Picture this. You have your weekly one on one. Your team member promises to complete the inventory report for the project by next week. Next week arrives and it’s not done. What do you say? Is it, ‘Why didn’t you complete the report?’ If you’re like most leaders, that’s exactly what you’d say. Or at least, it’s what you want to say.
We won!
I saw the call for the awards email and deleted it… Three times.
Then I had a conversation with my client about how well the current Coaching skills program was going. I was feeling quite chuffed!
Then I saw the award email again, and this time I read it.
We know that diverse teams deliver the goods. Science knows it. Academia knows it. And anyone who’s worked on a diverse team knows it. But what we don't’ talk enough about, is how it feels to be a part of this diversity. If we are doing our job, showing up with ideas, challenging other team members, and generally pushing ourselves and each other to be brilliant, then diversity feels difficult. There is push back. There is scepticism. There is discomfort. BUT...if we can just hang in there long enough, trust our colleagues enough, and have faith that we all want to make a positive difference, then we can reap the rewards that diversity offers.
Today I turn 48 (and mark 18 years as an independent consultant in communication dynamics – Wahoo!). Feeling nostalgic about my life, my mind has wandered to my early jobs, and how they shaped my work today. I figured you might get a laugh out of these early jobs so I’m sharing some here. (I guarantee you’ll be surprised by some!)
Shiva was frustrated. She had just lost her early morning work time… again. Her colleague had seen her arrive and had taken the opportunity to ‘pop in for a quick chat’ before the day started. The first time it happened, Shiva politely indulged her colleague in the early morning chit-chat, thinking it was a once off, but after three days in a row, Shiva began to get upset.
To be known as someone who does valuable work, we need to be seen as someone who does valuable work. When Executives and CEOs look to their talent pipelines for the next generation of leaders, the people who grab their attention are people who are known to them, or known to others who then bring them to their attention. They stand out not just because of the good work they are doing, but because they are known to be doing good work – their efforts are visible.
No-one likes a bragger, (you know, someone who incessantly toots their own horn), so when we’re given advice that we need to be more visible, share our accomplishments more and generally put ourselves forward a little more assertively to get ahead in our career, it’s hard not to feel a little sick at the thought.
Great leaders build engagement. Engagement in meetings requires contribution and involvement. Many leaders I work with complain of a lack of engagement from their team members during meetings, despite their best efforts. This is not always about their leadership or their teams’ engagement; often there are other factors at play.
Getting the best out of others is not an easy task. Helping your team members to be more effective, more productive, and more engaged is not always as simple as asking them to be so, or equipping them with the skills or support to be so. In fact, sometimes it’s not even about the very problem that’s causing the problem. To be an effective leader of people requires us to be flexible in the way we approach and support our people. Sometimes it even calls on us to allow the problem to get worse before it gets better.
