clarify ideal skill levels. What are the key reasons for anxiety? What skillset could they build that would reduce this anxiety and stress? What resources are needed for this? Are there ways to reduce the challenge to allow room for growth? How can the leader support this growth?

If team member is currently bored and checking out:

1. Determine where the challenge is falling short – Have they done the task too many times and it is no longer interesting? Have they mastered the process and don’t want to do it any longer? Are they missing the connection between this task and the larger organizational picture?

2. Discuss options to expand the challenge – Identify what can be expanded now and what can be in the future. Share new opportunities to enlarge their responsibilities, touch points or authorities within a current challenge. Could they train others on this task?

3. Generate options for new challenges – Establish what they could take on that they are not currently doing. Invent avenues to challenge them with new tasks. Create ways to use the full capacity of their skills.

If team member currently reaches Flow most days:

1. Stay connected – Flow State shifts, skills grow, and challenges can increase and decrease. Intentionally check-in often with those in Flow to determine if minor shifts need to be made to stay in the Flow channel.

2. Continue to grow skills and challenges – Don’t allow them to stagnate. Continually offer ways to grow skills and develop while broadening and deepening challenges.

3. Offer opportunities to mentor others – Flow can best be learned by seeing and experiencing it. Allow those in Flow to mentor and teach others. Their engagement and enthusiasm will be contagious.

Understanding the principles of Flow can help both leaders and team members enjoy work more and perform at higher levels. Building the conditions for Flow State will help you intentionally focus on the areas of work and life that bring you energy and fulfillment. If you’re a leader, building Flow conditions for each of your team members will help you, the team and the overall organization achieve greater outcomes and results with full engagement and interest.  

** This article is the twelfth in a series of twelve addressing common leadership questions. These questions and challenges touch leaders at all levels and transcend industries. The article series provides valuable information and action steps for leaders to take their skills and teams to the next level. Click here to read the full series.

Author’s Note: Special thanks to Phil Del Vecchio for sharing his expertise on Flow State and coaching leaders and organizations to grow and develop, as well as his generous contribution in co-authoring this article. 

The Importance of Clear Expectations for Virtual Employees

Co-author: Kevin Blair

The last year and half has been full of ups and downs as well as changes big and small for organizations and employees. Organizations had to make overnight decisions that impacted employees company-wide; they changed their processes and systems to address virtual and dispersed employees; and they realigned polices and guidelines several times along the way. Some employees needed to balance work and childcare, increased workloads, and struggles with health issues; others experienced an unexpected step back to a slower pace and work-from-home flexibility. Many employees are somewhere in the middle.

As employees navigated these changing circumstances and created a new normal, many faced gray and foggy expectations for their work. Some employees were sent home to work without clear expectations beyond, “keep doing what you have been doing, just from home.” As we know, it has been far from that simple.

Prior to the pandemic, research from Gallup indicated over half of employees didn’t know what was expected of them at work. Over half. How has the pandemic impacted that number? Research is still emerging, and we know the gap between those who receive clear expectations and feedback and those who don’t is widening. Prior to the pandemic, leaders who excelled in providing clear expectations  are now excelling with dispersed, remote and hybrid work and those who struggled previously are finding the new circumstances even more difficult. We also know feedback is even more important to remote workers than in-office workers in terms of engagement. Specifically, the frequency of expectation setting and feedback has a direct impact on remote workers’ engagement levels.

What is the impact if employees do not have clear expectations or receive infrequent feedback? Some employees simply do nothing. They feel disengaged and unimportant, so they check out or do the bare minimum of what is required in their roles. The result is decreased productivity, lower profit, and higher costs for the organization. Other employees continue to work hard, but on the wrong things. In the absence of clear expectations, they make up their own. They pour their efforts into non-relevant projects or turn out deliverables that do very little for the organization’s true mission. In some cases, these misdirected efforts—such as the rollout of a redundant software system or creation of an inaccurate policy—could cost the organization countless dollars and hours to identify and fix.

If the impact to the mission or bottom line of the organization is so drastic, why don’t managers make a more concerted effort to clarify expectations and give feedback on progress? One reason might be lack of time. Workloads and meetings increased since the start of the pandemic, and this led to managers having increasingly less time to meet regularly with their employees. Second, managers may not have a clear picture of the strategy or expectations from their own leaders, making it difficult to cascade instructions down to employees. Finally, fear can also be a factor: fear of not setting expectations effectively, fear of insulting someone’s intelligence, or fear of mishandling a difficult conversation. As a result, managers end up avoiding conversations with employees that need them most.

To meet these challenges, there are several concrete steps leaders can take to ensure employees have clear expectations and are aligned on what is expected of them at work. Setting expectations at both the individual and team level will provide employees defined parameters, examples, and opportunities to clarify any confusion. Managers can use a parallel approach: sharing expectations at the individual level in one-on-one meetings, including project expectations, developmental milestones, and task priorities, and simultaneously at the team level in meetings by discussing how expectations connect to organizational strategy, team priorities, and your leadership values.

When communicating expectations at the individual level, here are a few best practices to try:

Overcommunicate – Patrick Lencioni reveals that individuals need to be reminded of a message or key information seven times in order to make it stick. He also notes that when leaders feel they have overcommunicated a message, they are only halfway done. The human brain is remarkably skilled at forgetting messages; for many this has gotten worse with the burnout and anxiety generated by the pandemic. As a manager, don’t hesitate to use multiple moments and modalities (voice, email, text, Teams…) to share important information.

Ask the employee first, then compare notes – Don’t simply “fire and forget” expectations to team members. Ask employees to reflect back what they heard from you in their own words. By doing so, they’re more likely to remember the expectations and it also gives you a chance to correct any misunderstandings or redirect them before it’s too late.

Stop micromanaging and focus on what success looks like – If you fear of micromanaging—particularly with high-performing employees—focus on the finish line and let them run the race. Ask “what will success look like?” and define it together. If an employee feels ownership in the creation of the final outcome, they will be more motivated to get there. Once the end point is defined, let them create their path to get there, including milestones and timelines when possible.

Check in regularly along the way and give feedback, especially positive – Contrary to what they might tell you, employees need to know the work they are doing is valued and meaningful. Research from John Gottman indicates that people need four to five times more positive feedback than constructive feedback. Be quick to praise accomplishments. Help employees see the bigger picture of how their work fits into the mission of the organization. If an employee needs more help, training, or resources, meet them where they are and adjust the amount of support you’re giving them.

Beyond individual conversations, managers can discuss expectations at the team level. Here are some actions to help clarify expectations and ensure everyone knows what is expected of them.

Lay out your expectations as a leader – If you have not done so already, share your expectations of the team and your vision of success. What are your standards, values, and ideals for your team as a whole? How do you want them to behave, interact, share information, include you and each other, address conflict, and solve problems? This will set the bar for the team and create a solid foundation for each member to know what is expected of them.

Document and share expectations – If it is not written down, it doesn’t exist. For hybrid workers, place your expectations and team norms in a shared virtual space for everyone to access and refer to. This could be a shared document repository, Excel spreadsheet, or database. Employees will take ownership of the expectations if they can clearly see them and refer to them often. Make them accessible, easily updateable, and owned by the team.

Create and follow-through on accountability – Create clear processes for accountability. This could be weekly task updates at team meetings, bi-weekly inputs into a project spreadsheet, or Wednesday posts on Slack. Design a practice and cadence that works for your team given the complexity and rhythm of your work. If you don’t know what would work for your team, ask them for input in creating it, which will increase their buy-in. Once this accountability business rhythm is in place, then the hard work of follow-through begins. Don’t skip meetings when things get busy. Acknowledge the work tempo and stay connected to your priorities and timelines.

Transition accountability from the leader to the team – Hold the team accountable until they begin to hold each other accountable. Team members holding each other accountable to expectations and commitments is the ultimate goal. When they do this for each other and it is appreciated and valued, you have created a high performing team. Share this goal with the team and give them opportunities to work towards it. Model how to have these accountability conversations effectively and with compassion and courage. Can they hold the check-in meeting without you when you are on vacation, instead of cancelling it? Allow them to share the ownership and facilitation of the meeting even when you are present.

Determine where you are currently and where you want to be in terms of setting clear expectations for your team and each person individually. Using the parallel approach and working with both the team and each team member simultaneously will ensure transparency and progress. By maintaining the cadence of these conversations, you will build momentum and see your team evolving in a unified direction.

** This article is the eleventh in a series of twelve addressing common leadership questions. These questions and challenges touch leaders at all levels and transcend industries. The article series provides valuable information and action steps for leaders to take their skills and teams to the next level. Click here to read the full series.

Author’s Note: Special thanks to Kevin Blair for sharing his expertise in coaching leaders and teams and facilitating difficult conversations, as well as his generous contribution in co-authoring this article. 

Why it’s Hard to Hear and Act on the Feedback We Really Need

Co-author: Kat Rippy

We have all worked with great leaders and really poor leaders. The most dubious leaders we have worked with are those with great strengths and amazing potential, but never pushed through to the next level because they got in their own way. This could be the brilliant engineer who has amazing ideas, stretches the boundaries, and takes projects to successful completion, but struggles to delegate and therefore their plate is always way too full. You may have worked for the CEO who was an excellent people leader, conscious of the business bottom line, and managed multiple business areas successfully, but lacked vision and couldn’t think strategically. Or perhaps you encountered the leader who understood the challenges of the business, elevated others to success, and worked harder than anyone else in the room, but never seemed to make a decision, so everyone was always waiting to move forward. These leaders often leave us wondering if there is anything we can do to help them get out of their own way.

Every one of us faces this same struggle, whether we realize it or not. We all have amazing strengths and contributions only we can make. These are the skills and abilities we should strive to leverage each day. We each also have areas of non-strength, areas to develop, and areas we don’t successfully access. These weaker areas are often the places that create friction with others and can make us difficult to work with.

Even if we are high in Emotional Intelligence, aware of our weaknesses, and try to minimize them, we often don’t know how our weaknesses are experienced by others and the impact they have on our outcomes and results. Did my late data change the project timeline? Does my lack of follow-through demotivate others? How do my evolving priorities ripple to others? These questions are seldom asked and almost never receive accurate and honest feedback when they are.

Why is it so difficult to ask for critical feedback that could change our effectiveness exponentially? Why is it even more difficult to give this type of feedback? It is hard to ask because we often can’t see some of the most defining attributes within ourselves. Many of these traits have been part of us for as long as we can remember, some of them may have contributed to our previous success, and most are deeply woven into how we operate every day. Therefore, even when we know feedback is central to growth and development, it doesn’t make it any easier to ask for or digest. Asking for feedback and being truly ready to internalize it and act on it are very different things.

To be truly open to feedback, we need to create an environment with space and intention for feedback. This means feedback is more than an afterthought and takes place outside of formal performance appraisals and mid-cycle reviews. Feedback is not asked for in passing, “How did I do on that presentation?” as you race between meetings. Creating space for feedback is accomplished by slowing down, letting others know what type of feedback you need, sincerely asking, listening with undivided attention, critically processing the information, and taking action when needed. Many of us are so busy with our day-to-day activities that we don’t slow down enough to create this type of space. As a result, people don’t give us real feedback. They give us generalizations or formal documents with little substance. To receive meaningful feedback, we must intentionally ask, listen and act.

When space is purposefully created for feedback, others have an opportunity to give honest and actionable feedback. This type of feedback is specific and valuable. It defines the behaviors observed and clarifies their impact on others, the task, and the organization. Effective feedback opens the door to collaborative conversations that explore solutions and discover new actions that benefit everyone. It feels connective, supportive, and actionable. It facilitates behavior change and helps us become more effective.

The real magic, however, lies in how the feedback is put into action. Upon receiving feedback, we face the choice of whether to utilize it and make changes in our behavior; reject it and make no changes at all; or take a common half-way approach – accepting and appreciating the feedback, making an initial attempt to modify our actions, but ultimately going back to the way things were. Making real change takes a lot of effort. It’s challenging to stretch outside our comfort zone and modify how we do things to better meet the needs of others or the organization. For this reason, we usually either completely reject feedback and justify our behaviors as necessary, or we try to make changes and then give up and go back to our natural ways of behaving.

Change takes time and perseverance. The science of neuroplasticity and research on Emotional Intelligence tells us our brain is always organizing itself to focus on its most important goal: keeping us safe. Our brain is happiest when we are doing things in an automated, repeatable way, so it can focus on scanning the environment for threats. When we need to do something difficult or out of our “norm,” our brain has to work extra hard. Perhaps it’s helpful to know that even when we have the best of intentions to finally “be more organized,” “respond more quickly,” or “communicate more frequently,” yet six months later we end up back at square one, it’s partly because our brain wanted that to happen! Therefore, commitment to implementing feedback can’t be fleeting.

One way to stay dedicated to implementing feedback and behavior change and to assist others in applying their feedback is to make feedback and behavior change a two-way street. When we receive feedback and someone asks us to “do something differently,” we rarely think of them as partners in that change. Imagine how it would feel to receive feedback alongside an offer of a helping hand. Someone who’s willing to invest just as much effort into the necessary “change” as we are expected to. Both the person receiving the feedback AND the person giving it need to be equally invested in making the change.

It’s critical to work through the hard parts, gain the support and reinforcement of others, and garner success as a team effort. Have conversations about what we need from others, because they don’t always know what we need from them. When they give us feedback, it’s a perfect opportunity to ask for what will help us most. At times we lack the true belief from those around us that we actually CAN make changes. To gain their support, we need to work diligently to help them see us differently and notice the changes we are making. As we implement the feedback, we should check-in often to see if the changes are observed and to reinforce the need to look for new behaviors, rather than relying on old perceptions. More importantly, this garners buy-in so others have patience to support us through the clunky, messy middle part of change and don’t lose faith in us. This will support us to not return to our old ways. It turns out, we aren’t the only ones who need to believe we can change, we need others to believe as well. Look for ways to include those around you in your feedback journey and be open to assisting others as they implement your feedback.

Finally, there could be times when we decide not to incorporate feedback. Maybe we completely disagree with the feedback, or we don’t value the person providing us the feedback. Maybe we simply don’t want to make the necessary adjustments others want us to make. When we don’t incorporate feedback, we are making a choice, whether we realize it or not, that could impact our success and relationships within that environment. When we chose not to hear, see, or take needed feedback, it negatively impacts our ability to be effective and can have long term consequences on our reputation. Alternatively, this is an important time to check-in with ourselves and be honest. If the situation is truly not working for us, we may need to move on. As hard as this option can be, the costs of not doing so may be more harmful than we realize, both for others as well as ourselves.

In closing, when we receive feedback, we need to engage others in our actions and behavior changes. Ask for support and a commitment to seeing it through from all sides. Make it a team effort and everyone will benefit. Establishing new behaviors is the hardest part. Once it becomes the “official” new way of doing things and everyone is invested in it, it’s just as easy as the old way.

Additionally, when we see an opportunity to provide feedback to others, first take the time to consider how we can support them in receiving the feedback and adjusting behaviors or actions. Create opportunities to support others in collaboratively pursuing change and modifying interactions, work approaches, or expectations for everyone to see progress, accept setbacks, and develop a culture of feedback and change.

** This article is the tenth in a series of twelve addressing common leadership questions. These questions and challenges touch leaders at all levels and transcend industries. The article series provides valuable information and action steps for leaders to take their skills and teams to the next level. Click here to read the full series.

Author’s Note: Special thanks to Kat Rippy for sharing her expertise in working with executive leaders and organizations across industries, as well as her generous contribution in co-authoring this article. 

Communication Effectiveness - The Unspoken Leadership Crisis

Co-author: Dr. Reggie Crane

Managers and leaders spend at least 75% of their day communicating and research from Forbes identified communication effectiveness as one of the most important skills needed by managers and leaders today. Communication is critical because it impacts every aspect of work, performance, culture, and organizational results. Communication is foundational to solving long-standing organizational challenges such as leading others, guiding change, building cohesive teams, providing strategic direction, and giving feedback.

With leaders spending the majority of their day communicating, the importance of communication is clear. Yet how effectively are we actually communicating within our organizations? The vast majority of employees, 91%, believe their bosses lack the ability to communicate effectively. The primary reason many leaders are poor communicators is because they don’t view it as important. Interestingly, 70% of leaders with underperforming employees believe if they improved communication, they would resolve performance issues and improve motivation with their employees. This highlights a significant gap and opportunity in communication effectiveness.

To fill this gap, there is a need for agreement on what constitutes effective communication as well as a necessity to define the skills and practices to demonstrate it. A universally understood and accepted definition of communication effectiveness would add value by aligning the conversation and creating a benchmark to strive towards. As a starting point, communication effectiveness can be defined as engaging in dialogue that produces shared meaning and understanding. Leaders and managers are communicating 75% of their day in meetings and conversations; if at the conclusion of each of those discussions all parties walked away with shared meaning and understanding, how would that change things in your organization?

To begin this journey to consistently communicate effectively and ensure shared meaning and understanding, there are three skills that when used in dialogue greatly increase communication effectiveness. These skills are empathy, connection, and assertiveness. Empathy is the ability to understand and share other people’s emotions, thoughts, and feelings. Carl Rogers said, “being empathetic is seeing the world through the eyes of the other, not seeing your world reflected in their eyes.” Empathy can be difficult because when we are laser focused on getting things done, we often individualize success, selectively take in data that reinforces our perspectives, and don’t actively make time to engage empathy. Empathy can also be challenging because it doesn’t come naturally to many people; only 20% of the population is genetically disposed to empathy and the ability to detect others’ emotions and understand their perspectives. This means many of us will have to work at it a bit harder. But this is a good news story, we all have the ability to build our empathy skills through intentional practice.

The next communication effectiveness skill is connection. Connection is defined as showing respect and sharing similar interests and experiences that expand each other’s world view, leading to new possibilities. Brené Brown makes the point that “connection is why we are here; it is what gives meaning and purpose to our lives.” Connection creates engagement. If people feel connected to their co-workers, their projects, and their organizational mission and values, they will be more committed and productive. With employees spending a significant amount of time at work, they want their co-workers to care about them and know them as people. Connection offers the benefits of creating an overall feeling of self-worth and purpose, lowering stress, and decreasing the risk of isolation and depression.      

The third communication effectiveness skill is assertiveness. Assertiveness is respecting yourself, appropriately standing up for your interests, and expressing your thoughts and feelings, while also being aware of others' needs and willing to resolve conflicts. Author Sharon Anthony Bower says, “the biggest difference between being assertive and being aggressive is how your words and behaviors affect the rights and well-being of others.” Assertiveness is an important part of effective communication because it enables you to be clear about what you want and where you stand, as well as giving others an opportunity to respond with their own needs and ideas or to modify their behavior. Being assertive offers the benefits of less anxiety and depression, a greater sense of agency, and better relationships. Assertiveness is also often associated with higher self-esteem and confidence.

This communication effectiveness definition and the associated skills are grounded in three core principles which are the philosophical underpinnings of communication effectiveness, Being Intentional - purposeful, planned, deliberate; Being Authentic - grounded in reality, genuine, and natural; and Being Respectful - valuing another’s perspective, time, and space.

We will look at the principles in more detail. Anything we strive to do well requires us to be intentional; this also applies to communication effectiveness. Being intentional provides a greater probability the communication will be effective and shared meaning and understanding will occur. As an example, realizing you are about to engage in dialogue with someone about a problem, opportunity, performance issue, or personal matter requires you to consider how best to engage the communication effectiveness skills to ensure you achieve shared meaning and understanding. In each situation, determine which of the skills are most useful based on your communication intentions. If the intent is to get to the root cause of a problem, starting with empathy might be most effective. If the intent is to make a point that you feel needs to be made, assertiveness may be the preferred skill. And if you are attempting to make someone feel valued and appreciated, priority may be given to connection. Although being intentional is a great place to start, authenticity in how the skills are used is critical to the success of the engagement. A person could have the best of intentions but use the skill in a way that seems overly structured or planned. This can make it difficult to believe the genuineness of the communication, which can impact the outcome as well as the trust in the relationship.

Underpinning the two previous principles (being intentional and being authentic) is being respectful when engaging in the communication effectiveness skills of empathy, connection, and assertiveness. Consider respect as a foundation upon which all communications will take place. Respect creates the environment for mutual understanding through empathy and connection.

Communication effectiveness is critical to managers, leaders, employees, and organizations. It is the foundation for all interpersonal interactions, business decisions, performance improvements, and operational changes. As mentioned earlier, 70% of leaders believe improved communication could resolve performance issues and improve motivation, demonstrating communication effectiveness is key to individual and organizational performance. Effective communication could be the differentiator needed to strategically improve your leadership and results.

Ineffective communication and the detrimental impacts it can have on organizations and performance extends past a challenge and into a crisis. Universally defining effective communication and addressing this skill gap should be a priority of all leaders and managers. Begin by opening the dialogue about communication effectiveness and define within your team and organization what shared meaning and understanding looks like. Then discuss examples and opportunities for the three skills of effective communication, empathy, connection, and assertiveness. Ask each team member how they can be intentional, authentic, and respectful in their communication. Celebrate success as progress begins and reinforce effective communication behaviors in performance conversations and through rewards and recognition. Most importantly, model the communication and behaviors you want to see in others. The evolution to communication effectiveness will be a gradual process that is desperately needed and long overdue.

** This article is the ninth in a series of twelve addressing common leadership questions. These questions and challenges touch leaders at all levels and transcend industries. The article series provides valuable information and action steps for leaders to take their skills and teams to the next level. Click here to read the full series.

Author’s Note: Special thanks to Dr. Reggie Crane for sharing his visionary Communication Effectiveness Model and expertise in working with teams and organizations, as well as his generous contribution in co-authoring this article. 

Essential Skills for the Post-Pandemic Leader

Co-author: Sam Palazzolo

 The need for effective leadership in today's post-pandemic business environment is critical. Leadership and the skills needed to be an effective leader have been highly researched and debated. There are thousands of books dedicated to the topic and each one has a slightly different view. So, what skills are essential for effective leaders and how have they changed over the last year and a half? 

 The most effective leaders employ a mix of leadership skills, technical skills, and business knowledge. The exact mix of these three skill sets is dependent on the leader’s role, level in the organization, and in some cases the industry in which they work. The combination of these skills has changed due to the pandemic and shifts in work-life. Today, leadership skills are even more vital and often set great leaders apart from their peers. The need for technical skills and business knowledge have remained steady and are also central pieces to the leadership puzzle.

Leadership skills

Leadership skills, or soft skills, including interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence, are the foundation of effective leadership. There is consensus on the leadership skills needed to be an effective leader, including motivating self and others; critical thinking; problem solving; building relationships; managing change; leading ethically; delegating tasks effectively; strategic planning and execution; effective communication; championing diversity, equity, and inclusion; and leading remote and dispersed teams. Although all these skills are principle to leadership, the necessity of the last five has increased in the post-pandemic world.

Delegating tasks effectively

The recent pandemic, untraditional workplaces, and work from home scenarios drive a need to pivot and evolve traditional leadership skills. In this environment, delegation can no longer be done with clear oversight or random walk-ups to employees’ desks. Delegation in this environment rests on clear expectations, agreed upon accountability, and most importantly trust. The best leaders have high standards, set up systems that support employee success, and trust their team members will shine.

Strategic planning and execution

Nearly all leaders engage in some level of strategic planning, yet very few, if any, actualize all of those plans to execution. Some leaders fall short by not taking full advantage of strategic planning meetings, even though these meetings can provide opportunities for building partnerships, aligning priorities, employee engagement, and promoting tactical execution. More than ever, employees want to know where the organization is headed, what changes are coming, how they fit in, and how they can contribute.

Communication

A primary, but often vague leadership skill is communication. Most managers rarely communicate the details of specific projects to key business partners, and even fewer clearly share with their team members the reasons for actions or decisions. Unfortunately, even leaders who move projects forward and produce results don't consistently communicate effectively, resulting in wasted time and energy for both employees and leaders. Communication should encompass strategic topics such as mission alignment, organizational goals, division changes, and future direction and vision, as well as tactical topics including expectations, process steps, and issue resolution agreements.  Communication goes two ways; providing opportunities for employees to be heard and share their ideas throughout the organization delivers exponential returns in employee buy-in and commitment.

Championing diversity, equity, and inclusion

As the work landscape transforms, differences in employee work styles, contributions, and skill sets become more pronounced. This is an opportunity for leaders to adjust polices and work structures to allow every employee to bring their full self to work. Look for the value each unique employee contributes. How can you leverage strengths, revisit divergent ideas, or elevate overlooked voices? This is an opening to not only respect and include diverse perspectives, now leaders can uplift, value and strengthen employee diversity within their own teams.

Leading remote and dispersed teams

Leading remote and dispersed teams can create new challenges for leaders as they strive to build morale and create consensus and team cohesion. A key to leading in this environment is finding ways to stay connected to each individual and the team as a whole. Regular one-on-one and team meetings are essential and should be upheld as a priority. One-on-one meetings are occasions to check-in on projects and tasks, but more importantly, they should be used for employee development and engagement conversations. Team meetings can foster cross-collaboration and group problem solving; they also build a sense of community and alignment. 

Technical skills

Alongside these increasingly important leadership skills are technical skills and business knowledge, which have not lessened in importance. Although technical skills differ by position and industry, they are often the baseline of an organization. As leaders move up in the organization, they get further removed from the technical work and skills. Leaders who can stay current on the technical evolution and advancement in their fields will be more effective. Like technical skills, technology is changing at an alarming pace and it's necessary to stay ahead of the curve to remain relevant and successful.

It is often a challenge for leaders to allocate time to technical skill growth and apply their technical skills to current projects without neglecting leadership responsibilities or taking away opportunities from their team. To stay up to date, find ways to connect to the work without adding an extra layer or distraction for employees. This could include reverse shadowing events, where leaders sit with front-line team members to learn the latest trends and updates. Another example is topic showcases where employees present on their areas of expertise to leaders and co-workers allowing the organization to learn from them. Roundtable events offer space for technical knowledge transfer or leaders could meet with subject matter experts to understand their actions and recommendations. The more leaders understand the technical side of the business, the more they can solve problems before they occur and leverage organizational expertise when needed.

Business knowledge

With employees working remotely, virtual organizational communications, and customers located outside of their traditional workplaces, it is easy for leaders to become disconnected from the business. This disconnection magnifies the importance for business knowledge, specifically around industry standards, customer expectations, strategic investments, project execution, cash generation and flow, and talent management. The need for this type of business knowledge will remain stable as organizations prepare to return to in-person work and blended work environments. It is easy for leaders to become narrowly focused when the tempo of business increases; instead, intentionally and continually look for opportunities to expand business knowledge and cross-functional understanding.

Leaders can grow in their business knowledge by looking for ways to learn more about the business itself, both internally and perhaps more importantly externally. Strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities can be collected for a strategic gap analysis to learn more about the current posture and future potential of the business. Does your organization hold information sessions for each business area that leaders can attend? Can you join meetings for adjacent teams or divisions? Could you sit down with a finance or contracts leader to learn about their functional area? What are your competitors doing that you are not? Are their lessons to be learned from adjacent industries?

Summary

As the post-pandemic work environment evolves, so do the essential skills for the post-pandemic leader. Effective leadership consists of leadership skills, technical skills, and business knowledge. Leaders who excel at traditional leadership skills can be successful across industries and business areas. Leaders who combine the leadership skills of delegation, strategic planning and execution, communication, championing diversity, and leading remote teams, with technical skills and business knowledge can elevate to the next level, adapt to the changing work architecture, and thrive leading teams and organizations.

** This article is the eighth in a series of twelve addressing common leadership questions. These questions and challenges touch leaders at all levels and transcend industries. The article series provides valuable information and action steps for leaders to take their skills and teams to the next level. Click here to read the full series.

Author’s Note: Special thanks to Sam Palazzolo for his expertise in transforming leaders and businesses and for his generous contribution in co-authoring this article. 

How Leaders Create Organizational Excellence through Critical Thinking

Co-author: Mike Kallet

 The world of business is moving at an unprecedented pace. Technology is transforming faster than ever and organizations are evolving to survive. The most important resource organizations have to advance and outpace the competition is not technology, automation or real estate, it’s the people and more importantly their brainpower. The ability to engage and leverage employee knowledge, innovation and critical thinking is how organizations achieve excellence. Perhaps the least examined of these employee mental abilities is critical thinking. So how can leaders within organizations create an environment where employees can do their best critical thinking? 

 The first step leaders can use to create an environment for critical thinking is to provide clarity. Providing clarity is foundational to critical thinking – clearly defining the situation and ensuring each person is clear and aligned. Clear on the goal, clear on the tactics, clear on the strategy to reach that goal, clear on individual responsibilities, and clear on the why. When people are clear, they are more accountable, more engaged and focused, and have a common purpose. Clarity contributes to higher quality and fewer errors.

To assist in providing clarity, leaders can use two powerful tools, defining the why and understanding the impact. Defining the why can help leaders build buy-in as they create an environment for critical thinking. Why are we creating this product? Why are we discontinuing another? Why are we raising or lowering our price? Why are we re-organizing? Why didn’t I get that raise? Why is the budget allocated this way? The goal is for leaders to explain the reasoning behind why a decision was made in a way that people can understand. It doesn’t mean everyone will agree, but they will understand the context and rationale behind the decision.

Understanding the impact is the second tool leaders can use to provide clarity as they create an environment for critical thinking. Leaders ensure the impacts of decisions are identified and understood, not only the impacts on the business, but also the impacts on employees and their customers. What’s the impact, the value, and the consequence of this plan? How does this decision impact other initiatives? What’s the impact on all of our partners and stakeholders? By understanding the impact, team members are more likely to buy-in and give their full contribution. In creating an environment for critical thinking by providing clarity, defining the why and understanding the impact, leaders open the door for employees to comprehensively examine problems and design unique solutions.

After the environment for critical thinking is created, leaders draw out the best in their team members by becoming thinking coaches. A thinking coach is someone who gets others to think critically. To build a critical thinking organization, employees have to be skilled in the critical thinking process, and thinking coaches can create the roadmap. Thinking coaches don’t provide answers; they ask questions. One of the most common issues senior executives have is, “How do I get my team members to make more decisions themselves?” The answer is often very simple. They don’t make decisions themselves because they don’t have to. They come to you for help, and you tell them what they should do. Instead of providing answers, thinking coaches ask questions to draw out the knowledge within people, so they can answer their own questions. When an issue occurs and an employee passes the problem to the leader, a thinking coach will ask questions. What is the impact of this? How does that impact our customer or schedule? Why is this important? There are two significant benefits of being a thinking coach. First, although you have great ideas, your team members may have better ideas, or they may build off your idea to create something completely new. If you just tell people what to do, then you won’t discover new ideas. Second, as a thinking coach, you’re also teaching others what questions they should ask themselves the next time. With practice, your team members will start asking themselves and others the questions. Soon it will be common to hear them ask the questions of “why” and “what’s the impact”.

As a leader, if you want your team to think critically, you have to go first. Leaders model critical thinking in their day-to-day activities. How do you tackle hard problems? How do you communicate tough issues? How well do you use your subject matter experts? Here are initial steps to help cultivate critical thinking within your organization:

·       Communicate the importance of critical thinking. Perhaps it’s because your customer base is changing or a new competitor has entered the market. Not only do you need to move quicker and more effectively than the competition, but you need to out-think them too.

·       Demonstrate leadership support. The leaders of an organization need to actively sponsor and encourage critical thinking, making it safe to ask why, ask for clarity, and give support when someone calls a time-out because things are unclear.

·       Model humility. Be humble and allow your employees to challenge your thinking. Be open to the possibility that your way may not be the most effective.

·       Provide opportunities to develop critical thinking skills. Critical thinking is a learned skill. Ensure your team has the time and space to learn.

·       Use critical thinking for both tactical and strategic issues. Use critical thinking to improve the organization day-to-day as well long-term.

·       Make critical thinking necessary. Create openings for critical thinking. Ask others to share how they used critical thinking when they communicate their ideas and recommendations.

Critical thinking is a foundational toolset that can be applied to problem solving, decision making, innovation, and leadership. When individuals use critical thinking, their decisions improve, and the organization makes progress towards organizational excellence. To achieve this however, it takes more than leaders acting as thinking coaches, using the skills, talking about critical thinking throughout the organization, training people in the toolset, and encouraging their teams to use critically examine hard problems. To embed critical thinking into the organization, leaders must make it necessary to use the skills and tools by expecting their team members to think critically consistently, highlighting when they do, and identifying missed opportunities.  As leaders and organizations grow in these skills, the benefits can be exponential, the entire organization improves, productivity goes up, quality goes up, and people are more engaged.  

** This article is the seventh in a series of twelve addressing common leadership questions. These questions and challenges touch leaders at all levels and transcend industries. The article series provides valuable information and action steps for leaders to take their skills and teams to the next level. Click here to read the full series.

Author’s Note: Special thanks to Mike Kallet for his expertise in critical thinking and for his generous contribution in co-authoring this article. 

How Leaders Foster Work-Life Harmony

Co-author: Michael Sullivan

What is Work-Life Harmony?

The struggle to balance work and home life is a consistent topic of conversation for employees and leaders. The desire to be present, engaged, and fulfilled in both areas is a vision which often seems impossible to achieve. With the global pandemic, increase in virtual work, and constant state of change we have experienced in the last 16 months, this challenge has intensified. The lines between work life and home life have been blurred by teleworking, remote learning, virtual meetings, and the loss of historical boundaries. Balance feels further out of reach than ever before. So how can we move from unachievable balance to work-life harmony?

Work-life harmony changes the focus from splitting our time equally, or meticulously calculating our hourly allocation, between work and home to fluidly alternating between the two. Work-life harmony is centered on purpose, values, and energy. Focusing on why activities within both your professional and personal lives are important to you. Leveraging your energy to spend time where you are engaged and passionate instead of drained and defeated. Your time allocation changes with the needs of the situation, your energy shifts, and your engagement levels. This may result in an uneven distribution of time across the different components of your life and could vary week to week or even day to day. Maybe one week you put in extra hours at work to get a big project completed, but the next week you take time off to spend with your family. Explore this inequality and self-assess how well your current time distribution is serving you. Does it align with this season of life? When do you need make a change? How could you redirect your time and energy to be more fulfilled and present?

Reflecting on Personal Values and Intentionality in Work and Life

Work-life harmony is rooted in intentionality. Many of us find it easier to be intentional about time spent in our professional lives through structure, meetings, and deadlines. On the other hand, being intentional with time in our personal lives can be more difficult. To increase intentionality in your personal life, you can utilize the same tools you do in your professional life – being present, creating an overarching purpose or vision, and reflecting on your time allocation. You can begin by being fully present wherever you are. If you are spending time with family, engage and connect. If you are working, focus your mental energy on the task at hand. When you are not fully present in the moment, you miss the true value of that time, and your energy and focus are divided, resulting in reduced productivity and effectiveness. How can you be more intentional in both your work and personal life? What helps you stay present?  

In our professional lives, it is common practice to have a mission or vision statement to guide our actions, but it is much less common for us to think and act that way in our personal lives. Just as our work teams can be galvanized by a common vision or purpose, we can live our whole lives with this level of focus and intentionality. We can have a strategic vision for ourselves, in all of our roles, just as a corporation has a strategic vision that exists over all of the various business areas.  Of course, some things in our lives are mentally compartmentalized. For example, taking a child to a doctor appointment is a different type of activity than preparing for a meeting with a corporate board of directors. Although we think of these activities differently, there can be an overarching purpose in how we conduct ourselves. In both situations we can strive to act with kindness, always be curious, and seek to add value. Doing this will allow us to perform in a variety of spaces, wearing a variety of hats, while maintaining a sense of purpose, truth, and authenticity.

To create an overarching purpose or vision, begin by reflecting on your values and determine how they are demonstrated within your life. What are the most important pieces in your life? What are your non-negotiables? Do you prioritize these values and priorities? Then use your values to create a vision that includes all aspects of your life and is based on your broadest priorities and principles, overarching across your career, family, hobbies, etc. This will help you determine how you want to show up and how your overall vision will manifest in your professional and personal lives. What behaviors are universal for you based on your values? How do you aspire to behave across situations? What is your overarching vision?

Being grounded in your values, purpose, and vision will help you be more intentional in your time allocation. Take a moment daily and weekly to reflect on your values, purpose, and energy levels throughout all aspects of your life. Identify tasks and activities that are not aligned with your values and purpose and reduce the time you give to them. In a work context, you may have the ability to delegate tasks that don’t give you energy or move your goals forward to ensure you stay focused on more purposeful initiatives. In a personal context, you may have to decline a dinner with friends, if your goal is to attend night classes for personal development. If your goal is to be more social or to deepen your personal relationships, you may choose the opposite. It is situational and dynamic and different for each person.  Are you living your values and making progress on the things that matter most? Give yourself feedback and adjust. If you need more self-care, time with friends, quality moments with your kids, or focus on a personal goal, how can you get there?  

Creating Harmonious Workplaces

For those in a formal or informal leadership role, one of the most powerful realizations we can make is that we have the opportunity to create workplaces for our team members to live and work more harmoniously. Given the complexity and challenges we face in this modern era and particularly in these challenging times, we are underserved by rigid systems that were designed for simpler times. People across organizations and industries are struggling with these challenges, and the desire for flexibility and grace is widespread.

Work-life harmony is unique to each person. It is not one size fits all and there is not a magic formula for success. What works best for you may not match your boss, partner or teammates and that is okay. As a leader, your harmony and time allocation are perhaps unlike anyone else on your team. Give kindness and trust as you allow your team members to find what works for them, even if that means working in ways that are divergent from yours, including working an alternative schedule, organizing work differently, answering emails on nights and weekends, or not answering emails on nights and weekends.

While we can’t always predict how others are feeling, we can ask questions to learn more. Give people simple, informal opportunities to share their thoughts and feelings about workplace practices and culture. This can assist in gathering data to confirm programs and benefits or push the organization to consider new ideas and initiatives. Additionally, by creating the space for this dialogue, you will build trust and rapport, which are critical to professional relationships.

The Ripple Effect of Work-Life Harmony

Older notions of work-life balance leave us feeling that our time should be evenly split between our careers and the other areas of our lives. In the unique times we live in, this is an unreasonable expectation. Work-life harmony gives us the flexibility to focus more on the high value areas of life and to readjust as those priorities change. To accomplish this, consider the way you manage your time in all areas of your life, not just during working hours. The key is to be present and intentional with your time by understanding your values and goals and regularly reflecting on your performance as a whole person in pursuit of your own personal vision. Leaders have an opportunity to create more harmony in their own lives as well as create more harmonious workplaces where employees can individually architect their own schedules and work processes. Work-life harmony generates energy and effectiveness which benefits both employees and organizations.

Evaluate your harmony in work life and personal life, given the events of the last 16 months. Do you want something different or something more out of life? You may aspire to express your ideas more at work, to bring more of yourself to work, or to make big changes in your career or in your personal life. By living in work-life harmony, you can more fully engage and contribute. How will you intentionally create your own work-life harmony?

** This article is the sixth in a series of twelve addressing common leadership questions. These questions and challenges touch leaders at all levels and transcend industries. The article series provides valuable information and action steps for leaders to take their skills and teams to the next level. Click here to read the full series.

Author’s Note: Special thanks to Michael Sullivan for his analytical perspective and fresh ideas, and for his generous contribution in co-authoring this article. 

DEI and Vulnerability: How Leaders Can Drive Belonging in the Workplace

Co-author: Jennifer Manuel

In the past five years, we have witnessed a shift as business leaders directly address societal issues, recognizing their employees and consumers are conscientious of business and brand stances on societal events. As we approach the one-year mark since George Floyd’s murder and the amplification of voices calling for societal change across multiple dimensions, it’s important to pause and reflect on what progress we have made – both individually and collectively — and how to continue to choose the next right step.

Leaders who have invested in a foundational understanding around Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) concepts for all employees in their organizations have benefited from higher levels of engagement – even in the middle of a global pandemic. These investments have allowed leaders at all levels the opportunity to examine their biases, engage in open dialogue, and learn new ways of working that prioritize inclusion.

Some leaders, however, have not yet initiated these DEI conversations, or may have viewed them as a “one and done” type of activity. Others lost them in the myriad of other priorities competing for their attention. To move from introductory awareness to thoughtful action, the most visible leaders in this space are:

·       Creating a sense of belonging for every employee

·       Shifting to a power sharing mindset

·       Opening up and getting vulnerable about the journey

To shift our focus from baseline DEI awareness to action, leaders must look for ways to foster a sense of belonging for every employee. This often starts with examining our unintended unconscious bias within the organization. Partnering with HR and business teams, leaders are starting to speak up and call for reviews of HR and business policies, procedures, and practices through a DEI lens.

Why is this important? Organizations have traditionally, though often unintentionally, embraced a “melting pot” mindset, which requires assimilation and aims for homogeny. By contrast, organizations that adopt a mosaic mindset create an environment where employees can bring their whole selves to work – including the things that are unique aspects of their personal and professional identity. So, what does it look like after reviewing organizational practices and actively designing a culture where employees can bring their whole selves to work?

·       Employees discontinuing the use of European-sounding names or nicknames in favor of their given names

·       Employees not feeling the need to “codeswitch” to adopt dominant culture speech patterns

·       Employees openly sharing their preferred pronouns with colleagues and customers

·       Employees wearing clothing and hairstyles that reflect their heritage

Adopting this mosaic mindset is a key step for leaders to prioritize inclusion and belonging. Brené Brown, one of the leading researchers in this space, notes: “True belonging doesn’t require you to change who you are; it requires you to BE who you are.” Leaders at organizations around the world are recognizing the role that belonging plays in the workforce. Some have even noted its importance by expanding their DEI nomenclature to DEI-B – Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging. 

Wouldn’t it be nice if leaders could simply add ‘Belonging’ to their list of organizational values to immediately transform their culture? We know, however, that without concerted, focused effort from executive leadership, in-depth diversity reviews, discussion of unconscious biases, and equity assessments and transformation, belonging will not magically appear.

A second step leaders can take to move from awareness to action and create a culture of belonging is to shift from a “power over” to a “power sharing” mindset. As we experience change, we often experience fear. There’s an unnamed fear, often felt by those in a majority group, that a change in the status quo is going to result in a “loss”. This fear can keep leaders from taking action critical to DEI-B advancement. Leaders recognize the need to grow beyond a fear-driven inclination and operate in a world where all employees can find belonging. 

For some, this fear can activate a scarcity mindset – a belief that when systemic advantage is removed and replaced with a more inclusive policy, it results in less opportunity or a loss of something. In dialogue with our clients, we’ve found that unnamed “something” is usually power. It’s an easy mental shortcut to think of power as a finite resource – like a pie. Once we divide up the pie slices, there are only so many to go around, and that means less for me! This view of power is the hallmark of traditional “power over” models, and the end result is that some people are power-full while some are power-less. So how do we overcome this fear? We begin by changing the way we think about power.

When we adopt a framework based on the belief there’s enough power to go around – power as an infinite resource rather than a finite pie – we embrace a new “power to” model. From this space, we can take a step back and recognize that we don’t “lose” anything by centering a voice that’s been traditionally absent from decision-making. It’s simply a more collaborative, relational, and team-oriented approach to power.

In those moments when we inevitably find ourselves pushing back against decisions that promote new ways of thinking, or when we react to changes in how business is done with fear, it’s a great practice to stop. Notice the scarcity mindset at play and ask yourself, “What power model am I working from, and how is it impacting others?”

As leaders shift to a power sharing mindset and work to create a sense of belonging for every employee, the final piece is to open up and get vulnerable about the journey. Leadership vulnerability is often discussed as a key leadership competency, but there are rarely clear examples of what it looks like to be vulnerable. Where is the line? What should I share, and what do I keep personal?

We believe DEI-B conversations present a distinct opportunity for leadership vulnerability. When leaders are vulnerable, they bring these tough conversations into the workplace. Many leaders fear taking a misstep or saying the wrong thing when it comes to DEI-B, so they say nothing and take no action. This unfortunately reinforces a message to all employees that these topics – and the employees who identify with or are affected by them – are not deserving of leaders’ time and attention.

Before diving headfirst into “over-sharing”, consider connecting with a trusted mentor, coach, or DEI-B expert to help you get started, especially if you are unsure where to begin. As with any new skill, it is important to learn as much as possible, model from others, and develop your abilities before you go live. 

Leaders modeling vulnerability have the complex and difficult conversations on DEI-B despite their fear of making a mistake. Throughout this learning process, vulnerable leaders approach these conversations with curiosity, growth, openness, and a true desire to understand. This vulnerability, alongside a willingness to be transparent with your team, is what drives sustainable change and better diversity outcomes in organizations. Leaders who do this effectively let their teams know they are:

·       Committed to advancing conversations on difficult topics

·       Creating space for dialogue, perspective sharing, and conflicting ideas

·       Taking steps to grow personally

·       Dedicated to investing in opportunities to help the team grow too

·       Aware that they’re not going to “get it right every time”

Again, that last point is important – understanding you’re going to make mistakes is an important part of this process. It doesn’t mean, however, that we can let ourselves, or others, off the hook for actionable progress. Think of it this way – when you first learn a new sport, you don’t keep score on your first time out, but as you build your skills the importance of the score becomes relevant. In the DEI-B space, this analogy holds true. As we move from awareness to action, it becomes more important to measure the impact of our efforts.

So where can leaders start? Continue to seek opportunities to build awareness. This is where the magic happens and when your mindset begins to shift. Carve out time for reflection and discussion, and then don’t wait! Take focused, decisive action:

·       Prioritize your growth. Attend trainings and read as much as you can to learn more about DEI-B. Tap into your network. Who do you know who is an expert in this area? Learn from them. Connect with mentors and coaches to assist you in building these skills. It’s important to start here so you have a comprehensive understanding of DEI-B concepts.

·       Create a network of trusted advisors. Start with your trusted circle and build your skills with those who can give you honest feedback and share in your vulnerability. Even with your inner circle, it may be uncomfortable. That’s okay. The only way past the discomfort is through it.

·       Speak up. Ask questions from a place of curiosity to learn more about why things are the way they are in your organization. Have conversations with HR and business leaders around norms, policies, procedures, and their intended outcomes. When things fall short of an intended outcome, ensure a diverse team helps co-create a solution.

·       Commit to one-on-one sessions with each of your team members, specifically focused on DEI-B topics. Be vulnerable and dig below the surface answers. Discover their perspectives and challenges. Then invite them into the growth process.

·       Normalize difficult conversations in these one-on-one conversations and small group discussions with your team. The more you model these topics with openness and evolution, the more others will follow.

·       Promote new ways of working. One leadership team started “Failure Fridays” where they openly shared mistakes and missteps with the group, with the aim of eliminating the shame we often feel when we fail and focusing on the lessons learned for improvement. How could you embrace a growth mindset to turn a misstep into a learning opportunity?

As you reflect on the past year and look to grow in your DEI-B journey, consider how can you apply these concepts within your own organization? How can you reward vulnerability and progress on DEI-B? How can you support your team and organization in moving from awareness to action?

** This article is the fifth in a series of twelve addressing common leadership questions. These questions and challenges touch leaders at all levels and transcend industries. The article series provides valuable information and action steps for leaders to take their skills and teams to the next level. Click here to read the full series.

Author’s Note: Special thanks to Jennifer Manuel for her DEI-B expertise and actionable ideas, and for her generous contribution in co-authoring this article. 

Leading in Paradox

Co-author: Tom Gibbons 

As we navigate all of the changes over the last year, one critical leadership competency surfaces more than ever before – managing paradoxes. It's not that 2020 created these paradoxes, it made them more pronounced and visible. The surfacing of paradoxes prompts us to examine their impact on leaders and organizations.

A paradox can be defined as: a situation, person, or thing that combines contradictory features or qualities. A paradox creates tensions, dilemmas, and polarities of conflicting priorities, competing values, and opposing demands.

It may sound counterproductive for leaders to exhibit contradictory or opposite behaviors. Yet, the ability to balance paradoxes is critical for leaders as organizational leadership is filled with them. Balancing paradoxes starts by eliminating the ‘either or’ thinking and beginning to see the two polarities as connected rather than in conflict. Let’s consider some of the paradoxes leaders face in organizations today.

Strategy

Prior to 2020, it is unlikely any strategic plan focused on the events that defined the last year. But then again, no strategic plans had the events of 2008 or 9/11 in them. In 2020, strategy, defined as the long-term focus and goals of an organization, became nearly irrelevant as companies grappled with the daily realities of business continuity. Strategy took a backseat to day-to-day responsiveness. The paradox here is strategic action vs responsive action. Executive leadership is often defined by strategy and long-term projections, yet when leaders are open to a more emergent and responsive flow of business, they see many new opportunities for success than what a focused, defined future allows. Perhaps even a greater future than a strategy could ever imagine. As a leader, consider your day-to-day opportunities and new possibilities just as significantly as your strategic plan for the future.

Accountability

Leaders are taught to be accountable and drive accountability throughout their organizations. Typically, accountability is achieved by leaders in two ways, through organizational systems, process and procedures and by being in close physical proximity to people. Accountability by power. The events of 2020 showed us that proximity was the key perceived variable; its what leaders had previously relied on to make the system work. As virtual work became a reality, many leaders reacted as if accountability was completely lost and productivity was going to see huge declines. Yet neither happened to any significant extent. People were accountable because they were still committed to the business, their jobs, and their teams. Employees still took accountability for what they were employed to do. Accountability in virtual work is driven by two different things, trust and results. The paradox is accountability by power vs accountability by relationship. How can you leverage organizational systems, process, and policies as well as proximity when necessary, with trust and performance results to achieve accountability and the highest levels of effectiveness?

Life Harmony

One of the oldest professional and leadership challenges is the balance of work life and personal life. Recent events and the exponential rise of virtual work have put new parameters on this challenge. In virtual and remote work, the boundary between work and personal become even more blurred. Leaders drive to increase revenue, efficiently produce products and services, and raise employee satisfaction which is time consuming and requires full dedication of mental and physical energy. At the same time, family obligations, personal commitments and goals, and unique endeavors also ask for investment and commitment. The paradox is work life vs personal life. Instead of deepening the tension and fighting the gray space between the two, grow into the harmony between them. Some days and weeks will pull more to one side and other situations will pull to the opposite. Embrace the inequality and ask yourself if you are satisfied with this time allocation at this period in life. When do things need to shift in the other direction? What needs to change for you to have harmony between the two?

The Business

Leaders are evaluated, promoted, and fired by growing the business. Leaders need to increase profit and decrease expenses, which are often people related. This drive for results can come at the cost of the people doing the work. As a leader, you know how challenging it can be to take care of the business and the people when the two are in direct conflict. The paradox is the business vs the people. By stepping into the paradox instead of choosing one over the other, we can begin to balance both sides. The more successful the business is, the more employees can benefit. The more you support and equip the people, the more they will grow the business. Look for opportunities to connect the two by considering and leveraging both sides. Can you create people programs with direct links and returns to the business? As you grow the business, what additional opportunities does that create for people to cross-train, learn other aspects of the company, or grow new skills? At times, is it possible to take less financial growth to invest in people and future capabilities?

Culture

Leaders strive to create an organizational culture that will engage employees and grow the business. A collection of shared norms, behaviors, values, symbols, and vision for the organization. As leaders cultivate this culture, they will experience diversity of thought, action, and employee characteristics. The paradox is culture alignment vs diversity. It’s a powerful paradox. Yes, leaders can look to align employees around the values of an organization like customer service, innovation, and efficiency while at the same time honoring and intentionally growing diversity in backgrounds, skill sets, and perspectives. While common direction and core principles can bring organizations together, culture fit can no longer be code for homogenous. How can you purposefully seek diversity to elevate culture and intentionally model equity and inclusivity?

Leading Others

Leaders give direction, set a vision, empower their teams, clear obstacles, and provide resources. Some leaders are very comfortable stepping out in front and guiding their teams. Other leaders prefer leading from behind by serving others and helping them grow and succeed. The paradox is leading others vs serving others. Great leaders know both are critical. Both leadership approaches are needed at different times to move teams and organizations forward. As a leader, balance when you need to lead and provide clear direction and when it is more beneficial to serve others and assist them in taking the lead and stepping up.

The challenge of paradox is the pull to pick one side or the other. Leadership is about resisting that pull and finding value in both sides. Define and evaluate the paradoxes you face as a leader. That could include the paradoxes discussed above or other leadership paradoxes such as growing existing products and services vs creating new products and services and diversifying, internal focus on the business vs external focus on stakeholders, self-awareness through reflection vs self-awareness through interaction, direction vs delegation, assertiveness vs humility, speaking vs listening, or success through financial accomplishment vs success through contribution. By engaging both sides, you can tap into the best of both worlds, increase your effectiveness as a leader, and grow your teams and organizations.

** This article is the fourth in a series of twelve addressing common leadership questions. These questions and challenges touch leaders at all levels and transcend industries. The article series provides valuable information and action steps for leaders to take their skills and teams to the next level. Click here to read the full series.

Author’s Note: Special thanks to Tom Gibbons for fearlessly discussing difficult topics and growing leaders through dialogue and exploration. 

Finding and Using Your Voice

Co-author and stories by: Leah Zimmerman.

As people, we have a deep need to contribute. We want to make an impact at home, at work and throughout our lives. To make an impact, it is critical for us to use our voices and be heard. Using our voice is not simply speaking up or sharing our ideas in writing, it’s adding ourselves to the conversation and dynamic. Let’s explore how to find and use our voice, as well as strive to be heard when we share our voice. We have included a few personal examples throughout the article to highlight these ideas.

One day in 5th grade, I noticed the teacher being unusually unkind to my best friend. The teacher was normally kind to all the children in class and my friend was one of the top students. So, something definitely felt wrong. The teacher called her, “Blondie!” and yelled at her. I stayed quiet and did not do anything to intervene, and for that I have carried immense guilt.

The teacher eventually shared that she had pre-arranged the exercise with my friend and her family. She had designed the exercise to launch our study of the Holocaust.

Just a couple of years ago, I saw my teacher for the first time in almost 30 years. She reminded me that I HAD spoken up! Then why did I remember feeling so powerless in that situation? From my conversation with her, I realized that it’s one thing to speak and another to feel your empowered voice. Just because I spoke, didn’t mean I felt heard.

We have all experienced situations when we didn’t have a voice, influence, or the ability to impact. This could range from not speaking up in a meeting, not sharing your experience on a team project, taking a backseat in a conversation, losing opportunities by stepping into the background, not sharing your best self with those around you, or keeping your greatest ideas silent. What is the consequence of not using your voice? What do you lose? What do others lose?

If you don’t use your voice, it is everyone’s loss. The biggest impact is to you. It lowers your engagement and connection to the task and the team. If you don’t fully contribute, it limits your creativity and empowerment. You may even feel despondent, repressed, or empty if you hold back too much. The impact doesn’t stop with you. Without your voice and input, the team and organization miss out too. They don’t have the opportunity to hear your great ideas and build upon them. They lose the unique perspective that only you can offer and therefore the results of the team are lowered. With this much at stake, why is it hard to find your voice? Why are you censoring yourself, holding back, or not truly being heard?

There are many reasons why it can be difficult to use your voice. The explanations behind why this occurs are unique to each of us. Some reasons are rooted in our background, history, and individual experiences. Think about each of these possible explanations and determine if any are underlying causes for you.

• Lack of role models – not regularly seeing others clearly demonstrate the ability and result of using their voice.

• Early experiences – power dynamics at an early age that reinforced adults having power and voice and children seen but not heard.

• School architecture – traditional school structure highlights conformity and detours self-advocating.

• Concern for being labeled – personally, or experienced others, being labeled as “angry”, “opinionated”, “too strong-minded”, or “aggressive” if you spoke up or strongly promoted your ideas.

• Fear of the response – fear that others may not appreciate your ideas or react unfavorably to your comments.

• Rewarded for not using your voice – those around you reinforce and value quiet agreement and minimal diverse perspectives.

Your rationale for not using your voice could be any one of these, a combination of several, or another root cause. What is stopping you? To use your voice and be heard, the first step is to dig into the reasons holding you back and clearly identify what stops you from contributing.

My family respected musicianship and valued how well I could sing in tune. My grandmother was often persnickety about how I sounded. She and others corrected me so often that I unconsciously developed ways of controlling my voice while I sang. Part of me thought it would protect me from hitting the wrong notes. But the tension, control, and lack of confidence actually took me off pitch. I had no idea I was doing it or how to release that tension and control. My fear of criticism for singing off tune created the exact problem I was trying to avoid.

This showed up in regular speaking as well, I was interrupted easily, argued with, and put down in conversation. Although I spoke up when I had something to say, I didn’t feel I could be heard. I developed strategies for speaking that were noncommittal so I couldn’t be challenged or judged. I mumbled and dropped the end of sentences. I talked in running and non-stop paragraphs, all as defense against being interrupted or disagreed with.

Once you have identified the impact of not using your voice and what is holding you back from using your voice, then you can activate some tools and tips to help you use your voice more often. Using your voice takes practice, stepping out of your comfort zone and building new muscles. A first step is often letting go of the old and getting out of your own way. Let go of past bad experiences or negative self-talk. This could include letting go of an old image of yourself as someone who doesn’t fully engage. Then, look for new models who use their voice effectively and are fully heard by others. Also, listen to others first and understanding their perspectives and ideas; by doing so, they will be more willing to listen and hear yours. Build relationships and trust with those around you. Network and socialize your ideas prior to walking into the room. Foster relationships with key stakeholders and enlist support for your ideas, making it easier for you to share in larger groups. Start looking for opportunities to use your voice. Identify low risk openings or begin small and expand from there. Be resilient; keep stretching these new behaviors.

As a young 22-year-old teacher in an New York City first grade classroom, I struggled with classroom management. Parents who saw my potential invited me to a workshop at their acting studio. Since I aspired in theater as well, it sounded fun. I had no idea the change that awaited me.

There I was asked to speak to each of the participants in the audience with the conviction that would get them to respond to me. The facilitator created an open environment and I gave myself the permission to be big, take up space, be loud, expand my voice, and demand conviction. By the end, I was standing on boxes, tall, wide and had everyone in the audience on their chairs. I saw the positive impact I had on others. I couldn’t bring all of that back to the classroom, but it started a transformative process that continues today. I continue to grow my presence, my voice, my convictions, and my ability to impact others.

As we speak up and are heard, what does it look and feel like to use our voice? Using your voice and truly being heard can be high energy or a calm confidence. It could be finding your voice as a leader. What is your leadership style and how will your voice and sharing your ideas be a part of that? Or it could be become influential regardless of your position or title. It’s putting your ideas and perspectives on the table and sharing the unique expertise you have that no one else can contribute. It is allowing yourself to be fully engaged within the conversation rather than on the outside of the conversation. What does wholly using your voice look and feel like to you?

Using my voice is speaking in a way that other people can hear. Being influential, earning trust, and speaking in a positive way even if it risks disagreement or challenge.

Finally, when do you use your voice? There are endless possibilities for you to lean forward and input your words into the discussion. To have to most impact, start with topics you are passionate about or have expertise in. Use your voice when you want things to change, when you want to move the dialog to a new place, if out of the box thinking is needed, when key data is being overlooked, or even when you have a conflicting perspective. Ask yourself, how could each of these situations be different if I was heard? Start where you feel most comfortable and with people you trust, build these skills, and practice. Then push yourself to use your voice even in areas where you don’t feel as comfortable. Keep identifying ways to share your voice and put your ideas forward. The more you speak up and share your thoughts, the easier it will become.

Find moments to use your voice this week. The ripple of your voice could impact well beyond those you share it with. You could impact co-workers, teams, products, outcomes, and decisions by using your voice.

** This article is the third in a series of twelve addressing common leadership questions. These questions and challenges touch leaders at all levels and transcend industries. The article series provides valuable information and action steps for leaders to take their skills and teams to the next level. Click here to read the full series.

Author’s Note: Special thanks to Leah Zimmerman for leading sharing her voice, stories and passion for helping others grow into themselves and for her generous contribution in co-authoring this article.