Horizon Point Consulting

Category: Beyond Leadership

Beyond Leadership is Horizon Point’s line of resources for managers of people. Managing ourselves is a distinct set of behaviors from managers the work of others, and we are here to help. Read stories in this category if you are ready to take the next step into people leadership (or if you’re looking for articles to send someone else…).

SPECIAL FEATURE: July Leadership Development Carnival

We are thrilled to be hosting the July Leadership Development Carnival. We participate monthly and find it is always filled with great insight for leaders to read and share.

Communication

Psychological Safety: Pro Tips for Leaders

As a leader, how intentional are you about creating psychological safety for your team? Check out these tips from the experts to help you build rapport and increase communication with your team. — Jennifer Miller (@JenniferVMiller)

The Power of &

Conflict itself is born from a perspective that we must make either-or decisions; that we can’t have more than one option; that two different things cannot co-exist. In these situations, the result is generally less favorable than if the parties explored & solutions. Focusing on & requires a commitment to exploring mutually beneficial results, not necessarily the same results. — Priscilla Archangel (@PrisArchangel)

When is Workplace Gossip a GOOD Thing – and when it isn’t, HOW do you Fix it?

As someone who works in a team or leads a team, you have probably heard that gossip is always negative. It should be avoided at all costs…
Gossip is defined by the Oxford dictionary as “Casual or unconstrained conversation about other people.”
And Dave Ramsey, a welll-known financial expert, has been outspoken about the “No-Gossip” policy for his people at Entreleadership – for them it has been a significant part of defining their culture.
However, there is recent research that has shown gossip can actually have positive effects on team morale, culture, and performance. — Sean Glaze (@leadyourteam)

Two-Way Communication: 4 Tips and Examples for Getting It Right

There are many opportunities for leaders to engage employees in meaningful two-way communication. Mastering it helps build a stronger company culture, among many other benefits. Explore these tips and methods known to be effective. — David Grossman (@ThoughtPartner)

Tips for Overriding the Worst Communication Habit

We often pride ourselves on knowing what people think without fully listening. Overcoming this habit is critical to good communication and creating better relationships. — Marcia Reynolds (@marciareynolds)

Do We Ever Really Resolve Conflicts? Try Conflict Management

Are conflicts resolved or managed? Conflict resolution means that a conflict is solved, settled, or finalized. While managing conflict means that the conflict is mediated, handled, and coped with: in short, there is an agreement to disagree yet move forward together on areas in common. Read on to learn how to manage conflicts to success. — Diana Peterson-More (@DianaPMAuthor)

Creativity/Inspiration

Time to SPARKLE

Each day offers us a chance to make a difference, to shape the future, and to inspire greatness in others. Let us seize this opportunity with passion, purpose, and unwavering dedication. — Brenda Yoho (@BrendaYoho)

Development

Just Because You Can, Doesn’t Mean You Should

Do you do things because it’s in your best interest, because it looks good, or because it’s right? — Frank Sonnenberg (@FSonnenberg)

Work on a nonviolent, compassionate culture

What if your organizational culture was nonviolent and compassionate? You and your performance would thrive. And so would the company. Here’s inspiration from the research. A nonviolent, compassionate culture helps to build a better world. — Marcella Bremer (@MarcellaBremer)

Four Things to Regularly Assess in Your Business

One of the skills an experienced big mountain backcountry skier practices is testing the snowpack for avalanche risk. “I think it looks good,” won’t cut it. We have to pull out the shovel and test the pack to ensure we can venture down in a safe way. Otherwise, we risk life-threatening conditions and danger. “Where’d he go?”

It’s similar when it comes to your business. You can glide along thinking “I think it looks good,” but without regular testing and evaluating of the conditions, you can end up in an avalanche of trouble.— Jon Verbeck (@jonverbeck1)

Being Courageous

Discover the transformative power of courageous leadership. Dive into the essence of courage, embrace vulnerability, and challenge the status quo. Discover practical strategies to inspire others and drive extraordinary results. — Bill Treasurer (@btreasurer)

How to Get Unstuck with Your Career Pivot

In this article, Art Petty provides advice for professionals who are feeling stuck in their current careers and are looking to make a pivot. He offers tips on how to identify your interests and skills, research new career paths, and create a plan for your transition. — Art Petty (@artpetty)

How a Leader’s Well-Meaning Actions Thwart Career Development (Without Even Knowing It)

Leaders often have good intentions when they try to help their employees develop their careers. However, sometimes their well-meaning actions can actually have the opposite effect. This article explores some of the ways that leaders can unwittingly thwart career development, and offers advice on how to avoid these pitfalls. – Julie Winkle Giulioni (@Julie_WG)

Faulty Filters Lead to Empty Funnels: Fundamental Flaws in the Fight for Talent

The truth is that some companies are laying off, some are ramping up hiring and some are doing both. Those that have downsized in the face of economic stress need to “backfill” with qualified internal candidates. Those that are financially healthy or on a growth path, will be looking to “buy” qualified talent from the outside. And recent data suggests that more and more companies are looking to “borrow” qualified talent from the growing independent consultant pool. But whether they are backfilling, buying or borrowing talent, they are all facing the same challenge — finding the most qualified candidates. And how do they do that? My client experiences suggest that they too often use what I call “faulty filters.” — Bev Kaye (@BeverlyLKaye)

Don’t Be a Small-Minded Leader

Leaders who are self-aware and honest about their weaknesses, challenges, and mistakes are less likely to behave in small-minded ways. That’s because they don’t waste time defending their egos and need to be right. — Ken Byler

Job Hunters are Looking for a Values Match

In the post-pandemic world of attracting top candidates, companies are finding that decent salaries and competitive benefits are not enough. Company values are increasingly important to job seekers. — S. Chris Edmonds (@schrisedmonds)

Engagement

The Power of a Customer’s Name: 5 Ways to Use It to Your Advantage

Using a customer’s name is a simple yet powerful way to improve their experience with your business. It’s an effective way to make them feel valued and acknowledged, which can lead to increased loyalty and customer satisfaction.

When a customer hears their name, it creates a sense of familiarity and personalization. It makes them feel like they’re more than just another faceless customer, and that you appreciate their business. By using the power of a customer’s name, you can also build rapport and establish a connection, which can lead to better communication and understanding between the customer and your team. — Steve DiGioia (@stevedigioia)

Should I Quit This Workplace Conflict: How to Know When It’s Time to Leave

One of the heartbreaking findings in the World Workplace Conflict and Collaboration Survey was the number of people who said if they were faced with this workplace conflict again, they would quit, or quit sooner. Here are a few powerful questions to help you decide. — Karin Hurt & David Dye (@letsgrowleaders)

The Mental Health Connection

Thank goodness it didn’t take long for me to shift my perspective and see the way that my Horizon Point Team members valued connection as much as I did. According to Gallup analysis, “it finds that engagement has 3.8x as much influence on employee stress as work location.” — Emily Addison (@emaaddisonhpc)

Ethics and Policy

The Gender Wealth Gap: The Pay Gap Reframed

Leaders seeking greater equity in the workplace need to understand the broader implications of the pay gap for women and under-represented leaders more broadly. Unequal pay leads to more than short term disadvantage for the employee and their family, but a lifelong financial deficit, which can become a generational burden. — Dana Theus (@DanaTheus)

Leader Evaluation

How Do You Measure Your Worth as a Leader?

It’s much easier to measure the effectiveness of leaders by looking at their quantifiable deliverables—monthly sales targets, net promoter scores, business objectives met, on-time deadlines, projects completed. While those are all critical, truly exceptional leaders also perform at high levels with skills that aren’t directly tied to tangible outcomes. This article covers some additional measuring sticks for evaluating your true impact and worthiness as a leader. — Sara Canaday (@saracanaday)

Leadership

Four Reasons Why Flexing Your Leadership Style Builds Trust

Most managers are one-trick ponies, meaning they default to using a single leadership style in all situations. Randy Conley shares how flexing your leadership style to match the situation builds trust and positive relationships with your people. — Randy Conley (@RandyConley)

Problem Solving

Socratic Oath

Critical thinking starts with questions and examining assumptions. — Wally Bock (@WallyBock)

Productivity

The beauty of going slow to go fast – and how to do it

Lisa Kohn of Thoughtful Leaders Blog presents The beauty of going slow to go fast – and how to do it where she shares that while it may seem counterintuitive to slow down and take pauses when your to do list seems to have a mind of its own and overwhelm is a constant state, it’s often exactly what we need. It’s not always an easy shift. But it is possible. — Lisa Kohn (@ThoughtfulLdrs)

Thanks for joining us for this month’s Leadership Development Carnival. We hope that you enjoyed it!

July 11, 2023
How to conduct an effective one-on-one meeting
I’ve been experimenting with the Ink and Volt One On One Pad to help me organize my thoughts. I organize around these 4 four pillars:
- Current work
- Future work (business development and proposals out)
- Short and long term development priorities for the person I’m meeting with
- Personal needs/support
I use our Insightly software to refresh my memory on what everyone has going on with the first two (the software calls these “Projects” and “Opportunities”) before the meeting. I record these things on the Ink and Volt pad. I also take a look at each person’s task list in Insightly before the meeting. Doing this always makes me keenly aware of how on top of it everyone on our team is. They are always juggling multiple priorities to meet multiple current and future client needs by living two of our other values- Passion and Productivity.

Usually, the person I’m meeting with that is driving hits all of these pillars without me having to. If they don’t, I circle back around to things I have on my list once they are finished with theirs. Sometimes the meetings are more focused on one of these things more than the others, but I always try to hit all of them. Some people gravitate towards needing to talk about one pillar over another and it is my job as a leader to make sure I follow their lead on the needs they have.
1. One-on-ones should lead to a greater team dynamic. We used to spend way too much time in our whole team quarterly planning meetings talking through current projects. Invariably, one or two team members were focused on the project but the others weren’t. We were wasting other people’s time talking through every project and every proposal as a team. While it’s valuable for everyone to understand each other’s work load, spending thirty minutes of a half-day team meeting on one project in which only part of your team is involved is a waste of time and effort. Therefore, we have made sure that when a quarterly meeting is coming up, we have one-on-ones the week before if possible. Needs that involve the whole team come up during the one-on-ones and then can be discussed at the whole team meeting where collaboration needs to take place.
1. Finally, one-on-ones should focus on open feedback and communication. If tough issues aren’t coming up from time to time (both personal and professional) in these meetings, then something isn’t being done right. One-on-ones should be a place where psychological safety is being demonstrated- both ways. If all conversations in one-on-ones are surface level and tactical, then no one is growing.
We also spend one or two one-on-one meetings a year facilitating our Leaders as Career Agents process which dives deeper into development priorities, and at times, we schedule a longer meeting if we need to take a deep dive into a specific project, proposal, or issue.

How do you make your one-on-one meetings the best they can be?
June 27, 2023
6 Tips to Help You Unplug for Your Vacation
With 4^th of July being the unspoken week of summer vacations, it’s time to consider- does anyone every really truly go on vacation now days? By a true vacation I mean no work is done. None. No emails, no voicemails, no finishing up a project, starting a project or even thinking (and therefore procrastinating) on a project.

In a world of constant connectedness, I’d venture to guess most people don’t actually unplug completely from their work. According this article, more than half of Americans plan to work while on vacation.

But if you are headed on vacation or on vacation now (wait, does reading this count post as “working”?) here are some tips for unplugging while on there:
1. Get your stuff done before you leave. Practice productivity before going which will eliminate the need to work while away.
2. Schedule time when you get back to catch-up. Block your calendar for a day or two after you return with no meetings or scheduled activities to eliminate the pressure of having to get through 987 emails when you return with no time to do it. Post-vacation laundry can be a beast. Don’t forget to schedule time to catch up on the household items that need to be attended to as well after returning from vacation.
3. Eliminate the temptation to check in with work. Don’t take your computer with you, go where there is no internet connection (is there such a place now?) and if you have a phone dedicated just to work, leave it at home.
4. Set clear expectations with colleagues/clients before departing. Tell them how long you’ll be away and establish that you will not be checking in via email, phone or text. Ask that they respect your vacation time and reciprocate by respecting theirs. Set up automated out of the office responses with a date of when you will be able to get back in touch. Date it at least one day after you return.
5. Take for pleasure reading with you and schedule for pleasure activities. Take that novel you’ve been dying to read (or movie you’ve been waiting to watch) or that cooking magazine you’ve been trying to look at for the past three months and haven’t ever gotten to. Book the massage you’ve been wanting. By taking time for pleasure reading and scheduling for pleasure activities, you’ll eliminate the desire to turn to business reading and/or checking emails. You simply won’t have the time or desire to do it when you are enjoying something else.
6. Realize that vacations are more often than not a time connect and build relationships with those closest to you. Most of us don’t take our vacations solo. If you are venturing out on a vacation this week, more than likely family member(s) or close friend(s) will be with you. Vacations are a time to rejuvenate as individuals, but also a time to rejuvenate the relationships that mean the most to us but may have been neglected somewhat by competing work demands. You’re on vacation, so don’t let work get in the way of relationships (you shouldn’t ever let this happen, but that that’s a topic for another day). Don’t let your spouse or your kids define the time away by the number of hours mom or dad spent checking email.
How are you unplugging on your vacation? Tell us how you do it and we’ll reward you with a $50 Starbucks gift card to help you unplug (or replug) more! We’ll pick a winner on Tuesday, July 8th.

Some of the ways I’ll be unplugging while taking a little 4^th of July sabbatical:
May 30, 2023
What’s Relationshipping, and How Do I Do It?
Networking establishes connection. Relationshipping builds bridges and two-way streets with sidewalks and wildflowers! When we relationship (yes, we’re using it as a verb), we have a sense of belonging. Belonging feeds engagement, creativity, and passion, which generate business success and real community impact. Come relationship with us!

I recently had the great pleasure to speak at the NAVIGATE Nonprofit Network Conference as part of the Building Effective Teams track with Leadership Greater Huntsville. NAVIGATE is focused on equipping nonprofit leaders with the unique KSAs needed to operate on a lean budget, raise funds for continued operations, and provide services with a real impact. At the center of everything they do: RELATIONSHIPS.

As usual, I researched what others in the world are saying about Relationshipping. Here’s what Cornerstone Coworking had to say:

“When you can speak highly of a person or a business because you have a relationship with them, I feel like that is valued so much more than just passing along a business card because you stuck it in your purse.

Next time you find yourself stuck in a networking event, find the one person that is just standing out to you and start a conversation; not strictly focused on work, but about their life, their journey and what the future holds for them, personally and professionally. I guarantee, you’ll begin to build a relationship with someone and might be excited about what it turns into; might even be your next business partner!”

With further supporting evidence, Meridian Resources says:

“The term networking is overused, old, and tired. It is so 1990s.

We have the illusion of connection, but perhaps we have lost something very important in the activity – the art of building and nurturing true and lasting relationships, which has a significant impact on our personal and professional well-being.

Do we find that it is more efficient to send a text than to make a call? Do we find it easier to send a quick email rather than to write a letter? Do we prefer communicating through technology within the safe cocoon of our office rather than personal conversations in the hallway? When we venture out, do we actively take the time to meet others and, more importantly, get to know them?”

When I was a grad student, our career services director put us through a series of professional development courses at which we rolled our eyes…until we realized how relevant and meaningful his wisdom was. He introduced to us the term “relationshipping” as an alternative to traditional networking. In other words, shifting the mindset from swapping business cards to building and nurturing connections with a purposeful intent of understanding and serving others and the greater good. So…how do we do it? Meridian Resources outlines 6 steps:
1. Change Your Intent
  
  Build new relationships when you don’t “need” them. Instead of thinking WHAT can this person do for me, think WHO is this person and how can we support each other.
2. Be People First
  
  People First is Horizon Point’s single most important operating value. Others use it, too. Angie Tinnell says, “People are fascinating with incredibly interesting stories to share. Stop parachuting into conversations and holding every minute hostage with all the things you’re passionate about. Instead, start getting excited about all the things the person across from you is passionate about.”
3. Communicate Differently
  
  Pick up the phone and have a conversation. Write someone a handwritten thank you note. Take every opportunity to be around other people, whether it is enjoying coffee, lunch, or attending a business conference.Then, check in on people. In our hyper-active social world, the intentional “wanted to see how you are doing” message with no favor to ask at the end, can go a long way to building a strong relationship.
  For a refresher on Communication Skills, read our blog about the GREET Model!
4. Serve Others
  
  Get out of yourself by putting others first.
  Instead of seeking people that can help you, look for people you can help. Not only another person, but extend yourself within the community.
  
  Be a connector.
  Think of two people in your life right now who don’t know each other, but would benefit from connecting with the other.
5. Be Humble
  Humility is defined as doing for others without seeking attention by taking credit for your actions. This is the most essential element of relationshipping. A good dose of humility makes us approachable and receptive to others’ opinions, views, and support.
6. Express Gratitude
  Acknowledge and sincerely thank those that help you along your journey. Sometimes the smallest action can make a tremendous difference in the future.
At the end of the day, our entire lives are about relationships. Family, friends, partners, colleagues, suppliers, providers, we could not make it without them. How can you get better at Relationshipping?
May 16, 2023
Caring About Someone You Can’t See-Empathy in Leadership
A couple of weeks back a friend of mine posted an article from Forbes. It was titled Empathy Is The Most Important Leadership Skill According to Research. The first thought that came to mind was am I empathetic? What is the exact definition? In my quest for knowledge on the topic, I loved what Brene Brown shares in her book Atlas of The Heart, “We need to dispel the myth that empathy is ‘walking in someone else’s shoes. ‘ Rather than walking in your shoes, I need to learn how to listen to the story you tell about what it’s like in your shoes and believe you even when it doesn’t match my experiences.”

A beautiful example of empathy in leadership is the glue that holds Horizon Point together, Mary Ila. My son was hospitalized a few months back dealing with behavioral challenges. As a first-time parent, no one quite prepares you for checking your 5-year-old in for a psychiatric stay. Much less having to check in through your local ER and trying to entertain them for 3 days while a bed opens up (some parents wait weeks). To say I was overwhelmed was an understatement. However, when it came to my job, it was the last thing that I was concerned about. Mary Ila told me not to worry about a thing and that our team would handle it. She even scheduled time to sit with my child for a few hours on her busy Monday morning. I politely declined her first offer, and she insisted that I go take a shower or anything else that I might need to do.

All in all, that experience makes me want to work that much harder for a company that goes above and beyond for its employees. You see, Mary Ila put herself in my position and treated me as a human being rather than a human doing. I felt safe and cared for, and won’t forget to pass that kindness along to the next person walking through their season of suffering.

Great, you might say, but what does that look like in a result—driven work environment? Do I need another degree these days to be a mental health professional in order to run a business? How does that help our bottom line? Empathy leads to trust, which leads to better performance, retention, and recruitment. All that is required is the extra effort to listen and understand.

So, what if I’m not naturally empathetic? Can I learn it? In fact, you can. One of the best ways to learn is empathy is to have the ability to express it. Your emotional vocabulary list helps with this https://karlamclaren.com/emotional-vocabulary-page/. Want more? Try this exercise from Psychology Today to brush up on your skills:
1. Think about your significant other or a friend, family member, or coworker.
2. What has their mood been like recently?
3. What’s going on in this person’s life that might be making them happy or sad, anxious, or angry?
4. How are you contributing?
5. What could you do or say to improve this person’s situation?
Empathy could very well be one of the necessary ingredients missing from the secret sauce to your overall workplace well-being.

Read more at The Point Blog:

https://horizonpointconsulting.com/blog3/item/show-compassion-save-your-empathy/

https://horizonpointconsulting.com/blog3/item/leading-through-expectations-and-empathy/

https://horizonpointconsulting.com/blog3/item/3-questions-for-balancing-empathy-and-expectations-as-a-leader/
May 2, 2023