Commitment is vital to effective teamwork, collaboration, and results.

One of the most frustrating aspects of teamwork is the feeling of futility – of spinning your wheels. You connect with one another, establish clear success criteria, get curious, and build on one another’s suggestions, but nothing happens. Your conversation needs to produce action, or nothing changes. And if nothing changes, it’s worse than if you never had a conversation. Now you’ve wasted time, trust drips away, and people lose hope. The answer is to build shared agreements – commitments – that move you from words to action. In this final installment of our “Great Teamwork Series,” we share 12 collaboration habits to create commitment and build momentum with follow-through and results.

More in this excerpt from our interview on Brainwaves Anthology with Bob Greenberg.

Click here for more insights on creating commitment.

12 Habits Great Teams Consistently Do to Create Commitment and Build Collaboration

1. Ignite Action: Turn intentions into activities

Habit: I get things going—moving the conversation to create specific plans

When your team has tight conversations that lead to meaningful results, trust and morale improve along with the team’s capacity to make even more meaningful decisions. You can help your team avoid endless discussions, analysis paralysis, and chokepoints by moving conversations to intentions to specific actions.

Related Article: Help Your Team Do More-Stop (over) Talking and Start Doing

2. Say “No” for a Better Yes: Explain tradeoffs and gracefully decline opportunities that derail critical effort

Habit: I keep us focused on what matters most and empower a strategic “no.”

Related Article: How to Say No at Work: Powerful Phrases to Stand your Ground

It’s never easy to say no at work. After all, you want to be helpful, responsive, and a team player. And yet, every time you say “yes” to something or someone, you’re saying “no” to something or someone else. One way to help one another create commitment and say no effectively is to start with a “yes.” Do this is by affirming the request and the value the request might represent—that’s the “yes.” Then bridge to the context, consequences, and decisions—that’s the “no.”

3. Keep Things Organized: Provide structure the team needs to work efficiently

Habit: I make it easy to collaborate and integrate our work.

Can everyone find the information, tools, and data they need to do their work? If not, you’re wasting time interrupting each other asking for what you need or in frustrating fruitless searches. A little organization will help everyone work more efficiently. (Just avoid the temptation to over-organize. You’ll know this happens when you spend more time on the organization system than you do on your actual work.)

4. Create Ownership: Verify that every task has a specific person responsible for its completion

Habit: I ensure we conclude our meetings or conversations by clarifying responsibility.

When everyone’s responsible, no one is. Guarantee that any conversation requiring action ends with a specific person taking responsibility to follow through on an assignment. The project may require a team. But one person has ownership and responsibility to follow through.

5. Respect Confidentiality: Build trust with appropriate discretion and privacy

Habit: I protect sensitive information.

Related Article: Confidential Information – What to Say When You Can’t Say Anything

It can be tempting to share private information. It feels like a shortcut to building intimacy and connection. But every time you violate confidentiality, you tell the person you’re talking to that they can’t trust you with critical information. When you can’t share information, be honest about it. For example, “That’s not something I can talk about. It’s important that to me you can trust  that if we’re ever in a similar situation, I won’t talk about it then either.”

6. Schedule the Finish: Create shared appointments to meet, discuss, and conclude tasks

Habit: I confirm specific deliverables and timeframes for when we will follow up on our commitments.

You’ve got more to do than time to do it. Your plan is going to get interrupted, and your interruptions are going to get interrupted. If you don’t have an intentional, focused way to finish what you start, it won’t happen. Effective teams consistently achieve meaningful results and build a healthy culture–but they don’t leave it to chance or a heroic act of willpower. They create commitment by scheduling the finish with specific, shared appointments to follow through. These conversations consider competing priorities and adjust accordingly.

Related Article: High ROI Leadership: Schedule the Finish

7. Hold Others Accountable: Practice peer-to-peer check-ins and closure

Habit: When people don’t follow through, I follow up with them.

Look at the research about high-performing teams and one universal characteristic jumps out. In high-performing teams, accountability isn’t just the manager’s job—the team holds one another accountable (and their manager too). When you talk to high-performing teams, it’s easy to see that this team accountability doesn’t just happen. They work at it. Help your team succeed by following up and creating closure for commitments.

Related Article: Great Teams Hold One Another Accountable (You Can Too).

8. Honor Deadlines: Get work done on time and watch out for barriers

Habit: I take our commitments seriously, and proactively talk about obstacles that might derail our deliverables.

The distractions that creep up and disrupt our follow through feel like a surprise. But are they really? When you lift your gaze, look outward and ask “is there anything that could prevent us from making this commitment?” you can help your team anticipate and deal with these disruptions before they interfere with your focus.

9. Keep My Team on Track: Help your colleagues maintain focus and avoid distractions

Habit: I ensure our team meets our obligations together.

One of the most tempting distractions that can take you and your team off track is other meaningful work. That new shiny assignment may be great for your career – and so is delivering the results you’ve promised. You can help your team maintain focus and a manageable workload by suggesting “Let’s get this done before we take on that new project.”

Related Article: Get Your Team Back on Track: Leading Through Distractions

10. Do What I Say: Keep your commitments

Habit: I follow through and keep my word.

Can your team rely on you? Your reliability directly affects your team’s trust in you. Can they rely on one another? Often, when reliability breaks down, it’s not because people lack integrity, it’s because they said “yes” to something without fully thinking through what it would take to keep that commitment. You can increase your reliability by consistently scheduling the finish and discussing tradeoffs. (See #2 and #6 above.)

11. Speak with Candor: Give the gift of truth, spoken gracefully

Habit: I address difficult issues directly and in a timely manner.

Direct, honest communication helps everyone know where they stand and minimizes drama within your team. The earlier you address challenging situations, the easier they are to resolve.

12. Celebrate Success: Acknowledge wins in all their forms

Habit: I acknowledge wins, progress and learning.

You get more of what you encourage and celebrate, so take time to recognize all that you and your team have achieved together. You can do this in the middle of projects to energize one another for the road ahead. Pay attention to the different forms of “wins” – it’s not just successful completion. You can celebrate learning, progress, and improved capacity.

Related Articles: True Gratitude: More Than Pleasantries or Recognition and Leading Through Rapidly Changing Priorities

13. Your Turn: What habit would you add to create commitment and build shared agreements?

Note: This article is part four of our 4-part Better Teamwork Series. Find the other parts here:

1. Better Teamwork: 12 Practical Habits to Build Deeper Connection
2. Great Teams: 12 Practical Collaboration Habits to Create Clarity
3. Creative Teams: 12 Habits that Foster Curiosity and Collaboration

The post Create Commitment: 12 Habits to Build Agreement and Accountability appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

How to Embed Leadership Training into Your Workplace Culture

First, I’m so impressed with all you’ve done already. Your recent experience with leader-led Challenge and Support groups indicates you’re already ahead of the curve in terms of transitioning your newfound leadership training knowledge into action.

These groups are, in essence, a ‘living lab,’ a place to test, refine, and validate the theories and practices absorbed during your leadership development program.

While the groups provide immediate feedback and peer accountability, what will drive the long-term sustainability of your skills is embedding them in your organizational culture and personal behavior. So how do you convert that initial leadership training surge into a constant stream of progress?

Practical, Proven Approaches to Sustain Leadership Training Momentum

1. Teach what you’ve learned

One of the best ways to become a rock star at a skill is to teach it. Consider sharing some of the leadership training tools you’ve learned and teaching them to others.

2. Celebrate success

When you see people using the tools and techniques, celebrate the effort and the outcomes.

3. Integrate the tools into the way your work processes

Many of our clients integrate the tools and techniques into the forms they use every day (e.g. their collaboration systems, one-on-one forms etc, and meeting agenda templates). 

4. Focus on one behavior change at a time

When you learn game-changing leadership techniques, it’s tempting to try everything all at once. After all, if these techniques produce results, you owe it to your team to use them. Right? Perhaps. But not all at the same time.

Pick one specific behavior or approach from your leadership training that you know will make an impact and integrate it into your leadership approach. Practice it consistently. Tweak it. Make it your own. Ask for feedback. Once you feel confident and competent in that behavior, the timing might be right to add in another technique. Too much change all at once will overwhelm both you and your team.

6. Find an accountability partner

Change is hard, and it can be lonely. It’s much easier to give up when no one’s looking. Find someone you trust who understands what you’ve just learned (someone else in your training class is a great choice). Share the behavior you’re working on and make a commitment to check in with one another once a week to see how things are going, discuss challenges, and brainstorm the next steps.

7. Invite your team on the journey

Tell your team what you’ve learned and what you’ve chosen to work on and why. Invite them to notice when it’s working and offer suggestions as to what you can do better. Your team already knows you’re not perfect, and they’ll be delighted to know you’re working on becoming a more effective manager.

8. Ask for feedback

Make it a point to ask for feedback on the impact your new approach is having on the people you’re leading. Ask open-ended questions about what you can do to improve.

9. When you screw up, apologize and try again

New habits don’t come easy. If you slip back into old behaviors, apologize and try again. Your team knows you’re not perfect. They just want to know you’re trying. Leadership training is important, but what matters most is what you do when you get back to your team. With just a bit of focus, you can ensure the strongest ROI for you and your team.

See Also: 10 Questions to Ask Before Launching a Leadership Development Program

The post Leadership Training ROI: How to Translate Leadership Training into Behaviors that Last appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

Have you ever found yourself reluctant to hold an employee accountable because you worry they will leave or quiet quit? Or you let a performance issue fester for fear of not being liked? In this article, we address the common reasons so many managers tolerate poor performance, and what to do instead.

6 Reasons Managers Tolerate Poor Performance

Here’s a gut check if addressing performance issues is hard for you. Do any of these common mistakes sound familiar?

1. Unclear Expectations

You haven’t done the work upfront to define success. So everybody’s frustrated. You’re frustrated with their poor performance, and the poor performer is frustrated with you. Perhaps you’ve tolerated mediocre performance in the past, and now it feels tricky to reset expectations.

Here’s the good news. It’s not too late to reset expectations. Here are two articles filled with practical tips that will help.

How to Practice Start Team Accountability if You Never Have Before

How to Reset Performance Expectations For Better Results 

2. Guilt

You worry you haven’t done enough to support, develop, encourage, build confidence in, empower, or recognize an employee. If that’s true, you’re right-you have more work to do. But if you’ve invested in the employee again and again and it’s still not working, it’s possible that this is not the right fit. Stop feeling guilty. You need to do what’s right for the greater good of the organization, the team, and that person.

If you need help holding accountability or performance feedback conversations, start here.

How to Provide More Meaningful Performance Feedback

And if you need to fire someone with compassion, this will help. How to Be Okay When It’s Time to Fire a Poor Performer

3. False Morale

We’ve seen many managers, what we call “Pleasers” in Winning Well, worried about building morale, who actually destroy it. If everything everyone does is “just great,” the people who really give their “all” will wonder why they do. We can’t tell you how many times we’ve had the rest of the team thank us for addressing poor performance. Of course, such conversations are private, but your team is more astute than you may think.

4. Saving Face

You hired the guy. Perhaps you even convinced your boss that he was “the one.” If you’ve done everything you can do to make it work, but it isn’t going well, it’s far better to admit you were wrong, learn from your experience, and move on. Don’t magnify one poor decision with another.

5. Fear

Maybe you’re understandably a little scared. Perhaps you’re not sure how to approach the situation. There’s often nothing harder to do than address poor performance or remove someone from your team. It’s never easy, but it does get easier with preparation and practice. Practice your conversation with a peer or mentor. Use the INSPIRE method (more here). Plan the conversation, and show up curious.

6. Lack of Perceived Alternatives

I (Karin) can recall countless times in my corporate job when someone would call me for an internal reference for a poor performer they were about to hire.  After I shared a long list of poor performance issues and concerns, the person was hired anyway.

One hiring manager actually told me, “Well, Karin, you have very high standards. I’m not sure your expectations are realistic. I’m sure the person will do just fine.” And then they wouldn’t succeed.

When the labor market is tight or you have a limited set of choices, the answer isn’t to lower your standards. Reinforce what success looks like and establish a plan to help the person get there if they can. And if they can’t, reorganize, adapt, or change how your team functions. Trying to make a bad fit work will only frustrate them, you, and the entire team.

If you’re looking for more tips like this, you might enjoy our first joint book, Winning Well: A Manager’s Guide to Getting Results- Without Losing Your Soul.

Your Turn

What are the biggest mistakes you see managers make when they tolerate poor performance? How do you encourage them to tackle the performance issues head-on?

The post Why So Many Managers Tolerate Poor Performance (and what to do instead) appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

How to be Unmessable With

The post How to be Unmessable With featuring Josselyne Herman-Saccio appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

In this episode Marc Lesser, Author of Finding Clarity: How Compassionate Accountability Builds Vibrant Relationships, Thriving Workplaces, and Meaningful Lives, works from the premise that problems are inevitable and that the success of an enterprise or relationship relies on how they are resolved. This applies to any joint effort — in a workplace, a family, a civic organization, a community, a country, or the world. Tune in to hear more about using compassionate accountability and get a practical and trainable way to clarify and achieve shared visions of success.

07:42

Clarity begins with acknowledging and embodying that the world isn’t always what it seems. What does clarity mean for you?

09:52

We all want clarity, but there’s a human tendency to narrow our focus as opposed to widen it. So how can we find clarity in both the narrow and the wide, the surface and the deep?

13:43

At the core of this notion of compassionate accountability and having conversations is how we’re showing up for them.

14:11

What is meant by compassionate accountability and particularly the intersection of clarity and accountability?

17:00

How do we work toward alignment and at the same time keep that care, trust, and compassion piece?

22:10

What are some of the ways that you would recommend to listeners to help keep clarity and accountability at the forefront when we’re in those moments of frustration?

35:20

How practically how do we start to manifest becoming comfortable with discomfort and dealing with this human tendency to scan for safety?

42:40

One of the elements in this aspect of the stretch zone and becoming comfortable with the discomfort that you talk about is identifying some of our mistaken beliefs. How does this impact our leadership?

53:27

There is so much significance in taking the time to establish clarity around what success looks like, and whether or not you are working from the same end goal.

Connect With Marc

LinkedIn

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Podcast

Get the Book

The post Leading Yourself with Clarity and Accountability with Marc Lesser appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

–Male, 58, Denmark, World Workplace Conflict and Collaboration Survey

The Most Important Courageous Conversation is With Yourself

It can be tempting to avoid a courageous conversation at work. After all, it takes energy to initiate it, and you can’t predict exactly how it will go. That’s why so many people go for the diaper genie and wrap the conversation in so much self-protection that what they’re talking about has very little to do with what they really want to say.

Sure, sometimes it just feels easier to pretend everything’s good, avoid the negativity, keep the conversation light, and wait until you get home to vent to your dog.

And, much is lost when you can’t talk about what needs to be said. We often hear, “I wish I’d said something sooner,” when people finally muster the courage to have the conversation.

5 Questions to Ask Yourself to Start a Courageous Conversation

If you’re looking for the inspiration and tools to have a courageous conversation, here are five good questions to get you started.

1. “What do I want to happen because of what I say?”

This one might seem obvious, but a courageous conversation can be messy. You might want to say all the things. It’s helpful to start with why. When summoning the courage to have the conversation you’d rather avoid, one of the best things you can do is know specifically what you are looking to accomplish.

Get clear on your intention. Consider what you want the other person to think, feel, or do because of your conversation.

2. “Why does what I have to say matter?”

In addition to “what,” another important question is “why.”

Bernard Meltzer hosted a popular radio call-in show called “What’s Your Problem?” He summarized sage advice from many wisdom traditions this way: “Before you speak ask yourself if what you are going to say is true, is kind, is necessary, is helpful. If the answer is no, maybe what you are about to say should be left unsaid.”

That’s a good filter as you consider whether to start a courageous conversation. If what you have to say is true, kind, necessary, and helpful, then it matters.

Connect with that “why.”

3. “What’s preventing me from saying it?”

This is where you get in touch with your own fears and the story you’re telling yourself about what might happen.

Are you concerned about “last times?” Are you worried about the relationship? Understanding what’s holding you back can help form your message for your courageous conversation.

4. “What’s at stake if I stay silent?”

In our Courageous Cultures innovation programs, we’ll often ask participants to talk about one of their most “courageous moments” at work. You know what’s really interesting? In many cases, people tell us, “Well it didn’t feel particularly courageous at the time. It was just something I had to do.”

Those are people who understand the consequences of “safe silence.” Safe silence, isn’t really safe, because it comes at a cost.

Dr. Amy Edmondson, the pioneer of psychological safety, often talks about how people are more likely to discount the future benefits of speaking up and overweight their current fear.

When you ask yourself this powerful question, you consider the future and the risks of staying silent.

Martin Sheen shares this poignant Irish tale to emphasize that standing up for what you believe comes at a cost—but that it’s worth it.

A man arrives at the gates of heaven and asks to be let in. St. Peter says, “Of course, just show us your scars.”

The man says, “I have no scars”.

St. Peter replies, “What a pity. Was there nothing worth fighting for?”

When you’re nervous about starting the conversation, consider the long view. Are you the kind of person who cares enough to try?

5. “What’s the worst that can happen here?”

This Powerful Phrase can be strangely empowering. One of our clients, a US Marine veteran is fond of saying. “When I get too stressed about a workplace conflict, I just remember, no one is shooting at me.”

The worst that can happen is usually nowhere near as bad as your imagination suggests.

Powerful Phrases to Invite Others into the Conversation

After connecting with your intention, it’s time to start the conversation. Here are some phrases to begin the conversation with curiosity.

“I’m concerned that we might not be talking about _________. And my hunch is that’s because of _________. Here’s why I think we need to have the conversation anyway. What do you think?”

This technique can help get a courageous conversation started because when you don’t know for sure what’s causing the silence—you might have some hunches. You open with a conversation about the conversation. By providing a possible answer, you make it safer for people to respond.

Here are three variations you can use in different circumstances:

• “What’s one issue we’re not talking about that would make all the difference in our effectiveness?”
• “I’m sensing that there’s something important we’re not talking about. Do you feel that way too?”
• “I care too much about our relationship to not talk about this.”

If you sense your conflict might be due to unspoken fears and misaligned expectations, this next Powerful Phrases cane can use to help everyone know what everyone else feels and thinks. They can lead to incredibly powerful discussions.

“In the next six months, what are you most looking forward to, and what you’re your biggest concerns?”

These questions are powerful when forming a new team, starting a new project, or any new initiative. As people share their answers, the discussion builds connection and an opportunity to solve problems early. It’s amazing how eager people are to share what’s on their hearts and minds. You can easily surface the conversations that need to happen and discuss tangible solutions.

Finding the courage to start an uncomfortable or courageous conversation can be tricky, but when you connect with yourself and invite people into the conversation, you’ll save everyone from future headaches and heartaches.

Workplace Conflict Resolution: 12 Powerful Phrases to Turn Conflict to Collaboration

The post Let’s Talk About It: How to Have the Courageous Conversation You Would Rather Avoid appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

You take performance management seriously. You care deeply about your team, their results, and their long-term career success. If you’re reading this, it sounds like you’re feeling a bit frustrated and stuck, because your well-intentioned accountability conversations aren’t fixing a repeated issue. If this sounds familiar, today’s Asking or a Friend is for you.

“Karin, there is this person on my team that I really care about and want to be successful. But they have one important behavior that’s SABOTAGING THEIR SUCCESS… and they don’t seem to be able to fix it. I keep having the conversation AGAIN and AGAIN. What can I do? #askingforafriend

Human-centered performance management means giving meaningful feedback that reinforces clear expectations and gives space for emotions, support, and reflection. It’s a two-way conversation that helps the employee identify their own next steps. When you’ve had this conversation, and your employee repeats the past behavior then you know you need to escalate the conversation. Here’s how.

Performance Management with the A.R.T. Method

Let’s Grow Leader’s A.R.T. Method of Advanced Accountability is a popular technique in our foundational leadership development programs. The A.R.T. Method helps you escalate the conversation in a way that continues to build the relationship while striving for results.

Step 1: A – Action

Most feedback conversations start by discussing a specific action. The first conversation you have with someone about their performance should clearly address the specific behavior that is problematic – being late for meetings, dismissing a colleague’s ideas, or not following through on a task. You could use our I.N.S.P.I.R.E. Method to map out this conversation so it’s supportive and collaborative.

Step 2: R – Repetition

So if you’ve had two Action conversations and your team member repeats the behavior, it’s time to move to R-Repetition.

You can still use the I.N.S.P.I.R.E. Method, but this time instead of pointing out the problematic action, you will call attention to the repetitive pattern. For example, “I’ve noticed a pattern where you’re arriving late.”

If it’s a repeating pattern, it’s possible the person isn’t aware of their actions and they aren’t noticing the consequences of their behavior. When you address the issue, it makes it clear to them that you notice and can help them identify something they weren’t even unaware of.

The key to this performance management step that can bring about change is to ask for a specific commitment about what they will do differently. Then work together and agree on a time to “schedule the finish.” This means scheduling a time when you’re going to check in on progress and discuss how it’s going. When you schedule the finish, make sure you follow through and check in when the time comes.

Step 3: T – Trust

When you’ve had a recent Repetition conversation and the behavior happens again, you will need to escalate the conversation once more. This time your performance management conversation is about not keeping their commitment and the erosion of trust because of it. When you tell your team member what you’re noticing it won’t be about the original action.

Now the problematic behavior is them not keeping their commitment.

What to say when you have a trust issue

Here’s an example of what you could say if you get to the T – Trust part of the A.R.T. Method:

“Do you remember the commitment you made last Friday? So here’s the thing. I noticed that this week, you didn’t keep your word, and I’m concerned.

Listen, I want to be able to trust you. I know you want to be able to trust me as your leader, as your manager. You’ve got to be able to take my word and bank on it. And I want to have that same relationship with you. Right now, that’s not happening. I want to see you succeed. I want the best for you. It’s important that you achieve all of your goals here, and this is going to prevent that. So what’s happening here? How do you think we can fix it?”

I’m curious, what would you add? What are your best practices for addressing repeating performance issues?

Managers, for a detailed overview of the I.N.S.P.I.R.E. Method, see our article How to Provide More Meaningful Performance Feedback.

And if you are ready to accelerate team performance and positive, sustained culture change, check out Team Accelerator, our manager-led program.

The post Performance Management: How to Give Feedback to a Team Member Who Isn’t Changing appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

It can be super challenging to move beyond the stories of the past that affect your leadership reputation. We all have mishaps from the past that haunt us. Leadership is never handled. We’re always in progress. If you’re looking to change your reputation, today’s Asking for a Friend is a start. What would you add?

Why It’s Hard

Have you experienced this? You’ve been “all in” to improve your reputation, showing up as a competent, human-centered leader…but people still talk about when you lost your cool, stole credit for an idea, or were overly critical of other people’s ideas.

Whatever your leadership reputation holds, you can change your reputation with clear goals and persistent effort.

Why Is Your Leadership Reputation So Important?

Your reputation defines your personal brand as a leader, and it’s how others would describe you in one sentence. Imagine your colleagues or employees describing you when you’re not around. What would they say?

Sure, your reputation might include some positive statements, but what if there is a BUT included?

“She’s a good person and very nice, BUT she doesn’t follow through on her commitments.”
“He’s the best sales guy we have BUT he’s really hard to work with and hyper-critical.”
“They have great ideas, BUT lack the leadership know-how to make things happen.”

7 Ways to Change Your Reputation

Define the Leadership Qualities You Want

Start by defining success.
Try completing this sentence: “I want to be remembered as a leader who _________.” Identify the strengths you can build on and take a close look at your biggest opportunities for improvement.

Ask Courageous Questions to Understand Why You Have the Reputation You Have

Ask for honest feedback about your reputation.

To change your reputation, try asking these specific, humble courageous questions in pairs…one strength to build on, and one opportunity to improve.

• What’s one behavior that you think helps my success as a leader? And, what’s one that undermines my success?
• What is one way my current leadership style positively impacts the team? And, what’s one way my current leadership style gets in the way?

Let Others Know What You’re Working on and Why You Care

If you let people know what you’re working on and why it matters, they’re more likely to notice your change in behavior. When you let people know you are working on a change, you set them up to better see it and recognize you for the improvements you make.

Stay Consistent While Being Generous

Repetition is helpful and consistency is the key to lasting change. However, you don’t want to appear overly needy or only focused on your own career. Try to integrate your plan to change your reputation into your everyday activities without going overboard. Stay on track with your reputation transformation and also be generous in supporting your team and colleagues.

Be Interested in Your Team

They are – after all – the people who hold your reputation and see you more than anyone else in your organization. Show them you care. Ask supportive questions. Let them know you’re trying.

Be a genuinely interested and supportive leader who shows up as consistently helpful in order to increase trust and connection. At Let’s Grow Leaders, we call this “land in the AND” – be an interesting expert AND an interested connector. Be sure to review our 6 Core Competencies You Can’t Lead Without.

Admit When You Screw Up and Invite Your Team to Hold You Accountable

When you let people know what you’re working on, you can then ask for help.

You might say, “I’d really appreciate if you could watch out for me doing __________. Can you please let me know when you see me doing this well? Or if you see me doing this behavior, please point it out to me so I can do better.”

A quick, sincere apology goes a long way in building your trusted leadership brand.

Don’t Give Up

Changing your reputation takes time. Stay focused on consistently doing the right thing. Even if you can’t transform your damaged reputation in your current situation, the investment in changing your reputation can put you on track for success as you continue to develop your career.

Check out these related articles:

How Do I Stop My Boss From Treating Me Like a Kid

How to Improve Your Executive Presence to Have More Influence and Impact

Asking for a Friend with Marshall Goldsmith: How Do I Find More Meaning in My Work

How to Stop Being Perceived as Negative at Work

How to Overcome Negative Perceptions for a Better Leadership Brand

The post How Do I Change My Reputation as a Leader? (Asking for a Friend) appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

Everyone’s On Board, and We’re Still Struggling!

Steve, the CEO of an energy company, had thrown every ounce of energy into launching their new strategic product.

He was counting on this game-changing offering to help their company be stickier to customers in an increasingly commoditized industry. He also hoped it would attract new customers away from their competitors.

Steve had done so many things right to create clarity. He ensured employees at every level understood WHY the new product was so mission-critical to their long-term future.

His 5×5 communication strategy was more like 30×30. Everyone in every corner of the company knew the goals and their specific mission-critical behaviors to achieve them.

Steve had dedicated leaders whom he trusted leading through change nearly full-time. He had committed significant financial resources to see it through. People cared. They were working hard on bringing the product to market. They knew what they were supposed to do, and they were doing it.

But the program struggled to gain traction.

As Steve told it:

I was getting so frustrated about the lack of sales, I had reinforced why this was so important so many times, I was sick of hearing myself talk about it. 

But the service reps were struggling to convert inquiries to sales. Then one day, I went into the contact center and took a few customers’ calls myself. The questions were tough.

I realized our new program was difficult to explain and our training had not prepared our reps to take those calls.

It occurred to me that no amount of explaining WHY this program mattered would help until or reps had the information to answer our customers’ questions.  No marketing campaign or incentives matter if our reps were stumped by the calls they were receiving.

When I got closer to what was happening, I realized we not only had a gap in our training but there were also a few policies and procedures we hadn’t quite figured out.

When you’re looking to make a significant change, it takes more than clearly communicating what’s important and tight action plans to make it happen. It’s vital to show up curious to ensure the behaviors have the desired impact.

In this case, the reps could explain the value proposition with excitement and had learned to eloquently bridge to the sale in common inbound calls. But they couldn’t answer the deeper logistics questions that mattered most to prospective buyers.

When Leading Through Change: Schedule the “Show”

In our book Courageous Cultures, we call this “scheduling the show.” Scheduling the show means making a deliberate plan to inspect the behaviors you assume should be happening AND that those behaviors are having the impact you anticipate.

You can schedule a site visit, a skip-level meeting, or, like Steve, you can dive in and participate alongside your team.

The leaders who do this best master the art of the old Russian proverb made famous by Ronald Reagan and now repeated in conference rooms around the world: “Trust, but verify.”

To truly understand the support his team needed, Steve had to experience the initiative from the frontline and hear from customers.

And here’s what else he learned.

His frontline employees were much more interested in hearing his sales ideas when they knew that he knew how hard it was—and that he was vulnerable enough to admit it. In companies where the Show phase breaks down, we often hear complaints that “leaders just don’t get it.”

They stay away from the action. They count on frontline managers to inspect and raise issues, many of who lack the confidence or competence to do that well (see also Share Your Ideas: Practical Ways to Ensure Your Voice is Heard).

Leading Change: 5 Ways To Inspect What You Expect

1. Model and test the behavior yourself
2. Invite your team to show their approach
3. Hold regular skip-level meetings and leadership visits
4. Teach your team to ask courageous questions of one another
5. Acknowledge the difficulty

When leading change it’s tempting to focus more on clarity than curiosity- telling people what needs to happen and why. It’s also important to show up curious to understand what’s happening and why.

1. Model and test the behavior yourself (and, if you’re a manager of managers, ensure they can do it too).

When I (Karin) was leading the store channel at Verizon, I found that one of the best ways to learn how to position our products to customers was to spend time on the floor talking to customers.

And there was a direct correlation between how well my managers could talk about our products and the sales results of their teams.

My team and I often learned that there were gaps in the training or nuances we could add that made our products easier to understand and more appealing when we rolled up our sleeves and practiced ourselves.

2. Invite your team to show you their approach

We know, most people cringe when they hear the words “role play.”

But do you know what works well to help fine-tune behavior? Role play.

When you’re leading change, one of the best ways to build momentum is to have your team practice and show you and one another the behaviors you’re looking to engrain.

3 . Hold regular skip-level meetings and leadership visits. 

Leadership visits and skip-level meetings are a great way to check for understanding to ensure people understand what’s important and that they know what to do at a behavioral level.

And, as Steve learned, it’s helpful to show up curious about the impact. Do the behaviors you’ve encouraged and trained have the results you desired?

Make it easy for your team to give you bad news and tell you what’s not working.

4. Teach your team to ask courageous questions of one another

Of course, in a courageous culture, it’s not just the leader “inspecting” what they expect, it’s everyone, coming to work asking “is this working?” “Is there a way we could do this better?”

One simple technique we teach in our team innovation programs is the art of Courageous Questions. 

Courageous questions are specific and humble.

• What’s one policy that really annoys our customers?
• If you could make one change to improve the customer experience, what would that be?
• When customers call, what’s their number one complaint?
• What is the most important action we take to delight our customers? How would you recommend we do that more consistently?

5. Acknowledge the Difficulty

One of the biggest frustrations we hear from employees when it comes to large-scale change is that their boss doesn’t “get how hard this is.” Change doesn’t happen in a vacuum.

It could be that the new behavior your expecting the team to embrace isn’t actually that difficult. But what IS hard is making the change on top of the twenty-seven other tasks they’re trying to manage, along with customer escalations and team members out with Covid.

Your team wants to know that you understand all they’re juggling. Give them an opportunity to show you that too. And of course, thank them for their efforts.

When leading change efforts, curiosity is key. Show up confident and clear about what’s most important, and curious about how it’s really going. Stay involved and model the way.

Your turn.

What are your best practices for leading through change and inspecting what you expect?

The post When Leading Through Change, Inspect What You Expect (With Curiosity and Compassion) appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

Most managers will say they want those outcomes and that they believe in an empowered team, but unintentionally prevent their teams from doing their best. Avoid these common roadblocks and you’ll release your team to be their best:

1. Soak up their time
2. Unclear definition of success
3. Be a chokepoint
4. Misguided support
5. Keep information to yourself
6. Fear new ideas
7. Lack of accountability

What is an Empowered Team?

“Empower” is one of those business lingo words that risks losing its meaning because it’s used so often – and often incorrectly. Even the core meaning of the word (to give power) is challenging. There are some times you do “give” power over…for example, when you ask someone to make a decision or offer an opportunity to try something new.

But most of the time, empowerment isn’t about you giving your team anything – it’s about helping them understand and own the power they already have. This means removing roadblocks, supporting them, giving them the information they need to make effective decisions, and helping navigate relationships with other teams.

An empowered team solves problems on their own, they think critically, the own their outcomes and work together to achieve them. They are confident and competent, while continuing to learn and grow.

One Big Reason Managers Disempower Their Team

The most common mistakes that disempower teams often result from a manager’s insecurity. Insecurity looks like a manager who feels they have to demonstrate their value by taking up everyone’s time, being the source of all knowledge, or unwillingness to consider new ideas because of the risk involved.

If any of those sound familiar, we invite you to reframe what success looks like in your role. It isn’t the work you do or how smart you are. Your success is how successfully your team performs, how they grow, and the quality of problems they solve.

Seven Common Mistakes that Roadblock an Empowered Team

As you build an empowered team, focus on removing these roadblocks and watch your team flourish.

Soak up Their Time

People need time to do the work that’s at the core of their function. Take up too much of that time with meetings or endless discussions and they end up working after hours to make up the gap (or not). Either way, it’s a problem.

At the same time, your team needs to meet. You should have one-on-ones. You should discuss and make decisions together. How do you find the right balance?

The shortest way to answer this question is to ask, “Is this meeting for the team/employee’s benefit or for mine?” Will it truly help them be more connected, productive, effective, visible, or equipped? If it’s not an effective use of their time, consider eliminating, consolidating, or automating that process.

If it is a good use of time, lead your meetings efficiently with a clear outcome for the discussion. Protect your team’s time—in today’s workplace, it’s one of the greatest acts of service you can give.

Unclear Definition of Success

When we talk with managers about empowered teams, one of the first questions they ask is “How can I empower my team when they don’t get the results we need?”

The answer to this question almost always comes back to two things: unclear definitions of success and/or a lack of training.

The challenge for most managers is that they think they’ve communicated what success looks like, but their team doesn’t have the same picture at all. It often takes far more communication up front than you think it will.

Take the time to check for understanding, schedule the finish, and describe in detail what a successful outcome looks like or will accomplish (and if you don’t know yet what success looks like, be upfront about that. Include future time and emotional energy for edits).

As your team works toward that goal, revisit those outcomes – will their current approach achieve those goals?

Be a Chokepoint

How often is your team waiting on you for information, your opinion, or a decision? If you are a consistent chokepoint, there are several solutions. You may need to give the team more information. You might need to invite them to trust their judgment (and respond with regard as they learn). It’s possible they need more training in how you would think about the subject or make a decision.

If you’re a consistent chokepoint, set aside consistent time to invest in growing your team’s skills and abilities. Get comfortable with not being a part of every decision – remember, that’s not your job. Helping your team know how to make good decisions is where the magic happens.

Misguided Support

Like the people in them, teams have natural life cycles. They usually start needing training and equipping, then need to grow their competence and confidence on the way to mastery. Give your team the support they need when they need it.

Some managers over-rely on one type of support. For example, if you’re an ace at coaching and accountability conversations, and you tend to see everything through that lens, you will miss opportunities to help a low-confidence team build their belief in their own ability. Encouragement would be more effective.

The confidence-competence model is a useful way to think about the specific support your team needs.

Keep Information to Yourself

There are usually two causes when managers don’t share information with their team. First, the manager doesn’t want to share it for fear of becoming irrelevant or losing the value their knowledge gave them. The second cause is time – you’re moving fast and hadn’t realized the team didn’t know or could really use that information.

If you worry about losing value when you share information, remember:

Success isn’t the work you do or how smart you are. Your success is your team’s performance, how they grow, and the quality of problems they solve.

To help your team get the information they need, include five-why questions (ask why five times until you get to foundational reasons) to uncover needed connections and purpose. Another useful technique is a pre-mortem – done well, you’ll uncover critical information and opportunities.

Fear of New Ideas

Another common roadblock for empowered teams is a manager’s reluctance to consider new ideas. It’s understandable: if what we did yesterday worked, why would we want to change it?

It’s a natural way to think and, unfortunately, it doesn’t serve you or your team well. The world is changing. Your competition is changing. Technology evolves.

New ideas and solutions are critical for your long-term success. You don’t have to embrace every idea, but the more you create a culture where solving problems and daily innovations are the norm, the more relevant and effective you and your team will be.

Start here to help your team think through and contribute game-changing ideas. And here’s a resource to help you share your ideas (and be a role model for your team).

Lack of Accountability

A poorly performing team member or someone’s disruptive, negative behavior are roadblocks to team performance. In highly effective, empowered teams, the team may address it internally. If not, healthy accountability and feedback conversations are another place where you help remove obstacles to a truly empowered team.

Here’s a resource for more on how to have effective performance conversations that achieve results and build relationships.

Your Turn

Leading empowered teams can be one of the most rewarding and fulfilling experiences you’ll have. But it requires reframing what success looks like in your role. Become a leader who removes roadblocks like the seven mentioned here and watch what your team will achieve.

I’d love to hear from you: what would you add to this list? What other common roadblocks can frustrate or undermine an empowered team?

Are you ready to accelerate team performance?

Increase communication, connection and trust while driving results. See our Team Accelerator Program page and sign up for the free demo to learn how.

The post How Managers (unintentionally) Roadblock an Empowered Team appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.