Leadership Tip of Week

adapted from HBR

Many jobs require people to continually develop new skills.

As a manager, you should be less worried with what people know and more concerned about whether they’re able to learn. But it’s not enough to hire curious, adaptable people; you also have to reward them for learning.

When your employees have increased their knowledge and their value to the company, provide them with new and challenging opportunities.

Promote people only when they’ve acquired sufficient expertise in other jobs in the organization, not just their own. Or you could give awards for individuals who organize events or activities to promote learnability in the company (running internal conferences, bringing external speakers, or circulating information that nurtures people’s curiosity).

Reward simpler habits, too, like writing a blog, sharing articles on social media, or recommending books and movies.

Adapted from “It’s the Company’s Job to Help Employees Learn,” by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic and Mara Swan

Management Tip of the Week

adapted from Harvard Business Review

It’s easy to assume that everyone knows how to work on a team, but most people have individual styles and preferences.

What if one person thinks a 9:00 start time means 9:03 and someone else thinks it means 8:55?

To avoid these common frustrations, create rules of conduct for your team’s collaboration. Rules help clarify how you will collectively make decisions, keep everyone informed, and run meetings.

To start, find or create a boilerplate framework with basic rules for respect, trust, meetings, decision making, and more.

Discuss the rules with your team and agree on which ones you’ll follow.

Review the rules periodically to keep them relevant and quash undesirable behaviors that have emerged.

In addition, conduct a cultural audit of your team by asking about the unwritten rules a new team member would need to know. Then create one combined set of rules that everyone will follow.

Adapted from “Help Your Team Agree on How They’ll Collaborate,” by Mary Shapiro

Just because you have a recurring meeting on your calendar doesn’t mean you have to hold it.

Only convene the group if everyone (especially you, as the meeting leader) is clear on what the objectives are. Agreed-upon goals will keep the agenda focused and ensure you make the most of the time. Here are a few sample objectives to consider:

•  Share updates and review progress to date, including major milestones or upcoming activities. Ask and answer: “What did I do? What will I do?”
• Identify questions and concerns related to progress. Ask and answer: “What are the potential roadblocks?”
• Prioritize and resolve issues and address additional questions.
• Agree on next steps (for example, what to do if a situation escalates, and what each individual’s role is).

Adapted from HBR Guide to Making Every Meeting Matter

Leadership Tip of Week

adapted from HBR

Successful entrepreneurs rarely dismiss bad ideas outright: They rework them in the hope that there’s a gem yet to be discovered.

After all, the best opportunities aren’t always self-evident. Instead of killing ideas and initiatives when they seem problematic, challenge yourself or your team to push further, reframe the problem and solution, or explore adjacencies.

By bringing new thinking to seemingly bad ideas, you may end up with a breakthrough. Listen to all stakeholders regularly, and don’t stop, even once you’ve decided on a course of action. Pay special attention to new information and edge cases as you go — they often hold clues to move you toward better versions of your idea.

Adapted from “Embracing Bad Ideas to Get to Good Ideas,” by John Geraci

Leadership Tip the week #1

adapted from HBR.

It can be difficult for leaders (especially senior ones new to their roles) to pause before acting. But when was the last time you stopped to ask, “Why are we doing it that way?”

Leaders must constantly explore new ideas and seek out new thinking from those around them. You need to regularly ask uncomfortable questions and think about whether to change or abandon an existing strategy.

The best leaders step back and look at the big picture every so often. They surround themselves with diverse teams and capitalize on opportunities to hear and experiment with new ideas. They give themselves time to surface divergent opinions that ultimately lead to smarter business decisions.

Adapted from “When was the last time you asked, “Why are we doing It This Way?” ”

http://www.hbr.org/2016/04/when-was-the-last-time-you-asked-why-are-we-doing-it-this-way

Leadership Tip of Week

adapted from HBR

If you believe that only senior executives need to think strategically, think again.

No matter what level you’re at, strategic thinking is a critical skill — one that can always be improved. To hone your capacity to see the big picture, start by making sure you have a solid understanding of the industry context and business drivers.

• Make it a routine to explore the internal trends in your day-to-day work.
• Pay attention to the issues that get raised repeatedly, and synthesize the common obstacles your colleagues face.
• Be proactive about connecting with peers in your organization and in your industry to understand their observations of the marketplace, and share this information across your network.
• Take the time to understand the unique information and perspective that your job function contributes to the company.

Thinking at this higher level will position you to be more strategic in your role.

Adapted from “4 Ways to Improve Your Strategic Thinking Skills,” by Nina Bowman

Leadership Tip of week

adapted from HBR

Let’s face it, giving and receiving feedback can be uncomfortable.

To make it easier, you don’t necessarily have to get better at saying the exact right thing; you just need practice.

If you see someone doing something they can improve, offer your observations right away. Don’t wait until your next meeting to provide your input; give it in the moment. You want as little time as possible between identifying and discussing the problem.

After you address the problem, offer a “patch up” to help them know that you respect them. The biggest predictor of whether someone will become defensive after presented with feedback is the motive behind it. If they know that you’re trying to help them and hold them accountable, they are less likely to push back.

Adapted from “How to Make Feedback Feel Normal,” by Joseph Grenny  

Leadership Tip of the week

adapted from HBR

There’s no doubt that people want to feel appreciated and listened to at work. As a leader, it’s your job to create an empathetic environment where everyone feels valued. Here are a few simple things you can do to show empathy for your team:

• Observe, listen, and ask questions. Stop assuming that you know what people are thinking and feeling — you probably don’t. There’s always more to learn if you’re quiet and curious.
• Stop multitasking. If you’re writing an email to one person while talking with another, neither one is getting the best of you. Put your phone down and give your full attention to the person in front of you.
• Don’t give in to distractions. There’s always a deadline looming, a crisis to deal with, or an annoyance to put to rest. It’s important to slow down and take a step back from all of this stress. Practice mindfulness, and encourage your employees to do the same. Let them know it’s OK to take some time for themselves.

Adapted from “If You Can’t Empathize with Your Employees, You’d Better Learn To,” by Annie McKee

Management Tip of the week

adapted from Harvard Business Review

Create a Culture Where People Are Open to Feedback

The benefits of an open culture — where frank, candid discussions about problems are possible — are immense, but building an open culture is difficult. However, once you establish the practice of open feedback across the company, you’ll likely find that it builds momentum quickly. Leaders can set their organization on the path to having an open culture by modeling three behaviors:

• Showing appreciation. Overcome the negative connotation of “feedback” by recognizing your employees’ good work too. Research suggests you should share positive feedback three times as often as negative feedback.
• Opening up. We all tend to respond to feedback by protecting ourselves, but building an open culture requires leaders to really listen to what people say to them. Demonstrate how to receive feedback without taking it personally.
• Getting the whole company involved. Silos create an “us vs. them” mindset. Get other departments involved in decision making early and often.

Adapted from “Create a Culture Where Difficult Conversations Aren’t So Hard,” by Jim Whitehurst

Leadership Tip of the Week from HBR

People have long used ceremonies — bar mitzvahs, baptisms, weddings, inaugurations, quinceañeras — to mark changes and turning points.

Companies have ceremonies too, but they often focus on celebrating the positive: birthdays, work anniversaries, promotions, and project victories.

These types of recognition are important and shouldn’t stop, but companies should consider using celebrations to help people through hard times. This can be a powerful way to mark difficulties, acknowledge dark passages, honor those who have made sacrifices or experienced hardship, and help people move on.

You may not pop a bottle of champagne after a difficult reorg, but you might gather as a group and read your mission statement aloud or hold a mock funeral for the past (as Steve Jobs did at the 2002 Worldwide Developers Conference, to mark the end of the Mac’s OS 9).

Communal experiences like these can help strengthen your group’s bonds, values, and vision.

Leadership Tip of the week,

adapted from HBR

What do you think?  best question asked to set up listening

Listening Is an Overlooked Leadership Tool

Listening can be a challenging skill to master and  three levels of listening have been identified: