Is your holiday season a time of celebration? Of bustling end-of-year stress to meet business goals? A time of nostalgia and reflecting on what you appreciate most? Of remembering the traditions, stories, and people you have come before you? A time to connect with friends and family? Or, as it is for some, perhaps a time of feeling low and lost? The holidays are all these and more—and within these varied experiences, the holidays are also a guide to navigating change.

7 Lessons from the Holidays to Help with Navigating Change

1. Harness the Power of Tradition

Lighting candles, sharing meals, giving gifts, hanging stockings, spinning dreidels, fireworks, lanterns, prayers, markets, pageants, poppers, deep cleaning, ritual bathing, putting out shoes, and prayer. These are just a few ways people use rituals and traditions during the holidays.

Tradition and ritual play a powerful role in human experience. These moments call us back to our values and what matters most. When you’re navigating change, traditions can help your team maintain their connection with one another and their values.

These don’t have to be big or expensive. My (David’s) team would celebrate the start of a new year with a small gift of a nice pen that was a symbol of what we would create together. People would cherish those pens, not for the resale value, but for what they represented.

When I (Karin) was at Verizon, I would bring my team to my home for a fancy dinner that I cooked and then sometimes we would do something fun after (like go to a show). A few times I enough leadership books for everyone, wrapped them, and then each person could pick a new one or “steal” one from someone else and they explained why that book was interesting to them. Then people swapped them around throughout the year and we chatted about them in our meetings. More than a decade later people still talk about those times at my home.

What traditions can you establish with your team to build connection and reinforce what matters most?

2. Evolve Your Traditions

As important and meaningful as traditions can be, you can also get stuck and stressed out trying to maintain a practice that no longer makes sense. (There’s no point serving a traditional holiday roast to a family of vegetarians and pescatarians.)

An important part of navigating change is periodically looking at your routine practices and asking if they still serve their purpose.

(Our Own the U.G.L.Y. questions are a great way to engage your team in this conversation and learn what you can set aside as you move into the future.)

3. Welcome Everyone’s Ideas

Holidays are special (and sometimes stressful) because everyone has different ways to celebrate. When you’re a team leader, listening to everyone’s ideas makes your team stronger. Just as holidays worldwide celebrate a tapestry of traditions, diverse perspectives, experiences, and voices make your team more resilient as you navigate change.

Embrace the varied cultural practices that enrich the season; similarly, leverage the diverse viewpoints within your organization. By fostering open dialogue and valuing different perspectives, you’re not just encouraging innovation, but you’re also actively adapting to change.

4. Tap into the Power of Stories

What’s your favorite holiday story? Is it a story of redemption and overcoming our worst nature? Generosity, love, and true wealth? The return of light after darkness? Divine intervention? Perhaps a picked-upon reindeer finding his way?

Holidays inevitably include the telling of stories because these tales pass on important lessons and history. As a leader, you can use stories to inspire your team, connect activities to purpose, reinforce values, and help your team make sense of the change they are experiencing.

5. Reflect and Look Ahead

The end-of-year holidays often prompt reflection on the past and setting intentions for the future. This reflective practice is invaluable for you as you lead your team through change.

Take time together to reflect on what has worked, learn from your experiences, and set clear goals. Engaging your team in this reflection process helps get everyone aligned—both for lessons learned and future goals.

6. Celebrate and Appreciate

Ideally, the holidays give us a moment to pause and appreciate one another, whether through shared celebration or giving gifts.

That spirit of celebration and appreciation is vital as you’re navigating change. What is going well? What milestones have you achieved? What effort can you celebrate—even if you haven’t reached the finish line?

Pausing to acknowledge what people have accomplished and the work they’ve put in will help energize your team to keep going.

When was the last time you truly stopped, looked at your team and offered them a deep, sincere, thank you for their work?

7. Cultivate Hope

Particularly in the northern hemisphere, the end-of-year holidays are about hope. Hope for peace, hope for a new year, hope for renewal, the promise that despite the current darkness, light will return.

As a leader, you are in the hope business. Hope is at the core of your work.

Leadership is the belief that if we work together, we can have a better tomorrow. Together we can do more, be more, and add more value to the world.

That’s a big deal. It might be the biggest deal of all.

And some of the time, your team will be stressed and discouraged. Your job is to help them find the hope.

Without hope, you’re done. When your team has hope, they have a chance.

Happy Holidays

Holidays are such a vital part of what it means to be human. On your journey to be a more human-centered leader who excels at navigating change, these principles of tradition, evolution, inclusion, storytelling, reflection, planning, celebration, and hope are as human as you can get. We hope you find inspiration in them for the year ahead.

Happy Holidays and all the best from the entire Let’s Grow Leaders team!

The post Navigating Change: How the Holidays Can Help You Be a Better Leader appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

When it comes to building a network of strategic advisors, it’s natural to look to people with more position power, access, and influence as your primary go-to’s. Yes, you want a productive relationship with your boss, a mentor who will challenge you, and—if you’re really lucky—a genuine sponsor opening doors. But don’t overlook the importance of a network of strong peer relationships.

4 Vital Peer Relationships To Nurture

• • An Encourager
  • A Challenger
  • An Advocate
  • A Technical Advisor

  

  Whenever anyone asks me what leadership lessons I wished I’d learned sooner, I always have the same response.

  “I wish I’d invested in deeper and more meaningful peer relationships way sooner than I did.”

  This goes beyond, “having a best friend at work,” (which according to Gallup only 30% of us have— which is too bad— since those who do are more engaged and productive).

  I’m talking about having a deep network of strategic advisors to help you win.

  It’s natural to focus on building a great relationship with your manager. And of course, as a human-centered leader, you focus on connecting with and developing your team.

  But a deliberate investment in go-to coworker relationships matters just as much (or even more).

  And the good news is that, unlike your manager, who is who they are (and may or may not be able to give you all the support you need), you likely have a number of peers to choose from.

  So, you can gather your go-to peer relationships based on what they do best. And you can leverage what you do best to help them.

  Here are four key peer relationship players to get you started. What would you add?

  1. An Encourager

  This is the peer you can trust to pick you up when you’re feeling down. You can vent about setbacks and they’ll remind you how wonderful you are.

  They’re your “You’ve got this” go-to.

  If you’re not getting the appreciation or recognition you crave, your encourager can help you feel seen for who you are, what you’re contributing, and remind you of how important all that is.

  Your encourager will shut the door and let you be a bit vulnerable, so you can face your team (or boss … or that mean dude in the other department) with confidence.

  2. A Challenger

  When it comes to peer relationships, your challenger plays quite a different role from your encourager. While your encourager reminds you of how smart you are, your challenger asks tough and courageous questions that really make you think.

  “Are you sure that’s the best approach?”

  “Have you considered what would happen if you just stopped doing that?”

  “What did you learn from that mistake?”

  When you ask your challenger how you could have presented that I.D.E.A. more effectively, you can count on her to tell you the truth.

  3. An Advocate

  An executive sponsor is great, but let’s face it, they’re not always around. And you don’t want to be consistently running to them asking for their help. Having an advocate or two in your peer relationships network can really make a difference.

  Advocates serve a variety of roles, from bolstering your reputation, “You know who’s the best at this?” to bringing up your name for special projects or opportunities.

  Of course, if you want folks to advocate for you, the best approach is to be a staunch advocate for others.

  4. A Technical Advisor

  Even if you’re the best at what you do, it’s always good to build peer relationships with someone who is even better at the technical aspects of your role.

  They’re up on the latest industry trends. Or perhaps they’ve got tons more experience, or they’re fresh out of school with a different perspective. Maybe they’re just wicked smart.

  Your technical advisor might not be the best encourager, or may even be a bit rough around the edges, but they’ll help you to get it right.

  How to Build These Important Coworker Relationships

  Of course, building genuine peer relationships starts with generosity. Need a technical advisor? Start by considering what you may offer them. Maybe you can be an encourager or an advocate for them before you seek out their technical expertise.

  Back in my Verizon days, one of my favorite peers, Dan, and I were always advocating for one another—but for completely different things. He was my technical expert— he knew everything about the network and call center operations. And I was his HR and team development sounding board. AND, we were constantly bringing up one another’s names when we saw opportunities that were a great fit.

  Highly reciprocal. But not forced. And heck yeah, if Gallup had asked, I would have said I had a best friend at work. And yes, we were both highly productive and engaged.

  Things to Learn about Your Trusted Coworkers

  Of course, relationships like this need to evolve, but a bit of deliberate conversation can help. Here are few things to work to know about the people with whom you’re working on investing in deeper peer relationships.

  • What’s their MIT (Most Important Thing) that they’re working on (and why is that so important)?
  • Who is important to them in their lives (significant others, friends, pets)?
  • What’s challenging them or frustrating them?
  • How do they like to communicate?
  • What do they need from you (how can you best help)?
  • How can they best help you? (And have you asked for it?)

  Your turn. I’d love to hear your stories of great peer relationships. How did you help one another?

  

The post How to Build a Better Network of Peer Relationships appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

Fiercely Loyal

06:17 Ask yourself the question, “Is what I’m doing in alignment with my soul so that we’re not sacrificing our humanity along the way?”

10:03  Part of the problem in leadership is we don’t give ourselves a chance to emotionally mature because we want to be right. Emotional maturity in our leadership is responsibility. It’s taking responsibility for ourselves, for our own development, for our growth, for where we are today.

18:41  How to find humanity in one another (and ourselves.) How to engage the soul of the people in your workplace.

21:41  An important aspect of leadership: listening with curiosity.

30:5   How to generate retention and build fiercely loyal team members.

33:45 What does courage look like? Courage is that leaders must go first. For instance, you can’t wait for others to be vulnerable. You have to lead that way.

38:24  Whatever values we’re trying to build in the world, organizationally, are we taking responsibility for the expression of those ourselves and then in our teams?

45:34  How do I help my team connect with the contribution that we are helping people to find that energy and connection?

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The post Fiercely Loyal with Dov Baron appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

Does your team get derailed by miscommunication, hurt feelings, customer service challenges, or another department’s dropped balls? These common relationship breakdowns don’t surprise effective leaders. On the contrary–smart leaders know it’s not a matter of if they’ll happen, but when. You can prepare and make your team work better together by planning for these breakdowns and turning them into opportunities for growth and connection.

4 Ways to Make a Team Work Better Together by Planning for Breakdowns

1. Know Where Breakdowns Will Happen
2. Plan for and Train Recovery
3. Model Recovery
4. Celebrate Successful Recovery

Planned Failure

Have you ever seen a light pole or a stop sign after a car runs into it? You almost never see it partially broken, bent, or mangled. There’s usually a clean break and the sign or pole is lying on the ground.

Weird, right? Some of these poles are so big that you would think they could withstand the impact without breaking. It turns out, they could withstand the impact, but the engineers designed them not to.

And, if you inspect even bigger poles, you’ll often see a slip base where the pole is bolted to an anchor. This is the point of planned failure – the bolts will shear and break when they receive a specific type of impact (like from a car crashing into them). The engineers design them to break cleanly for three reasons.

First, accidents are unavoidable. With millions of cars speeding along our roadways, it’s not a matter of if a car will hit a pole, but when. Knowing that these breakdowns in traffic flow are inevitable, the engineers plan for it.

That leads to the second reason for planned failure: it minimizes damage. The pole absorbs some of the car’s velocity, rather than resist it. There’s far less damage to the car than there would be if, for instance, the car hit a large, immovable tree. It’s also less likely that the car will bounce off and spin into traffic. The planned break also minimizes collateral damage from a flying pole. The pole breaks cleanly and falls over rather than resisting the impact until it snaps and goes spinning off into traffic or someone’s living room.

And finally, the reason for these clean breaks is they make recovery much easier. Rather than disrupting traffic to dig and set a new anchor, they can use the original anchor and just swap in a new pole or sign. It’s faster and less expensive.

Planning Breakdowns: How Leaders Can Help a Team Work Better Together

So how do you implement planned recovery on your team? Follow these four steps to steps to improve your team’s productivity, morale, and relationships.

1) Know where breakdowns will happen.

First, identify where breakdowns are most likely to happen. You can do all the process planning to minimize manufacturing and service errors, but you will still have breakdowns and challenges.

You’re a human being. So are they. Nobody’s perfect. There will be times where we all will hurt one another despite our best intentions.

The biggies include:

• One team member lets down, disappoints, or inadvertently disrespects another team member.
• A disgruntled customer eats up time–not because of a true product or service defect, but because they are having a bad day.
• Another department doesn’t keep their commitment and creates stress for your team.

2) Plan for and train recovery.

It’s not a matter of if, it’s when these breakdowns happen so what’s your planned recovery?

One of the best ways to help your team work better together is to have frank discussions about these breakdowns and give them the tools to talk with one another. In his executive role, David met with every new employee and explained:

It’s not a matter of whether we’re going to hurt one another or let one another down. It’s going to happen. What will distinguish us from other teams and other organizations is what we do with that next. Do we have the conversation? Do we acknowledge it? Do we address it?

One tool you can give your team is the I.N.S.P.I.R.E. Method for tough conversations. For example, “I noticed that this didn’t happen. I’m curious, what’s going on here from your perspective. Let’s talk about how we can get back to what success looks like and let’s recover.” These conversations tools are essential to help your team work better together.

3) Model recovery.

Despite your best efforts, there will be times where you let down your boss, a team member, or a customer. It happens. Yes, work to minimize them, (we also do everything we can to prevent people from crashing into poles), but be ready for the breakdown with your planned recovery.

These are awesome culture-building leadership moments. Your team’s watching. How you take responsibility makes all the difference.

Karin spent several years leading contact centers supporting large enterprise clients. You can imagine that when things broke, they broke big, and needed to be resolved fast, and every senior leader was watching. And wanting answers.

These are the most important teachable moments for your team on the art of recovery.

It was really tempting to blame the person at the root of the cause. Resist the urge. (Even when asked for names).

Blaming your team only teaches your team how to be better blamers. Not how to recover well.

It’s much better to have a productive “How can we prevent this the next time?” conversation that encourages psychological safety and candid ideas.

4) Celebrate recovery.

You get more of what you celebrate and encourage, so be on the lookout for the moments where your team implements their recovery processes. Teams that know how to surface problems quickly, discuss disappointments and conflicts, and respectfully resolve these issues have more trust. The increased psychological safety permits healthy risk-taking and innovation. Moreover, when you plan recovery, train it, and model it yourself, your team will spend less time in needless conflict, anxiety, and hurt feelings–which means more time solving bigger problems and doing better work.

Your Turn

We’d love to hear from you: how have you seen leaders help their team work better together and overcome normal human relationship breakdowns?

The post How Smart Leaders Help a Team Work Better Together: Plan Breakdowns appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

It’s not a shocker that this year, the most helpful articles were about creating a deeper connection with your team, leading well during times of uncertainty and disruption, and of course, practical tools for leading remote teams.

So here you go (click on the header link to access the article). These are our best leadership articles of 2020 based on your reading and sharing.

What do you think were our best leadership articles of 2020… what resonated most for you?

And of course, if you have a topic you like us to tackle in 2021 please let us know in the comments or drop us a note at info@letsgrowleaders.com

The Best Leadership Articles of 2020
(According to You)

1. How to Start the Decade in Deeper Conversation

We wrote this most popular leadership article in January of 2020 BEFORE we had any idea what was on the horizon. And yet with the quick pivot to remote work, it turns out this easy team-builder worked wonders for creating trust and connection in remote teams.

We’ve had tremendous feedback from participants of our live-online leadership training programs who’ve used this tool as part of their action learning this year.

2. What Employees are Yearning For in Remote One-on-Ones

When the Pandemic first hit one of our biggest concerns was how many managers we saw canceling their one-on-ones. This was our passionate response. We captured the biggest needs we were hearing from managers around the world.

Also fun, this article was recognized in the CTO awards for best leadership articles of the year. If you’re looking to get better at one-on-ones in the new year, this posts for you.

3. How to Lead When Your Employees Don’t Have to Follow

Also a pre-pandemic hit, David shares one of our core philosophies: “everyone’s a volunteer.”

4. Practical Help For Exhausted Leaders Who Need to Get More Done

Okay, this was also interesting. We wrote this in February almost as if we knew what was coming next. Who knew that we had no idea of the exhaustion that lay ahead. In this practical article, we share some of our foundational tools and approaches to get results and improve relationships without driving yourself (or your team) into the ground.

5. How to Lead in the Midst of Urgent Rapid Change and Strain

In this early pandemic article, we share a great story from our very last on-site client visit of the year, along with practical tips for leading through a crisis.

6. Three Ways to Create a Virtual Watercooler for Your Remote Team

So much of the research about leading remote teams points to what employees miss most are the informal opportunities for interaction and sharing best practices. This article gives you practical ways to recreate that for your team.

7. How to Capture What You’re Learning From This Crisis Right Now

We wrote this right at the beginning of the Pandemic when everything was in total lockdown, Clorox and toilet paper were in short supply, we were sanitizing groceries before they came in the house, and our readers told us they were quarantining their copies of our books in their garage for 24 hours before they could read it.

And so we captured this “BED Talk”

8. How to Disrupt the Disruption and Help Your Team Move Forward

A lot of the training work we’ve been doing with our clients over this past year has included practical tools and techniques to”disrupting the disruption” to build a brighter bolder future. Here are a few practical approaches that can help as you continue to navigate this crisis.

9. How to Co-Create a Better Future

This article pairs well with our #8 winner, with more practical approaches to help your team do the best they can with what they have from where they are.

10. Four Words to Help You Build a Powerful Team

“How can I help …?” can go a long way in building a team. In this article, we share important ways to uncover the support your team most needs.

Most Popular Leadership Article of All Time on Let’s Grow Leaders

7 Ways to Help Your Team Deal with Ambiguity – Let’s Grow Leaders

This article continues to top our “best leadership articles” list every single year. And, Winning Well: Leading Through Uncertainty and Change continues to be one of our most requested keynote programs. You can’t always choose what you show up to, but you can always choose how you show up.

The Best Leadership Articles of 2020 (as seen in other media)

Leadership without Losing Your Soul Podcast (With David Dye)

David’s podcast audience has been growing quickly with over 80 episodes. Here are the top 3 for 2020.

How to Avoid Micromanaging Remote Employees

Burnout to Breakthrough – Interview with Eileen McDargh

Advanced Guide to Leading Online Meetings that Don’t Suck

Asking For a Friend Vlog (With Karin Hurt)

In the 4th Quarter 2020, Karin’s Asking For a Friend Vlog went live on Friday’s at 11:30 EST with a sprinkling of her old school pithy moments of leadership advice.

And the most popular Asking For a Friend Live was about Connection and Celebration in remote teams with Scott Friedman and Debra Fine. (you must be logged into LinkedIn to view)

We are so grateful to all of you who read and share our articles. We’re delighted to have you part of our growing Let’s Grow Leaders Community.

See More Best of Let’s Grow Leaders here.

The post The Best Leadership Articles of 2020 (and more … based on your votes) appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

My heart has been breaking all day. I’ve been doing the best I can with the onslaught of phone calls, emails, and texts from incredible leaders in the emotional throes of an unexpected layoff.

“I’ve been laid off.”

“I had to lay off my entire team.”

“We were headed for our best year ever, and now we’ve closed our doors.”

“Just as we had everything moving in the right direction…”

“My team and I all just lost our jobs.”

“I’m tired.”    “I’m sad.”    “Angry.”    “Frustrated.”    “Lonely.”    “Confused.”

Me too.

David just came in and asked, “What are you doing?”

“Writing an article about unexpected layoffs. Here’s what I have so far (showing him the title and a blank screen).”

That’s when I realized I needed a nap.

There are no easy answers right now. The best we can do is try.

How to Show Up Human During This Unexpected Layoff

I’ve written about recovering from a downsizing before. Sadly, I’m a bit of a reluctant expert having managed more RIFs than I care to count – both as an HR professional organizing the plan and a manager being told to downsize my team.

Leading through a layoff is one of the most difficult things you’ll ever do as a leader.

And this is way harder.

No one saw this coming. Performance has nothing to do with it. The humans you are laying off are in the midst of one of the most stressful times in their lives. So are you. Each person’s story is heart-wrenching.

You can’t communicate in person. The economy is in a tailspin—you know it will not be easy for them to find something else in the midst of this madness.

And yet, based on what I’m hearing, a lot of managers are screwing this up—choosing to show up detached and matter of fact, “after all this isn’t personal.”

And so I humbly offer the best advice I have for this challenging time.

1. Banish the word non-essential.

I get it. The Governor made a distinction for public safety. But NO ONE wants to hear that the job they’ve been pouring their heart and soul into isn’t vital.

“Are you freaking kidding me? If my job was non-essential why did I work all those nights and weekends, including taking all those emergency calls from my boss in the middle of dinner? Even if they asked me to come back, I’m not sure I would.”

2. Turn on the camera and look them in the eye.

Yes, it’s uncomfortable. It’s crazy to have to tell someone they don’t have a job remotely. But, PLEASE don’t hide behind an email.

“I had just gotten our whole team used to this idea of working from home, and we had established a new routine, and then bam … we all got the exact same email telling us we had no job. Seriously, they couldn’t bother to tell us personally? You would think they would care about us more than that!”

3. Help them process their feelings.

“It’s not personal,” is about the worst thing you can say. Of course, this is personal. Losing your job is stressful under any circumstance. But it’s likely that this news is on top of some other traumatic stress they’re dealing with.  Go slow. Be a listener. Help them to process what’s happening.

4. Be a resource.

Endorse them on Linkedin. Help them clean up their profile. Leverage your network to help them find a job. “But what if they find something else, and I lose the opportunity to bring them back?” Then you will find someone else and know that you did the right thing.

5. Keep the door open.

Don’t make promises. But if you’d love to bring them back, don’t be afraid to tell them. People need to know how much you value them. Particularly during an unexpected layoff. Humans want to be needed. Be human.

6. Streamline the work for everyone else.

generate new ideas after an unexpected layoff with the IDEA Incubator Guide

It’s unlikely that you “just cut the fat.” Figure out how to support your stressed and overwhelmed team that remains after this unexpected layoff. Ask them for their best ideas on how to streamline the work and to serve your customers during this challenging time.

7. Find the support you need.

This unexpected layoff is not your fault. You know that intellectually, but that doesn’t make it any easier. Acknowledge your emotions. Cry if it helps. You are human, trying to lead the best you can in the middle of one of the most stressful moments in your life. Find people who care about you and ask for help.

Your Thoughts?

What would you add? What’s your best advice for showing up human during an unexpected layoff?

See Also: How to Survive a Layoff

How to Learn From Your Employees During This Crisis

The post How to Support Your Team During an Unexpected Layoff appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

“My manager said he selected me for the role because of my reputation for bringing tons of new ideas. So, I came in gung-ho sharing everything I know. But, every time I speak up, people roll their eyes. I feel like I might be wearing them out.

I wonder if I made a mistake coming over. I wonder if I should have just stayed in my previous role where people want to hear what I have to say and are eager for me to share my ideas.”

Kevin, also neck-deep a transition into a new team, faced a different, but equally frustrating, problem.

As an introvert, he’d built success in his last department over time. His peers came to know that his quiet observations meant that he was working carefully to connect the dots. His previous team knew that when he finally shared his point of view, they should stop and pay attention.

But this new team seemed to interpret his silence as weakness, and they seem to have written him off.

“I’m trying to go slow and really listen to what everyone has to say. I don’t want to come across like a know-it-all, and I’m trying to feel everyone out. So I don’t say much. But yesterday, when I finally did say something important, everyone just talked right over me. I think I’ve lost their respect and now it’s hard to recover.”

Kevin also confided that he worried he had made the wrong choice.

How to Transition Into a New Team with Confidence and Grace

Joining a new team is tricky. Show up overconfident and you turn people off — “Who do you think you are?” But if you’re overly humble, your new team may wonder what value you add and why you were chosen in the first place.

After a few missteps of our own over the years, the best approach we’ve found is to navigate the tricky balance of confident humility by showing up as an interested supporter and an interesting expert.

Be an interested supporter (humility.)

1. Get to know your peers one person at a time.

Yes, this is time-consuming, particularly as you are learning the ropes of a new gig, but the ROI in terms of support and collaboration is worth it. Schedule time to meet with each of your peers to learn about their work as well as what excites and frustrates them.  Learn a little bit about them personally, such as what they do for fun.

2. Ask great questions.

Ask questions about what’s working. “Wow, I’ve noticed the team is knocking this metric out of the park, why is that?” (People love to talk about what they’re doing well, and as a bonus, you’ll likely pick up a few best practices).

Also, ask strategic questions about the team’s most important priorities that show that you care deeply about the team and supporting everyone’s success.

You might also try questions like, “What does it (or would it) look like when the team is performing at its very best? What will it take to get there?”

Of course, the most important interested supporter question is “How can I help?”

3. Be an ACTIVE listener

In team meetings, listen carefully to what people are saying. Ask clarifying questions and take notes to show you’re engaged.

AND

Be an interesting expert (confidence.)

4. Share who you are.

In those one-on-one meetings you scheduled, don’t be afraid to share a bit about yourself, your background and how you’re looking to contribute to the team.

5. Look for small ways to add immediate value.

Look for ways to fix a frustration, share a best practice, or roll up your sleeves to get a peer out of a jam.

6. Offer input and ideas without pre-apology.

If you’ve managed the interested supporter approach well, you’ve laid fertile ground to share your ideas and make a contribution. Resist the urge to weaken your communication with false humility such as “This is probably a dumb idea,” or I’m not sure if this will work.” Just state your idea with confidence, “I have an idea,” or “What do you think would happen if we tried this?”

When you show up as an interested supporter AND an interesting expert, your peers will be more likely to extend a similar approach back to you as they welcome you to the team.

Your turn. What would you add? What advice do you have for someone working to transition into a new team with confidence and grace?

Related Content You May Find Helpful

How to Find More Courage and Innovation in Your New Employees (CEO Blog Nation)

One Surprising Secret to Being Recognized as the Expert

If you’re a manager taking over a new team see, How to Get Your New Team to Trust You 

The post How to Transition Into a New Team With Confidence and Grace appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

Recently, I’ve watched an organization of passionate and caring people disintegrate. The limited perspective of leaders and team members has frustrated communication and problem-solving. They’ve devolved into camps of us vs. them. It can happen to any team if you don’t pay attention to how you see the world.

When the World Changes

I grew up in southwest Denver.

Late in the day, as the sun settled toward the mountains west of the city, I loved to see downtown Denver highlighted in the evening light. My favorite version of this view happened after a summer thunderstorm. The crenelated gray, black, and white skyline glowed with hope against the dark purple clouds that had taken their wrath out to the plains.

When I was twelve years old, my friend’s mother invited us to volunteer with her at a shelter for mothers who had escaped abusive relationships. We had to make solemn promises not to reveal the shelter’s location. It was easy for me to promise, because I had no idea where it was.

We drove to the shelter on a cold December morning. We rode in the back of a pickup truck, laying down as flat as we could to stay out of the bitter wind.

When we arrived, I sat up. And the world shifted.

My skyline, the familiar arrangement of glass and steel, had been put into a cloth bag, shaken, and poured out. This was not my downtown.

We were northeast of the city center, directly opposite of where I’d grown up.

The world swayed, but then I was struck by another thought: there were children who grew up in this neighborhood. These alien buildings that disturbed me were their familiar anchor.

I’ve relived that moment hundreds of times as my known world expands. There is always another point of view beyond my limited perspective. And as strange, unsettling, and foreign as it may seem—it is all the normal another person has ever known.

Leading Through Limited Perspective

Have you ever had your perspective shift like that? Has new information, a new experience, or a new person made you look at the world differently?

I hope so. Being able to see the world differently is a vital leadership skill.

Whether it’s the empathy to see how a new system feels to your customers or employees or the ability to ask “What if?” and view your opportunities in a different way, moving beyond your limited perspective will help you have more influence and think more strategically.

The leaders in the organization I mentioned have struggled with a changing world. Both groups deeply believe in the organization’s purpose and values. The challenge is that over time, people have started to interpret those values through a narrowing set of experiences.

As concerned team members raised issues, they were told “There is no problem”—because, seen through leaders’ limited perspective, there truly wasn’t a problem. The organization’s environment changed, but their leaders didn’t change with it – and now they’re bleeding talent.

When you lose your ability to see the world through someone else’s eyes, you get stuck being “right,” but you’re not effective.

How to Not Let Limited Perspective Trap You

None of us are immune to this trap. Staying connected to the people you lead and maintaining a flexible and curious worldview takes work. Here are a few ways to keep yourself from getting stuck.

Listen for their truth—when a team member shares a concern, search for their truth. Not the Truth, but their truth. How are they feeling? What are they seeing? They’re not making it up. What is there for you to learn or keep in mind?

Get curious—when something doesn’t make sense, resist the urge to discount it. Instead, create some space to ask questions. If nothing else, you can say, “Tell me more …” and see what insights emerge.

Focus on what’s right, not who’s right—my friend Bob Tipton wrote a great book on this topic. When you change your perspective from defining who is right or wrong to figuring out what will be healthy and helpful for everyone, you’re on your way to a bigger perspective and greater influence.

Practice being uncomfortable—new perspectives are unsettling. It is strange and troubling to discover that the way you’ve seen things wasn’t entirely accurate. But since that’s where the breakthroughs happen, it’s worth getting used to it. You can practice in small and fun ways. Try something new every week. Ask someone to explain a hobby or passion you don’t understand. Travel – even if it’s just to the next city. Go as far as your resources allow and let it change your perspective.

Ask “What’s next?”—Strategic leaders don’t just focus on the change that happened yesterday. They’re looking ahead at the change that’s coming and intentionally shifting their approach. What has changed and will change in your environment? For your people? For your customers or clients?

Share information  – This one helps you and your team. When your team’s perspective is limited, share more information. Give them the data they need to make more informed decisions. When you do, they are better able to craft solutions that weren’t available to you.

Your Turn

It’s easy to get trapped by a limited perspective that alienates you from your team, but you don’t have to let it happen. Leave a comment and share your best strategy to stay nimble and maintain a flexible perspective.

The post Don’t Let Limited Perspective Destroy Your Team appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

Inspiring Leadership Secrets

To accomplish this elegant combination of grace and strength, great bonsai practitioners must be both gifted horticulturists and artists. In the same way, leading people entails both vision and cultivation. Here are eleven inspiring leadership secrets from the art of bonsai:

1. Focus on strength and directing energy, not fixing weakness

In bonsai, the artist looks for a tree’s strengths. What is unique and special?  What can they showcase?

Similarly, effective leaders look for strengths and build on those. Know of weaknesses to manage them and keep them from hindering strength, but focus on ability – in people, in yourself, and in your team.

Focusing on weaknesses builds nothing. Strengths produce results. What abilities, talents, and energy do your people bring to your team?

2. Growth requires patience

A fully developed bonsai can take decades to reach perfection. You collect material, let it rest and grow out for two or three years, prune and shape, then wait some more.

One of my very favorite trees is on display at the National Arboretum in Washington D.C. It is a Japanese pine that’s almost 400 years old! It’s an awe-inspiring sight, made all the more so by the fact that this tree survived the bombing of Hiroshima.

Nearly 400 years old, atomic bombing survivor

There are no shortcuts to produce growth. Nothing less than four centuries make that tree what it is.

But sometimes we force ourselves and our teams out of season. We push when we should rest. Or rest when we should study. Or move when we should question. Or question when it’s time to act.

To be effective, how can you be aware of your own seasons and your team’s season? You can use the competence-confidence model to give people what they need at this moment.

3. Treat individuals as individuals

A skilled bonsai artist knows that you cannot prune a trident maple at the same time of year as a juniper. Not all trees are the same.

People are also unique. Different people should be treated differently. What motivates one person may terrify or humiliate another.

How can you better understand the people you lead and learn how to maximize each person’s potential?

4. Healthy conditions produce growth

You cannot force a tree to grow. Rather, you provide the right nutrients, fresh air, sunlight, water, and soil and the tree will naturally grow. That’s what trees do.

People and organizations are much the same. Healthy organizations have healthy cultures and in healthy cultures, healthy people accomplish great things.

If your people aren’t growing and producing what you believe they’re capable of, examine your culture and systems. What can you do to help?

5. Appearances don’t tell the whole story

With certain trees, there are times of the year when you might swear the thing is dead. Some of the greatest abstract juniper trees have vast amounts of dead wood. A tree (and a person’s) potential is not just what you see.

In a tree, you look for life in the roots, in the channels that carry sap to the branches. In a person, you look for character. For integrity. For the desire to learn and willingness to try.

And when those are there, you:

6. Nourish or encourage what you want more of

A bonsai master knows which of three buds on the tip of a branch will be strong and best serve the tree. That bud is encouraged. If other buds would steal energy, they are removed.

You cannot wave a magic wand in bonsai or in leadership and have the right branch, team, or skills spring into existence. These things must be grown. If you want:

• More creativity, encourage it and remove barriers to healthy risk.
• More ownership, nourish responsibility and remove impediments to implementing ideas.
• To strengthen customer relationships, remove policies that prevent people from serving.

7. Pruning is beneficial

Sometimes a bonsai master will remove a branch or an entire limb for the health of the tree or so it can realize its full potential.

In your organization, do you regularly ask what we need to stop doing?

What methods, products, or services are no longer beneficial or serve the mission? You have limited time, money, and people. Set aside activities that do not serve your team or the mission. You can use the Own the U.G.L.Y. method to facilitate these conversations with your team.

8. Every part needs light to thrive

When caring for a tree, masters give great attention to ensure that every set of leaves or needles receives the light it needs. Without this care, interior leaves weaken then wither and die.

In organizations, we can shade out essential people who make a difference every day but aren’t the glamorous ‘face’ of the organization.

Do you treat your cleaning staff with the same dignity as your executives? Do you show appreciation to everyone in the organization for their contribution to the mission?

9. Make mistakes to grow

“Killing trees is the tuition you pay for learning bonsai.” – John Naka

No one enjoys making mistakes, but they are the price of knowledge. How can you create a safe environment for your team to make mistakes and learn what to do next time?

10. You cannot change the core

When selecting a tree, the bonsai master knows that some qualities of the tree cannot change. The general shape and strength of the trunk, the position of key limbs, the way the roots spread into the ground … these things are core to the tree and you cannot change them later.

Likewise, one of the most important leadership secrets to know is that you can’t change people. No matter how hard you work at it, forcing a gregarious people-person to work in isolation all day will end in failure.

Find people with a passion for the mission and the skills their work requires.

11. Nothing is perfect

Inspiring bonsai often tell a story. A tale of a lifetime fighting salt-laden storms blowing in from sea … or the struggle to survive hostile conditions in a rock cleft far above treeline.

These stories and a bonsai’s grace often result from the tree’s imperfections. The masters incorporate dead wood, twisted branches, and even wounds into the design to reveal the essence of the tree. They specifically select the best viewing – you don’t view most trees from every angle.

Leadership isn’t about perfection. It’s about improving the condition of your team and accomplishing the mission. Just as there is no ideal tree, neither is there one ideal person.

Abraham Lincoln reportedly answered complaints about General Grant’s heavy drinking by telling the complaining party to find out what Grant was drinking and to send his other commanders a case.

Your Turn

As in bonsai, effective leaders look for strengths, manage imperfections, and aim for magnificent results. We’d love to hear from you – Leave us a comment and share: What is one of the most important leadership secrets you’ve learned from an unusual source?

The post 11 Inspiring Leadership Secrets from Bonsai appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

Have you ever watched another team struggle? It’s a challenge most leaders face at some point in their career. You’re not perfect, but you lead well and people come together to produce great results. But then you look over and see that your peer’s team is struggling.

Maybe they’ve been talking to your team and your people tell you about the problems. Or the other team members tell you how they’d love a chance to work with you. Perhaps you rely on them for your team’s work, but their performance is subpar. Maybe you witnessed their dysfunction firsthand. Or someone on another team asks you for advice on how to deal with a difficult situation.

No matter how you became aware that your peer’s team is struggling, you might be tempted to rush in and intervene.

Be careful.

Don’t Make It Worse

This is one of those times where your good intentions can cause big problems.

Let’s start with common mistakes you want to avoid. Don’t:

• Rush in and tell the other team what they need to do.
• Tell the other team members that their leader is wrong or leading poorly.
• Offer the other leader a bunch of solutions to all the problems you’ve identified.

I’ve seen leaders commit these mistakes (and did some myself early in my career). Each of these behaviors will make the situation worse.

Imagine another leader telling your team how you’re leading poorly or telling you everything you’re doing wrong and how to fix it. Bad idea, right?

How to Help When Your Peer’s Team is Struggling

The first step in trying to help a peer leader who might be struggling is to recognize your limitations. You have two important limits in this situation. You don’t have all the information and they may not want your help.

This is a time for confidence and humility. Match your confident desire to help with the humility that you don’t know everything that’s happening in the other team.

Let’s look at how to do this in the two most common scenarios where your peer’s team is struggling.

Scenario #1: You’ve Seen the Problem Yourself

If you’ve observed the problems and you’re talking with the team’s leader, use the first steps of the INSPIRE conversation to alert them to the situation. When you reach the “Probe” stage of the conversation, ask if they want your help.

I – Initiate:  Hey, do you have a minute? I was working with your team the other day and observed something I thought you’d want to know.

N – Notice: I noticed that they were [describe the concerning behavior]. Eg: “I noticed they were using the old process to…” Or “I noticed that they were arguing about the right way to…”

S – Support: Share your specific examples. Eg: “Joe and Sheila said they didn’t know there was a new process.” Or “Liz and Charles were telling Estaban and Bryan that they should use the…and they didn’t seem to be on the same page.”

P – Probe: “I figured you’d want to know. How can I help?”

If you have a good relationship and your colleague trusts you, they may divulge their struggle. They might say something like “This is so frustrating. I’ve told everyone about the new process three times.”

I – Invite: It is important in this moment to get their permission – their invitation, to share ideas. Resist the urge to rush in with all your solutions. You might say something like: “I’ve been there. That same problem used to frustrate me. I’ve got a couple ideas that have worked pretty well. Would that be helpful?”

If they say “yes,” go ahead and share your thoughts. Remember to share them as possible solutions. They may or may not work, depending on your peer’s specific situation.

If they say “no,” this is a critical moment for your relationship. When they say “no,” respect their no.

People say no for many reasons. They’re not ready. He may feel overwhelmed. She might not trust your motives. They may not want to do the work.

Regardless of the reason why, when someone says they don’t want to hear your solutions, respect their desire. It builds trust. You might say something like, “Okay. If I can be helpful, just let me know.”

R – Review: As the conversation concludes, do a quick check for understanding. Eg: “So you’re going to try that 5×5 communication technique and I’ll send you the templates I developed by the end of the day. Does that work for you?”

If they turned down your offer to help, your check for understanding might look like this: “I want to make sure we’re on the same page. My understanding is that our teams are supposed to do the new process this way. Is that how you understand it?”

E – Enforce: In performance management conversations, this is where you would schedule a follow-up meeting to check on the new behavior. In a conversation with a colleague, however, you might use it as a way to support them. “If you’d like, I’d be happy to hear a test-run of your presentation or take a look at that 5×5 when you’ve put it together.”

If your colleague turned down your offer to help and there is disagreement about the expectations, you can use this step to schedule a follow-up discussion. “It sounds like we’ve got our teams working toward different goals (or using different processes). My understanding was that we’re all using the process. Let’s talk with the leadership team (or our supervisor) on Friday and clarify what we’re supposed to be doing.”

Scenario #2: Their Team Member Tells You It’s Bad

When another team member tells you that their team is struggling, resist the urge to intervene.

Once again, you don’t know all the facts. Also, when you get involved, you prevent the employee from learning how to solve their own problem and you’re wasting your productive time in someone else’s drama.

(The exception is when there’s a potential ethical violation, a clear breach of fundamental policy, sexual harassment, danger to employees or the company – in these situations you would report the conversation to the right person.)

Usually, the most productive conversation you can have is to listen with empathy and, if the team member wants help, to coach them on how to address the situation.

Start with reflective empathy. For example: “It sounds like that’s really frustrating.”

Next, you might use the 9 What’s coaching model to help them think through a productive response to the situation. If they don’t know how to talk with their leader about an issue and they are open to help, you could teach them how to share INSPIRE-style feedback with their supervisor.

For example, when they talk to their supervisor, they might say, “I noticed that we’re not using the new procedure we discussed at the town hall and I want to make sure I’m doing the right thing. Can you help me clarify what success looks like here?”

When you help the employee develop the skills to address the situation directly, they will grow and it also gives the team leader a chance to improve.

Your Turn

When your peer’s team is struggling, you may be tempted to intervene, but that is usually not a productive choice. Instead, ask your colleague for permission to help, respect their answer, and mentor receptive team members on how to advocate for themselves.

Leave us a comment and share your best recommendation or experience when you see that a peer’s team is struggling.

The post How Do I Help When My Peer’s Team is Struggling? appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.