Horizon Point Consulting

Category: Leadership Development

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 in your own leadership development (or if you’re looking for resources for someone else).

  • Love is an Action Word

    Love is an Action Word

    Ever heard of the saying that “love is an action word?” If that’s true, then how do you “act” like you love someone? With it being Valentine’s Day, you may be thinking of candy, cards & flowers. Imagery of red roses or big pink, heart shaped boxes may be dancing in your mind. This might be the love that you would show a partner or someone that you care deeply about. Love goes beyond our feelings, it is an expression of gratitude for that person. How does it feel to have someone show up for you in this way? Do you feel appreciated and valued? Do you prefer for someone to say that they love you, to spend time with you, to do the dishes, buy you jewelry or give you a great big hug? 

    I’m confident that most of you are familiar with The Five Love Languages by Dr. Gary Chapman. If someone has asked me once they have asked me 1,000 times, have you read the book, have you taken the quiz, what is your love language? Full disclosure: I have never read the book, nor have I taken the quiz. I know it, throw stones at me, gasp! However, this leads me to my point of redemption. Did you know that there are actually Five Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace? I have taken the quiz and everything!

    The Languages of Appreciation are: Acts of Service, Quality Time, Words of Affirmation, Tangible Gifts and Appropriate Physical Touch. My primary language is Words of Affirmation followed by Quality Time. I scored lowest in Tangible Gifts. In the workplace, I need to be affirmed by my employer and to know that I am doing a good job or, conversely, ways that I can be improving. Being relatively new to my position, I like for someone to spend time walking me through a project before turning me loose. If an employer or co-workers speak to me in a way that is not my language of appreciation, then I will have a hard time hearing it.

    I love the way that the Horizon Point Team incorporates appreciation into the everyday work/life balance. Mary Ila does a phenomenal job of speaking words of appreciation and even sending a handwritten note. As a piece of our Illuminate Workshop, we encourage writing gratitude notes each week. Personally, I try to send 3 a week to show the people around me that they matter. Jillian makes time to create videos to show me how to complete projects. Lorrie and Taylor create “space” for me to walk me through work projects via Zoom calls or meeting in person. These are the ways that they show me they appreciate me, and how I feel that appreciation.

    However, there is a difference between appreciation and recognition. Appreciation is about people and recognition is about results. Appreciation is gratitude for who my co-workers are. Gratitude is a mindset or perspective. All of these things tied together create Psychological Safety in the workplace, and it brings me to Horizon Point’s theme for 2023 which is an “Abundance of Space“. Psychological Safety gives people space and frees them to be who they need to be without fear of judgement. It gives others the permission to make mistakes and learn through the process.

    On this Valentine’s Day, I began with saying that Love is an Action Word, and I believe that with my whole heart. If I love others, I appreciate them and give them space to be become who they need to be. In a successful team, appreciation is shown and there is a large degree of Psychological Safety within the organization. Does your workplace show appreciation in your designated language, and is there a safe space to learn and grow? If not, how can you incorporate that into your daily routine?

    Here at Horizon Point, we offer training on The Five Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace and Building a Psychologically Safe Workplace. Click here to learn more:

  • Celebrate Your Accomplishments

    Celebrate Your Accomplishments

    The new year always brings with it conversations of resolutions and setting goals. It’s the chance to look at the year ahead and decide what you want to accomplish in the next twelve months, both personally and professionally. We sit and we write down those goals and we make our checklist. And throughout the year we (hopefully) mark items off that list. But what do you do when you mark an item off that list? 

    At Horizon Point, we celebrate our accomplishments. Each quarter during our team meeting we go around the table and each team member shares a list of ten things we accomplished during the quarter and then picks one that we want to celebrate and how we want to celebrate it. The how is totally up to us and varies from things like a gift card to a local shop or restaurant to a new pair of running shoes to a book we’ve been wanting to read. For me, my latest accomplishment list included graduating from Tulane Law School with my Master’s in Jurisprudence in Labor and Employment Law, a two-year journey that was both long and fast. Part of my celebration included going out to dinner with the team. 

    As you go through 2023, I challenge you to create an accomplishment list. It may include items that are on your goals list and you might find that it includes items that are not on your goals list. Just 8-10 things that you accomplished each quarter, and then pick the one that you want to celebrate and how you want to celebrate it. And these accomplishments can be personal or professional. 

    If you are the leader of a team, try doing this with your team this year. Ask every member of your team to share their accomplishments each quarter. This can be through an accomplishment list like we do at Horizon Point or you can choose your own format. The important thing is to get your employees to take the time to recognize their own accomplishments and to celebrate them. The celebrations don’t have to be something big; it can be a small gesture like a handwritten note congratulating them on their accomplishments for the quarter. 

    How will you celebrate your accomplishments in 2023? 

  • 2022 Book of the Year

    2022 Book of the Year

    “Gratitude became my door to grace.” 

    Alexsys Thompson The Power of a Graceful Leader

    This year at Horizon Point, we launched a training curriculum called Illuminate, seeking to further our mission to innovate the workplace through people practices and bring light to all that we do.  

    The training idea came about from our work seeking to help organizations adapt in a rapidly changing workplace environment and from our personal experiences of trying to do the same. 

    What seemed to resonate the most in all the concepts taught was the practice of gratitude. Each participant was given personalized thank you notes and encouraged to write one note a week for a year in order to express gratitude to people that had an impact on them. 

    We realized there wasn’t enough gratitude going around. That’s why it was so impactful, because there was a scarcity of it instead of an abundance. 

    And with this, we realized that in order for gratitude to go around, we needed to focus on what it means to be a Graceful Leader and hold ourselves and others to Graceful Accountability.  We needed to help people see that they could exist in a place where accountability and expectations can and should coexist with empathy and grace.  

    That the duality of things actually improves upon all things.  As Aleyxs Thompson quotes Richard Rudd in our book of the year, grace is “careful without being fearful, caring without being overbearing, candid without being cruel.” 

    Our book of the year states that “grace is the key to sustained happiness, more fulfilling work, and performance that impacts the world” and that gratitude is the door to accessing this kind of grace. 

    So with this, we decided to present two gifts to you this year in appreciation of your partnership with us.  You’ll find our book of the year- The Power of a Graceful Leader, as well as twelve personalized thank you cards.  We hope you will use the book to fuel your thoughts on leading with grace. Chapter three specifically focuses on how gratitude is the entry point to grace. As we move into 2023, we hope you’ll write one note a month to someone to whom you owe an acknowledgement of your gratitude and how they have impacted you.

    One is the means and one is the end. Our habits form us and shape who we are becoming. We hope that the habit of gratitude will mold and shape us all into graceful leaders. 

    We are incredibly grateful for your partnership with us this year.  Thank you for trusting us to walk alongside you to impact people and workforce practices. Many blessings to you and your family during this joyous season!

  • 3 Ways to Lead with Grace

    3 Ways to Lead with Grace

    We recently selected our next Book of the Year, and while I won’t give away the surprise just yet, I will say that we’re laser focused on grace. We’ve talked a lot this year about Graceful Accountability – the practice of giving grace and expecting high performance – and this week I’d like to share 3 simple ways that we can all lead with grace in our workplaces, in our homes, and in our communities. 

    1. Practice the GREET model. Originally intended for healthcare providers learning the delicacies of bedside manner, we train on the GREET model across industries to anyone who works in customer service…which turns out to be all of us. We all have a customer, be it an internal colleague, an external buyer, or simply someone we want to become (and stay) our friend. So, here’s what we do: 

    • Greet – Don’t underestimate the value of a simple “hello”, “good morning”, or “how are you”. People notice. 
    • Rapport – It’s a cliche that we talk about the weather or sports when making small talk, but sometimes cliches are really important. Building rapport is a way of leading with grace by treating someone like a person first. 
    • Expectations – Clearly state the purpose of the conversation or meeting. When Mary Ila calls me with questions or guidance on a current project, we spend the first minute or two on Greet and Rapport, and then she’ll say, “Well thanks for calling, I don’t think it will take long, I wanted to talk/ask about ______.” 
    • Explanation – Often omitted, explanations bring a lot of value. Explaining the why or providing details helps someone feel informed and part of the discussion. This is also where psychological safety (grace) comes into play. 
    • Thanks – Always, always, always thank someone for their time and input. Even if (especially if) the conversation was difficult or the feedback uncomfortable.

    2.  Be the bridge. Mary Ila wrote a series earlier this year about meeting Survive and Thrive needs in our workplaces, and she talked about relational needs being the bridge between the two. Fueled by insight from Celeste Headlee, Mary Ila talks about communicating with voice, not just with writing. When was the last time you spoke gratitude for someone instead of sending a thank you email? Are we really creating a bridge to help others cross from Survive to Thrive if we’re not talking to them?

    I’m ashamed to admit that right now I cannot remember the last time I spoke gratitude. Of course I say “thank you”, but it’s like a reflex. That’s not gratitude. When it occurs to me to show gratitude, I turn to texts or emails or may even send hand-written postcards and thank you notes by snail mail. I’ve never really liked talking on the phone, and my schedule is too busy to add more get togethers – and this is where I’ve failed in my mission to lead with grace and be the bridge. I’ve put my focus on time and efficiency, not on relationships. I’m working on it, but I have a long way to go. What about you? 

    3.  Set the tone by going first. If you want to help others lead with grace, you have to be the first domino. Be upfront about your own personal work style and preferences, and ask your team to do the same. Leading with grace is about meeting people in the middle, and allowing flexibility for people to be people first. It’s also about showing that you are also a person first, and that you need a little grace sometimes, too. 

    At the end of the day, the old saying that “you get what you give” rings true. If you give grace, others will give it right back when you need it. How are you leading with grace in this holiday season?  

  • Does Scarcity or Abundance Rule You?

    Does Scarcity or Abundance Rule You?

    Of course, it’s Thanksgiving week, so who can neglect to write a post related to thankfulness and gratitude?  At Horizon Point, our thoughts on this stem from a focus we’ve seen emerging this year tied to an abundance instead of a scarcity mindset. 

    As we’ve met with people throughout the year and also examined our own behaviors, clear patterns emerge. You can almost immediately see whether a person, an organization, or a community is coming from a mindset of scarcity or abundance. 

    Scarcity displays a mindset that in order for me to win, someone else has to lose. 

    Abundance is seen in the desire to create win-win situations.  

    Scarcity points the finger and plays the blame game. Abundance is seen in taking ownership of our actions and outcomes. 

    Scarcity places limits. Abundance sees endless possibilities. 

    Scarcity focuses inward, seeking to hoard the credit.  Abundance focuses on outward collaboration because it doesn’t matter who gets the credit. 

    Scarcity says do it my way. Abundance says multiple perspectives and approaches can work. 

    Scarcity focuses on binaries. It’s either right or wrong, good or bad.  Abundance realizes that there is duality and continuums in all of life.  That we can hold fast to things like accountability and expectations while at the same time hold fast to empathy and grace.  It realizes one can’t effectively exist without the other. 

    Scarcity focuses on its own needs and wants. It never gets enough. Abundance focuses on gratitude.

    And out of that gratitude flows what we like to call Graceful Accountability (thanks to Jillian on our team for creating this curriculum this year) and Graceful Leadership. 

    As we approach the holiday season, let us do so with an attitude of abundance and from that abundance let us act and lead with gratitude and grace.