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  • SPECIAL FEATURE: July Leadership Development Carnival

    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!

  • How to conduct an effective one-on-one meeting

    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? 

  • The Mental Health “Connection”

    The Mental Health “Connection”

    Recently, I traveled to North Carolina for our annual family vacation. On Sunday, we attended First Baptist Church of Bryson City. The guest Pastor brought the house down on that rainy day with a message on love and acceptance. He described the ways in which we used to value connection with one another through meal time and went on to emphasize how important social connection is for our mental health. If you feel connected and cared for, he argued, then love has the ability to heal. 

    That’s wonderful to hear about in Church, but how does that translate to the mental health of an organization or, more specifically, remote workers?  As a person who has experienced the struggle with mental health, I can testify that just today as I sit here from the comfort of my home writing this Blog I’ve had some anxious thoughts and feelings come up. The people that I love are gone for the day and while the silence is useful for my concentration, it can also be deafening and lonely. You see, I need that connection for inspiration and motivation.

    There are many benefits to hybrid work. Forbes said it best “Hybrid creates flexibility in our lives and workplace, which contributes to employee satisfaction and productivity. Making it easier for them to balance their work and personal lives can result in less stress and burnout. Hybrid work allows people to work in a comfortable and familiar environment, which can promote feelings of safety and well-being.”

    However, what goes up must come down, and there are pitfalls to this setup as well. When I began working from home in September, it was an adjustment. Coming from a traditional 9-5 work schedule, the idea of flexibility challenged my thinking. For a few days, I longed to catch up my with my co-workers and to hear the latest news when I walked through the door. You see, I wasn’t missing the stress or rigidity of the job, I was missing the connection with others. It is good for the body, mind and spirit.

    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. How people feel about their job has a lot more to do with their relationship with their team and manager than being remote or being on-site.”  

    How can your organization create space for mental health or connection in the workday or week while working remotely? Horizon Point uses various touchpoints throughout our weeks and months. Mary Ila and I meet once a week either in person, by phone or virtually to talk through what she needs me to handle. We also have a Monthly Mingle to brainstorm new ideas, discuss plans for the future and to share a meal. Quarterly Planning is a longer meeting where we, for lack of a better term, plan for the quarter. There are also One-on-Ones during the month when we meet with Mary Ila to have meaningful conversation about what’s happening and what we would like to see happening in our careers.

    What I initially thought could be a challenge has proved to be a learning opportunity. The traditional way of working doesn’t have to be my future, and I can still connect with my co-workers in various ways and environments. There are new tools that I have in my toolkit to connect with others, and when I’m feeling a little lonely, there are certainly other ways to find inspiration and engagement rather than in an office setting. 

    At Horizon Point, we value work-life integration, and it turns out that my stress level is much lower. Even on days like today when I have some anxiety, a nice walk or phone call with a co-worker or friend decreases that feeling. I am much more comfortable than I would be experiencing those feelings in an office setting. Therefore, my overall mental health is much more in balance. 

    Does your organization support your mental health? At Horizon Point, I feel connected and cared for, which translates to love and healing.

    To read more about connection and working remotely, browse through these topics at The Point Blog:

    What’s Relationshipping, and How Do I Do It?

    Building the Bridge Between Survive and Thrive in the Workplace

    4 Ways Leaders Can Keep Remote Work Pros from Becoming Cons

    Benefits of Remote Work for Employees

  • 6 Tips to Help You Unplug for Your Vacation

    6 Tips to Help You Unplug for Your Vacation

    With 4th 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 4th of July sabbatical:

    unplug picture

  • 4 Workplace Innovations on Repeat

    4 Workplace Innovations on Repeat

    Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to serve on a panel discussing workforce and skills challenges created by the automotive industry’s shift to electric vehicles (EVs).  

    I’m no expert on EVs.  I’m no expert on cars. 

    But I drive one. And it broke down at the end of last week. 

    I got off the interstate from a work trip, headed into my hometown on a highway connecting the interstate to my neighborhood.  When I went to accelerate on the highway, the RPMs jumped way up, and it did not want to shift gears for me to accelerate effectively. Luckily, I got home going about 10 miles per hour, not trying to force the car to shift into second gear. 

    We had it towed to the dealership where I was told that the issue was “probably the transmission.”  I was then told it would take two weeks to get a technician to diagnose it. Then, if it was the transmission, it would be about two months before they could get to it.  

    I took a deep breath (I’m in my car A LOT, I’m not quite sure how to go without a car for a day, much less two months) and asked, “So is the challenge you all are dealing with because you don’t have enough labor?”

    He breathed a sigh of relief- I think he was afraid I was going to bless him out- and proceeded to tell me in great detail about all the labor challenges they have. Namely, that they had the only transmission guy in our county and that it takes two to three years to train someone effectively to fix transmissions.  He also told me there were 40 cars in front of mine if it was, in fact, the transmission that needed to be replaced. 

    We have a workforce shortage with the current labor skills needed to make and fix cars.  If we can’t handle the current challenges, how can we expect to handle future ones?  The good news is EVs don’t have multi drive transmissions, I have learned :).  Do we have people trained to work or gearboxes (my understanding of what replaces a transmission)?  I doubt it. 

    This is not just a phenomenon in the automotive industry, it is in almost all of them. As we innovate products, services, and technology exponentially, we’ve also got to continuously innovate our workplaces through people practices.  And, unfortunately, we are lagging behind here, thinking that what worked yesterday will work today.  It won’t. The labor force is telling this loud and clear. 

    We also need to capitalize on the opportunities brought about by innovation that can help us rethink the workplace and how work gets done and in what types of cultures it can succeed. 

    I think we could all take a good look back at the automotive industry and how Henry Food transformed it approximately 100 years ago to help pose us well for the next 100 years:  

    1. Early Exposure Matters: Henry Ford showed that early exposure to a variety of skills and work opportunities need to be widespread and that skills in one industry are readily transferable to another.  For example, Ford grew up on a farm. He taught himself to fix watches and this helped him learn basic mechanical skills. These skills, no doubt, helped him in creating “horseless carriages.”
    2. Learning by Trial and Error: This tinkering also shows that Ford learned by trial and error.  By doing. Failing. Trying again, and again, until it worked. 

    We need to be applying these truths in our homes and schools.  Exposing kids at an early age to a variety of domains and subjects and ways of thinking and giving them tools to “tinker” with is necessary for them to learn by trial and error.  I would also postulate that time to be “bored” fosters this tinkering too.  When kids are over scheduled, they don’t “play” and therefore they don’t “tinker.”  

    1. Compensation Matters:  Ford’s company was plagued by very high turnover rates.  According to The Henry Ford Foundation, “Turnover was so high that the company had to hire 53,000 people a year to keep 14,000 jobs filled. Henry responded with his boldest innovation ever—in January 1914 he virtually doubled wages to $5 per day.”   Ford realized that he needed to pay people a premium for the repetitive work they were doing, and that doing this would help lower costs, not raise them.  He also was very clear that the people he employed needed to be able to afford what they were producing.
    2. People don’t want to work all day, every day. They are more productive when they don’t.  Ford is largely credited with the creation of the 40-hour workweek (although union pressure may have led him there). He changed the workweek from six days to five without changing compensation. We are now in a world largely talking about the value gains in a four-day workweek. As innovations increase productivity, should people be able to take advantage of these gains to work less with the same pay? Or should we at least provide people with autonomy to decide how to do the work in order to produce the results that are needed?  I think these are discussions of merit. 

    Innovating is not just about creating something from scratch.  It also includes recycling the old to create the new. 

    How will you innovate your workplace through old lessons learned? 

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