If email is not working for us, why are we working so hard to work around it? This thought honestly never occurred to me before reading the book, A World Without Email by Cal Newport (Many thanks Carla Dancy Smith for co-leading last month’s book discussion on this and creating the discussion notes.) And, it’s so true, I’ve come up with email folders, filters, rules, automatic responses, etc., just to stay on top of this never-ending stream of communication...
​
The book club discussion triggered my thinking about what we can do now to make email work for us. You may not be in a position to eliminate it entirely (although, some organizations have, believe it or not) but I challenge you to thoughtfully design another way to operate…or a way to love the one we’re with.

• Simulate the 'Friction' One of the challenges with email is simply the volume. It’s just too easy to send a message when a thought pops in your head. And as a result, we send and receive way too many. The fix: Here’s a thought exercise…Imagine there is more 'friction' when you send an email. Imagine having to get up from your desk, walk down the hall, catch your colleague in a free moment, and ask the question. If all of this effort were needed, would you still send it? If not, save it for your one-on-one meeting. Which brings us to our next point.
• Maximize your Meetings A key way to eliminate many emails is to make better use of other means of exchange, for example meetings. The fix: Set the expectation with your staff about how you’d like to work together. Ask them to save their non-urgent questions until you meet 1:1 or as a team. Another option is to create a shared document where everyone can drop their thoughts during the week. Then review it to ensure the ideas are captured/addressed.
• Take time to Triage There’s a big blind spot with email—we tend to underestimate how long it takes to organize info. In fact, many people answer messages as they come, without any real method for triage or thoughtful prioritization. The fix: Here’s an exercise you can do tomorrow morning. Time yourself as you are reading and organizing 50 emails in your inbox. Then dedicate that amount of time every day--actually block the time on your calendar--to organize your inbox. Organizing your emails is separate from actually responding to messages and will make all the difference in how much you feel in control of your inbox. The general rule, from David Allen’s Getting Things Done, is if it will take longer than 3 minutes to respond to an email, it’s considered a task. Therefore, you will need to block time on your calendar to complete the task.
• Create Team Agreements on How to Communicate One challenge with email is that it tends to become the default, without regard for the other communications channels available. The fix: Team Agreements are a big help as it relates to communication norms overall. Working collaboratively with your team, come up with agreements on how you will use Slack/IM/Teams – versus email. Agree to revisit the agreements periodically, say when new people join the team.

 
I hope this short list gets you thinking…and do let me know what works for you, as you rethink how email can work for us!

1. Normalize it – Many accomplished professionals, men and women alike, have moments where they don’t feel that they can live up to others’ expectations of themselves, even though they have the expertise and have proven themselves to be credible time and time again. It happens to the best of us. Many people experience the it after they’ve been promoted into a position with greater responsibility. Listen to a few stories about Michelle Obama and Maya Angelou, just to name a few, in this Hidden Brain episode “Success 2.0: The Psychology of Self-Doubt,” with psychologist Kevin Cokley. 
2. Reframe it – There’s a fine line between anxiety and excitement. With both emotions, your body reacts in similar ways in that your adrenaline is pumping, sweat is dripping, and your heart is beating fast. Is it possible that some of your nerves with starting a new role or job may actually be excitement that you’re labeling as anxiety? How would it benefit you to reframe those sensations as excitement? How would you respond differently?
3. Put words to it – Finding what is at the root of imposter phenomenon requires leaders to do some personal introspection—and also examine the external factors that may exist in the culture or work environment. Oftentimes, the “fix” for imposter phenomenon is not at the level of the individual leader, it’s at the organizational level and may require systemic changes over time. However, at the individual level, recognize what is in your control. Find a trusted colleague or coach and begin to examine what exactly is causing you to feel like an imposter. Break it down to the behavioral level, if possible, and then brainstorm strategies to address each of your concerns. 
4. Be prepared to recover from mistakes – Often when someone takes on a new role, they are afraid of saying something dumb or not having an answer that they “should” know. Prepare yourself to perform at your best and prepare yourself to fail. For example, how would you recover if you were in a situation where you didn’t know the answer? Think of the way you’d react, and the words you would say.
5. Access your past – The best way to build your own confidence is to recall real experiences from the past in which you felt you had genuine success. Think about why you were successful. What did you bring to the table? How did you add value? And then think about how you can access that same skill set today. BTW, this is a great technique to use if you’re helping others build their confidence too (co-workers or even your kids). Instead of empty statements of how great they are, give specific real examples of when they succeeded in the past. 
6. It’s not about you – It’s often the top executives who experience imposter syndrome. They think, who am I to be in this role and spout out wisdom and advice to others? Actually, no one wants you to do that. Your team wants you to value them for what they bring to the table. Instead of focusing on your expertise, highlight your team members and let them shine. If you’re in a senior leader or executive role, you’re no longer relied on for your expertise. You are now the choreographer, the facilitator, the communicator, or the collaborator. Think about the ways you add value that have nothing to do with your expertise.

 
As always, pile on your thoughts on the topic! I love to hear what ideas this sparks for you.

At last month’s CliffsNotes Book Club discussion, we explored strategies and tips for navigating career changes. Our facilitator for the month, Paula Brand, led a fabulous discussion and shared a lot of context from her experience as a career coach. (If you missed it, check out the portal for Paula’s notes.)
 
My “aha!” moment as I followed along was that career changes have a special way of pushing people out of their comfort zones! In particular as it relates to networking, many people hesitate to be proactive—or put it off for too long—because it’s simply too uncomfortable. I wanted to share a few strategies I have worked through with coaching clients over the years…that will help reframe the challenges.

Challenge #1: It’s been a while since you connected with someone, and you hesitate to get back in touch.
Keeping up your professional network is a must, but for a number of reasons you may find yourself in a situation where you have not been in touch with your key “career success” people in a while. Perhaps you changed jobs, they moved, or you left a mutual group where you would regularly interact.
 
The reframe: Remember a relationship goes two ways.
Asking someone for time to talk can feel like an imposition, especially if you have not been in touch in a while. But remember that it is highly likely that they will also benefit from talking with you. When you reach out, be open about what you are asking for, and also offer to support them. This reframe can alleviate some of your discomfort and make the discussion feel more ‘give and take,’ and balanced.
 
 

Challenge #2: You cringe at the thought of bragging about yourself.
It can be uncomfortable to many to openly speak about accomplishments, skills, expertise, or credentials. Even if you are proud of your background, talking about it so as to ‘sell’ it can be hard.
 
The reframe: Put the spotlight on the organization. 
In an interview, focus on the organization rather than your experience or background. Lead with what you appreciate about the organization and how your particular expertise could support/further their efforts. This allows you to share your success stories and skills in the context of enhancing the organization.
 
 
Challenge #3: You need to talk to strangers.
Often times, expanding your network involves connecting with new people. For many, this means being "on.” It can be particularly draining and anxiety-inducing!
 
The reframe: Set goals for yourself and network with purpose.
Networking goals can help remind you of the purpose and your desired outcomes. You’ll find it’s not about quantity (e.g., reaching out to everyone), it’s about quality (e.g., identifying a few key people you can make meaningful connections with). First set clear goals on what you are trying to achieve, then seek out people who can help you gain clarity on them. Instead of filling your calendar with coffee chats, this will help you engage in purposeful discussions with a wide variety of people.
 
 
What networking challenges have you faced, and how have you overcome them?

If I asked you to write down the rules and norms for your household, it may take some reflection to generate a robust list. Yet, one shortcut is to observe a child in action. When learning their way in life, children make a lot of missteps. From “Don’t put that in your mouth” to “We don’t look in other people’s purses,” listening to what a child is being corrected for can signal the long-established group norms. In many cases, these “broken rules” are things you would not think to articulate—that is, until a child enters the picture!

In the workplace, it may take some discussion to reflect on and develop a list, but it’s well worth the effort.

Spoiler alert: One of my favorite Group Agreements is to use an Elmo doll in meetings. "ELMO" stands for "Enough, let's move on." You can throw Elmo or just show a key-chain size Elmo on a virtual meeting, and everyone gets the message in a playful way.

Group Agreements are norms and guidelines that explicitly state the unwritten rules of how your team agrees to interact. They work best when discussed, formally written down, and kept in a prominent place. What’s more, they are a living document that needs to be adjusted as the team grows. It’s important to dust them off, review them, and discuss them periodically.
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People often ask me what is the secret to a high-performing team, and establishing these norms is a tactic I have seen be very successful in many different types of settings. Known by many names including “group charter,” agreements are a set of expectations that you (or others) can refer back to and reinforce to optimize interpersonal and team dynamics and address issues that may occur. They create psychological safety—a safe space for conversation that allows people to be more honest and forthcoming.

​Why are Group Agreements so helpful to leaders? Imagine leading a team that includes a team member who is a challenge. She’s extremely intelligent and follows the rules, but she shows up as defensive in meetings. Her presence has a negative impact on team dynamics.
 
Yet, it’s hard to give her feedback against a specific skill area or core value because she’s a great performer. However, if you have agreements in place, you can refer to them.
 
For example, some teams include in their agreements Steven Covey's rule, "Seek first to understand then be understood." In a feedback conversation, you can frame your observation in terms of this agreement. Like competencies and core values, the agreements are something tangible to refer to during feedback conversations.

​If you know me, you know my motto, “Leadership at work and beyond.” The skills we develop as leaders are transferrable to many settings outside of the workplace, including the home. With some tweaks, e.g., display on the refrigerator door vs. on a PowerPoint, you can leverage agreements for your family.
 
One day when my boys were young, I came home from facilitating a workshop and had all my supplies in tow. I was holding flip chart paper with the words “Ground Rules” at the top. My oldest son who loved structure asked about this and was curious what I was doing creating rules with people I work with. I explained to him that we established the rules of how we want to work together before we start a workshop. He immediately then asked, “Can we do rules for our family?” Of course! Why didn’t I think of that? So, that week we sat down and came up with our family rules that included “Talk nicely,” “Recover when you make a mistake,” and “Care about others.”
 
These rules reflected how we wanted and expected to interact with each other as a family. My husband and I always had these expectations, but we never thought to discuss them with our kids and write them out. We selected some rules that we knew our boys needed to work on and some that we were already doing well. The rules applied to everyone, not only the kids.
 
We created “Spy Journals” and everyone was asked to spy on each other during the day to catch others living out the family rules. If you saw something, you wrote it down on a piece of paper and then we read them to each other before bedtime. We would describe the behavior and what rule it aligned to. One time I remember writing, “I saw Jack get an extra bowl for Drew during breakfast, and that shows he cares about others.” Instead of empty praise or kudos, we wrote down what we actually saw and connected the dots to the family rules.  
 
Although agreements are helpful when having to give constructive feedback, they work best when you “catch others doing something right” and this applies at home or at work. Agreements should not be used to shame or punish others, but rather leveraged to reinforce the positive behaviors you want to see repeated.

While it works best to establish the norms early on as a group is forming, you can also introduce the concept after a team is established. The important thing to remember is that the agreements surface through discussion and input. To gain buy-in, they cannot be imposed by the organization or a leader.

I often work with groups in designing norms and have jotted down some common agreements that work for many groups. If you decide to work with your team to establish them, you could refer to these and see what resonates. Then edit, add, delete as needed.
​
Group Agreements – Examples

• Assume positive intent – shift from threat to connect
• Dialogue, don’t debate
• Be transparent – share your pain points
• Invest in relationships to build relationships
• Own your own mistakes
• Don’t let issues fester
• Feedback is for learning, not evaluating
• Demonstrate empathy
• When a project goes off track, inform early in the process and offer suggestions
• WAIT – When speaking in a meeting, ask yourself, “Why am I talking?”

 
Agreements for Virtual Teams

• ELMO – “Enough, let’s move on” (distribute Elmo stuffed toys for team members to show on camera)
• Elephant picture or stuffed animal – show on camera when you want to discuss “The elephant in the room”
• YES/NO signs – Show your agreement through physical signs
• Be camera-ready
• “Mute” until you have a comment
• Turn off video if unable to be present
• Turn off the pings! (e.g., IMs or email pop ups) during important conversations
• Use the reaction features to communicate
• For longer meetings, take stretch breaks

 
If you have experience with Group Agreements, drop me a line below to let me know what unique guidelines you have established, and how they have helped your team!

Many of the leaders I support are working hard to increase their intentional focus on supporting Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility (DEIA) efforts in their organizations. They are personally dedicated to making their own workplaces more inclusive. This is a wonderful goal! However, as it relates to collaboration at work, many leaders tell me they now err on the side of reaching out to more people, inviting more input, and ensuring broader stakeholder engagement. And…their managers are inviting them to more meetings and discussions, too. There is a point at which this level of collaboration is “too much.” Our inboxes are pinging, and our calendars are screaming!
 
Author and researcher Rob Cross has looked closely at trends in collaboration at work and he tells us that, over the past decade or so, the time we spend on email/chat and in meetings has increased by roughly 50 percent. In his book Beyond Collaboration Overload, he makes the case that all this increased collaboration with colleagues is not necessarily adding value. And it’s causing overwhelm! (For more on the book, check out the discussion notes from the July CliffsNotes Book Club.)

​So, how do we get a handle on collaboration while also being inclusive?

When considering the “best way” to do collaboration, it’s helpful to consider the polarities, or seemingly opposing forces, at play. On the one hand, you wish to be inclusive, on the other, focused. After all, you do not want to overwhelm your colleagues or engage so many people that you’re hogging resources unnecessarily. In thinking about collaborating with colleagues to get input on your work, you may want to both include a diverse group of perspectives and engage those who have the closest expertise or most stakeholder interest. There are upsides and downsides to both sides of the polarity, and ideally you will find a way to maximize both. Take a look at the polarity map, and consider the dynamic...

Here are some tips to keep in mind as it relates to effective collaboration:
 
Plan your list of attendees. This may seem obvious, but at the moment of hitting “send” on a meeting invite, you may wish to quickly complete the task and be done with it. It’s important to pause and reflect before issuing an invite, especially if you have more than three attendees listed. Take a moment to think about the purpose for your collaboration, and who will help you get to the desired outcome. Write two lists.

• List 1: Who really needs to actively engage?
• List 2: Who can be informed of the outcome after the meeting?

Make the invitation an option, not an obligation. I recently saw a meme that said, “It’s okay to say ‘no’ even if you are not already booked.” In the workplace, it can be especially hard to say “no,” and many workplaces have the practice of sending delegates to meetings. While this practice can be hard-wired into the culture of the organization, as a leader you can set the tone for allowing people to opt out. Taking the extra step to reach out and ask people personally how they will engage on a topic, sharing a RASCI if you have one (i.e., “Do these roles look right?”), and laying out the plan for communicating any decisions, etc., will help all “invited” attendees decide how best to collaborate.

Protect your “go to” people. Every good leader has a team of people who you are quick to reach to. You work well with them, they “get” you, and you know they will deliver. When considering who you regularly collaborate with, take care to protect them and ensure you are not burning them out. Everyone wants to feel appreciated and needed, but over-collaboration is a real risk. 
 
What tips would you add?

​Be honest with yourself. Think about advancing in your organization. What’s your mindset, is it, ‘every person for themselves’ or ‘we’re all in this together?’ This is often referred to as an abundance/scarcity mindset. Where do these mindsets come from? During our CliffsNotes book club discussion on The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper, by Heather McGhee, we examined this mindset through the lens of racism in America. (Many thanks to Kari Uman for facilitating!) The author approaches the discussion of racism not as a sociologist or anthropologist, but as…an economist!

​McGhee frames the discussion on the cost of racism on people of color and white people alike. For example, one observation McGhee makes is how the zero-sum paradigm is at play in racism in the U.S. Zero-sum is the notion that when one group wins, another loses.
 
She shares numerous examples of how public benefits have been lost in recent decades. One compelling example is that of city swimming pools. In the 1950s, public pools were required to desegregate. In response, many communities chose to close the pools rather than open them up to all. As a result, many communities lost the benefit entirely. In their place, private pools opened, which are a benefit only to those who can afford the cost of entry/membership.
 
So, imagine for a moment, you were child who grew up in a lower socio-economic neighborhood and experienced services either taken away from you or not even offered to you in the first place. Perhaps your parents applied for a loan to launch a new business or buy a house, but were denied over and over again. What might be your worldview as you grow up? For people who have not benefitted from abundance—people who have been treated poorly or less than for most of their lives—it is common to see a scarcity mindset show up in how they engage as leaders. This scarcity mindset may help you with being driven to succeed, but you will likely hit a wall once you move into a leadership role.
 
(For more on abundance vs. scarcity, listen to this May 2023 episode of Freakonomics radio.)

​For leaders, an abundance mindset puts you in a posture of openness. Leaders with an abundance mindset look for win-win situations, trust others’ intent, and support creative solutions. From a people development standpoint, they build people up. Leaders with an abundance mindset joyfully share kudos and create opportunities for others to grow in their careers, etc. Their actions permeate the workplace culture and positively impact engagement overall.
 
The question we raised in the book club discussion, is how do we help leaders who may have grown up feeling “lesser than,” for whatever reason, to help them adopt an abundance mindset?

In working with leaders especially in coaching relationships, I invest time up front to understand where people are coming from. One of my introductory questions is, “What are the defining moments that have shaped who you are as a leader?” It is a question that leads to reflections on upbringing, early family life, dynamics at school, etc.
 
One executive I supported a few years back came across as having a chip on his shoulder. He felt he always needed to prove himself, despite the fact that he was brilliant and had all the credentials and experience needed for his role. At his core, he felt he was never good enough. In getting to know him, I learned that he came from a family environment where his basic needs were not met. His family was poor and food insecure much of his childhood and adolescence.
 
As an adult, he created a barrier with his team and peers. To help him make the shift from scarcity to abundance, I asked him to focus on two things:

1. Being of service | I asked him to find ways to offer support/help/ideas, with no expectation of getting something in return. He looked out for opportunities to be of service to others in meetings, etc., and then make himself a resource to them. He learned to give of himself and not keep tabs on how the good deed was rewarded.
2. Proactively reaching out | I challenged him to reach out to colleagues for input and opinions on his work. This involved being vulnerable about challenges and unsolved problems, and sharing ideas before they were fully baked. In doing so, he demonstrated his openness to others’ ideas and learned to iterate on them, versus relying solely on his own.

 
Over time, his reputation shifted. He became known as someone who was collaborative, supportive, and inclusive. He built some strong relationships and truly connected with team members. His mindset shifted as did perceptions of him.

Racism in America is a topic where continuous learning is needed. At Book Club, the group shared their most helpful resources for going deeper into racism and social injustice. We also updated our resources list, originally created in 2020. Check out the newly-added resources below.
 
WATCH

• TED Talk by Heather McGhee
• TED Talk on Alpha Chicken, about impact of defensiveness in mediation/negotiation
• Radical Collaboration video
• Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America by Jeffery Robinson (on Netflix)
• Jim Crow program on WETA

 
LISTEN

• Hidden Brain episode about the cost of upward mobility, ends with using the model of immigration as an abundant model
• Hidden Brain episode on Psychology of Self Doubt

 
READ

• Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad
• How to be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi
• Be the Bridge by Latasha Morrison
• The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein
• My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem
• There There by Tommy Orange

DO/VISIT

• Living Legacy Pilgrimage to Alabama
• The Civil Rights Museum in Memphis

​In 2012, Dan Purvis was busy building a medical-device business. It would be called “Velentium,” which is a combination of the words velocity, momentum, and talent. It’s not just the name that’s creative. From the start, Purvis was also carefully and intentionally designing the culture. The business reason for existing was to support the development of medical devices but the human reason was deeper. In four words, Purvis describes it as: “culture-forward, family first.”

Over the past decade, he’s succeeded in growing the company with intention, and—what’s more—the company played a critical role during the COVID-19 pandemic. As he describes in 28 Days to Save the World: Crafting Your Culture to Be Ready for Anything, co-authored with Jason Smith, Velentium, in partnership with their client Ventec Life Systems, successfully increased production from 100 units of ventilators per month—to 10,000 per month.
 
Today, the company continues to boom, and they have not lost sight of their aspirations for a people-centered culture. When Purvis talks about the vision to grow to 1000 employees, you will hear him say that the company will “include 1000 families.” Families, not employees, because the whole person is at the heart of every decision. With every business decision, he acknowledges that each employee has many dimensions and roles in life, and the ‘career’ part is just one…
 
At this past month’s CliffsNotes Book Club, we had the honor of hosting Purvis and Smith. It was one of those meetings that gives you goosebumps and fills your notebook with ideas. I encourage you to read the book, but in the spirit of the CliffsNotes Book Club, where we pass notes to our besties, here are some of my takeaways from the discussion.
 

• Principles heavy; rules light – I was struck by how intentional and thoughtful Purvis was about designing the company culture. A guiding principle was to be “principles heavy and rules light,” or “more like soccer than football.” Purvis knew that the company could not be innovative and nimble if weighed down by overly cumbersome rules. I was impressed by how they managed to stay true to this rule even in a space like medical devices, where documentation and regulation are rigorous.
• Humble charisma – Purvis is passionate and committed to the mission and dedicated to excellence, but he does not take work too seriously, and he considers mistakes to be inevitable. When he talks about mistakes, he talks about “humble charisma” as a key trait and success strategy at Velentium. In recruiting, he looks for smart professionals, but mostly, he wants people who are “teachable” and will learn from mistakes.
• You decide – Purvis says his favorite words are, “You decide.” Pushing authority and decision-making down to the lowest levels is critical to empowerment. When discussing what it takes to make a culture where people at all levels are empowered to make the tough calls, Purvis talks about the key elements: “authority,” “ability,” and “autonomy.”
• Saving starfish – Purvis shared the story of the child who walks along the shore and tosses beached starfish back into the ocean. When a passerby says, “You’ll never save them all.” The child replies, “Yes, but I can save this one.” In much the same way, Purvis looks for unique and personal ways to celebrate his team members, with personal gifts and recognition that are deeply meaningful.
• Smart meetings – There’s tremendous opportunity cost to gathering a team in a meeting, and Purvis aims to make the most of the meeting time. One practice he has implemented at the end of each meeting is to have each person rate the meeting, on a scale of 1 to 10. If anyone rates the meeting an 8 or less, they discuss why, and aim to adjust, and learn from it.
• Forward-looking – In the Book Club meeting, we talked about looking back to learn from mistakes and looking ahead at what’s next—you must do both. In the spirit of Appreciative Inquiry and what’s working, one of the questions Purvis recently posed to his leadership team is, What is one thing you currently do that, if you doubled it, would make us better off next year? That’s one for my back pocket!

 
And that’s just the CliffsNotes, folks! Check out the book and head to the portal for the presentation notes.

As you watch a professional tennis player preparing to receive a serve, you’ll notice they are in constant motion. Knees bent, they stay on the balls of their feet, shuffling, ready to react swiftly to a serve coming at them at 100+ mph. As we think about what the future is about to serve us, what does that ready stance look like? And what does resilience look like?
 
The book Imaginable by Jane McGonigal presents an approach for “How to See the Future Coming and Feel Ready for Anything―Even Things That Seem Impossible Today.” It’s the mental equivalent of shuffling on the balls of your feet, leaning in, eye on the ball…This book was the feature at our CliffsNotes Book Club meeting in April, and we had a great discussion about how future-thinking leads to a higher level of resilience. (Thanks again to Cate Rodman our fabulous facilitator! For Cate’s notes, visit the portal.) What’s more, it is not simply about imagining what the future may hold, but also about promoting actions today to influence a possible future. In the book, McGonigal gives us the tools to help shape the world we want to live in.

In the book, McGonigal explains that imagining the future is a tool that gets you out of rational thinking and puts you into a more creative space. And we can train the brain to do this—to imagine what is un-imaginable, and to think what is un-think able. The neuroscience is fascinating. As an fMRI scan shows, a different part of the brain is activated when you think about one year from now versus the distant future—e.g., envisioning a scenario 10-years from now.
 
In our book club meeting, we opened the discussion by sharing one thing that is true about our lives today that ten years ago we would not have imagined. It’s a powerful question to engage a group and demonstrate that we don’t always know what the future will look like. This encourages people to dream about the future to come and be open to potentially crazy ideas or new realities. Afterall, if a crazy reality came true in the past, then why wouldn’t that be possible in the future?

It reminded me of the famous quote from Henry Ford. When asked about customer input, Ford once said, "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." As was the case for Ford’s customers, they could only imagine more of what they already had for transportation. It wasn’t in their realm of possibility yet to image an automobile. When you are able to tap into the power of your imagination, you open up new possibilities and new realities.

​For the past few weeks, I have been looking at everything, from my schedule to my closet to my task list, and asking myself a question…
 
What can I subtract?
 
At our February CliffsNotes Book Club meeting, we discussed the book Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less by Leidy Klotz (if you missed it, check out the notes on the portal). Sally Bloomberg led the discussion and pushed us to identify something we can stop doing, or cut out from our lives, to find more joy.
 
The book takes a broad look at the notion of stopping things, resetting priorities so they match your values, and intentionally choosing how to spend your time. The author argues that it is our tendency to add, or to take on more, and over time it can result in a cluttered life. It got me thinking about a challenge many of the leaders we support, through coaching and in leadership programs, struggle with…
 
Some call it “finding balance” and others call it “setting boundaries” or “finding ‘me’ time.” Many dream of taking some time off, a vacation or a sabbatical, to hit reset. While I am a big fan of a true-unplug-vacation, I would argue that the sustainable way to subtract is by looking at your daily routine. Specifically, how do you rework your daily routine, rather than operating in two modes – “on” and “off” – where “off” maybe happens one week a year while at the beach? (Because, let’s face it, a post-vacation glow only lasts so long…)

We’re obsessed with time-savers, yet…
Tech advances and digitalization have been framed as “timesavers.” Automating our work and the endless list of handy apps seemingly streamline our to-do lists, but we tend to add tasks to fill the space, rather than enjoy the newfound free time.
 
In the book You Are Not Your Brain by Jeffrey Schwartz, we learn the four steps to rewire compulsive habits. Originally designed to help people with OCD (read more in this brief article), the steps can help with common struggles in the office such as the compulsion to check email frequently—even when you have the luxury of a block of time for deep work. The curious thing about the findings presented in the book is that people who were able to overcome their compulsive tendencies then faced an unexpected challenge. They needed to manage and actively tend to their down time. If they did not, they were at risk for a relapse.
 
We’re hungry for info, yet…
Gallup poll data tells us that people feel it is harder to be informed about what is happening in the world now that information is readily available at our fingertips. I am old enough to remember when there were exactly two opportunities to hear the news every day – the morning newspaper and the evening news broadcast. Ah, the good old days. Today, with real-time information on happenings across the globe, we feel less informed. It’s harder to vet news sources for credibility, and it’s harder to keep up with the gushing stream of news. On the social front, we keep up with many more “friends” than we used to, given social media. So while we may know what our third-grade bestie, who we have not seen since she was under 4 feet tall, ate for dinner on Saturday, we feel less connected to friends in real life. Research on how we gather socially tells us that Americans see less of our friends in real life.  
 
We’re encouraged to continuously improve, yet…
The often-cited research, popularized in Malcom Gladwell’s book Outliers, on how it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert also included data on downtime. In addition to the hours of practice, it also takes 12,500 hours of “deliberate rest” and 30,000 hours of sleep/naps in order to become an expert. The downtime is as important!
 
So back to the initial question, what exactly can we subtract? Here are some ideas and questions to get you started. But please pile on! (Oops – I should be encouraging subtracting!)

• When someone comes to you with a request, think about what you need to let go of before you commit to this project. Or, if this person is your manager, engage in a negotiation of what you can “pause,” delay or delegate while you focus on this new request.

 

• Thinking strategically and coming up with innovative ideas often requires your active brain to take a rest (that’s why our best ideas often pop up in the shower!). How can you actively take a step back during the day to intentionally allow your brain to wander. Consider taking a walk around the block, sitting and staring out the window, or going to have an in-person lunch with a colleague.

 

• Be more realistic with how much time things take and block that time on your calendar so you don’t overload yourself. I learned this a while ago when I attended a workflow productivity course. For example, I learned to block time on my calendar to organize my inbox. This does not mean responding to email (unless it will take 3 minutes or less) but rather organizing the information. During this block of time, I determine what needs to be filed, what needs to become a task on my calendar, what needs further attention, etc. I find most people underestimate the time it takes to organize information that is incoming every day. If I think a task should take me an hour, I block off 2-3 hours. This allows for me to be more realistic with my time and I know exactly when I’ll be working on certain tasks because “project time” is blocked out on my calendar.

 
As always, let me know what ideas this inspires and what’s working for you.

You know that feeling when you hear a word for the first time, and then in the span of a week it shows up three or four times, as if it’s always been there, right under your nose? For me, what keeps showing up in my client discussions, reading, and research is the notion of doing work differently, or not accepting business as usual. It’s about putting people first while also doing meaningful and profitable work, rather than focusing on profits at the expense of people’s well-being.

To some, it means creating more opportunity for collaboration, flattening the hierarchy, and pushing down decision-making. The January CliffsNotes Book Club book Beloved Economies by Jess Rimington and Joanna Levitt Cea offers several examples – check out the book notes on the portal and my recent blog). 
 
It's also about taking away the noise (bye-bye, meeting-packed days!) and trusting people to do good work—with minimal or no supervision. This episode (39 min) of the Wisdom from the Top podcast with Basecamp founder Jason Fried is a great example. This wildly successful company has always had a small remote team (approx. 50 people), and one of their practices is to ensure people have focused time to work—meaning a full 8-hour day to work, with minimal meetings. There are no shared calendars, and there is no practice of “grabbing time” on someone’s calendar to talk. 
 
It’s also about redefining wealth. Many organizations have adopted the “triple bottom line” as the primary success factor where they consider profit, people, and planet. What’s interesting, however, is that typically decisions are still driven to increase profit. For example, wellness programs are established but the rationale is that when you have healthier employees, they’ll be more productive and therefore you’ll get more out of them. It’s challenging to find an organization that truly honors all three equally. One of my longtime clients Capitol Benefits is an excellent example, and their strong retention and engagement is no coincidence.
 
And yet for others, “doing work differently,” means making space for people who would otherwise not have a chance at an interview, much less a career. Busboys and Poets, a unique restaurant/bookstore/events space with several locations in the Washington, DC, area, is a great example of this. It’s their practice to “ban the box” on the employment application question that asks applicants to declare if they have a criminal record—which ensures all applicants have a fair chance. 
 
Rethinking your practices on decision-making is an example of doing work differently that many leaders can implement at their team level. And it has a huge impact on team effectiveness. Whether you are a senior executive or a frontline leader with a small team, you likely have discretion to design your decision-making process. 
 
Now, a reality check. It's easy to idealize an environment that does work differently and, in doing so, we may not consider that there are pitfalls to avoid. So let’s look at this more closely. I want to help you make positive changes and make sure that you don’t swing the pendulum too far over to the other side... ​

I have been looking at this topic in terms of the polarities—or seemingly opposing forces—at play. Let's look at "Hierarchy" versus "Collectivism."

Many of us have already experienced the downsides of working in a hierarchical environment. Perhaps you experienced that you weren’t involved in decisions, didn’t have a voice at the table, and weren’t bought in to the vision. Naturally, if you have the ability to do work differently, you may think, “When I lead a team, I want to include everyone in all decisions and value all perspectives.” Which seems great at the surface level, but what happens when you lean into this approach too far? 
 
Then there is the collectivist model...If you are too inclusive in decision-making, you may find yourself in a situation where every tiny decision needs to be socialized. Organizations that are overly collaborative tend to move slowly, and the result can be frustration or missed opportunity. Also, when everyone has a chance to weigh in, you may have difficulty making a final decision. Are votes needed every time? What about contentious issues? 
 
Being aware of the pitfalls will help you navigate through this polarity to get the best of both approaches. Here are a few tips based on what I have seen work in several organizations over the years. ​

Organizations that do decision-making effectively and make it collaborative tend to:

1. Agree on the process before jumping in. Taking time to discuss how you will reach a decision before​ you begin talking about the decision is critical. Will you be making an executive decision by the end of the month? Are you going to delegate the decision to a committee? Or, maybe by the end of the meeting, you agree to take a vote, and the majority wins. Ensure everyone agrees on the process before you start and will be aligned to the outcome—even if they disagree with the decision. Focus on alignment, not agreement. 
2. Be intentional about who and how. We recognize some decisions warrant input from the full organization and some need to be taken by a small few. Intentionally think about who will be impacted by the decision? Whose voice is critical (and challenge your thinking here too)? Who has the data, experiences, and expertise to shed light on the decision?
3. Encourage communication and push back. You probably don’t want to hear this, but you will never get it completely right. For this reason, build in a feedback loop process. For example, if someone felt excluded and has information they feel is important, create a space for their voice to be heard and valued. This may happen through soliciting feedback during 1:1 manager check-ins, it may be an open, anonymous survey, or an online “Ask me Anything” session with the key decision makers. 

 
Questions to prepare you to do work differently. Ask yourself:

• What am I pulling away from?
• What could potentially happen if I lean too far into that new approach?
• What is helpful about the approach I want to change?
• What are ways to get the best of both?

Have you ever read a book that continues to rearrange things in your mind long after you turn the last page? The book Beloved Economies by Jess Rimington and Joanna Levitt Cea is that book. It has challenged everything I know about work, about employee engagement, and even about the role of leadership. The core premise of the book is that the current economy, “in its lovelessness,” focuses on financial profits while compelling us to work in ways that make it harder for most of us to have the time, energy, or resources to be together in the ways that make life good. What’s more, it’s all by design—so why not set out to re-design it?

That’s right, re-design…The goal of this book is to help transform the way we work. They make the distinction between innovating on what’s known and truly transforming or reimagining work. And that’s why, weeks after I read it, I can’t stop imagining what’s possible!
 
Wait! How did we get here?
The authors set historical context for several things we “take for granted” in many work settings in the U.S. They argue that, deeply embedded in the world of work, we find practices that reinforce the belief that everything operates best when controlled by a few. Moreover, seemingly innocuous practices such as spreadsheets to track inventory and calculations such as depreciation schedules can be traced back to the days of slavery and plantations in the U.S. south.
 
Reimagining Work: Where do we start?
In the book, the authors introduce concrete ways that people have successfully broken out of the mold from “business as usual” to a “Beloved Economy” workplace. They offer these ideas as inspiration and ask this question:

If you work in a company where you trust your employees and treat them with respect, how would you design the systems differently?
 
Although I know many of us feel that we are not in a position to reimagine our workplace, I challenge you to think of small changes that might have a large impact. Here are a few ideas that come to mind to get your brain going…

Reimagine accountability. Our current practices of spreadsheets and status reporting can be over-emphasized in organizations where trust is low. What accountability measures do you put in place when you hire and work with highly competent, motivated people? Maybe in those environments, it’s not a focus on what you’re working on, it’s more about what should come off their plates or be reprioritized. The manager is coming from a place of support in helping others get the right work done, rather than a place of blame when things are not getting done. 

Reimagine career pathing. If you take a look at the “jobs” or “careers” tab on the websites of many large organizations, you’ll find reference to pre-defined career paths and tracks. But is it the responsibility of managers or an organization to lay out a career path for an employee? The underlying assumption is that the employee is not capable of determining their own path. Each person is unique in what they bring to the table and an organization may not even have a career path that would leverage a person’s potential. What if instead of the manager carving out the path, the manager learns to be an exceptional career coach? They can ask questions that will bring out the best in the employee so their strengths are being leveraged and identify the needs of the organization at the same time. 

Reimagine authority. In many organizations, the senior leaders make the critical decisions, especially when a project needs to pivot or change drastically. This then often causes a ripple effect down to the people who are working on the project day-to-day. Rarely do senior leaders engage with the “workers” to ask their opinion on changing the rate or scope of work. What would it look like if the people engaged in the day-to-day were asked their opinions on how to handle major changes to the scope of a project? Imagine if you were considerate of the impact the change has on everyone involved and create a forum where people could voice their opinions before announcing a big change in the project?

Reimagine relationships. We often hear in organizations how important it is to build a network and maintain relationships, but it’s often for the purpose of gaining something in the end. In other words, there is a means to an end. In Beloved Economies, people build relationships because they genuinely care and are curious about another person. What would happen if you took someone out to lunch or had a quick virtual coffee with someone in your organization whom you don’t work with, and have nothing to gain from? Perhaps you take out a new employee for coffee, even if they will never intersect with your work. Or, perhaps connect with an employee outside of work who may live close by but your roles would rarely have a reason to connect. What else could you gain from building new relationships? Maybe it’s simply a good laugh, or a mental break, a moment of pause, or a joyful celebration. Think of ways to connect for the sake of being human, not necessarily for productivity. 
​
Check out the portal for notes on this eye-opening book, and let me know what ideas this discussion sparks for you.

​As a coach and organization development consultant, I spend many days facilitating group discussions with people who have never met and/or who don’t know each other well. Often one of the goals of the sessions is to help accelerate relationship-building, and icebreakers are an important tool to meet that goal.

But I hate the cheesy ice breakers!

I am always listening for good questions and, like many facilitators, am a collector of them. I thought it would be fun to share some, and after decades of facilitating group discussions, to give you insights into my criteria for what makes for a good icebreaker question. And, they’re not just for the workplace. Try them out during the holidays with family and friends, too!

The best questions…

• Act as a ‘hook’ on which we can place some piece of info about the person that’s memorable—such as a mini story
• Spark some creativity
• Allow people to share as much or as little personal info as they want to, and don’t put anyone on the spot
• Have levity, which has the power to stop most of the eye-rolling that happens with some people (there are always some, in any group!) who are on 'Team Anti-Icebreaker'
• Can be answered quickly, one minute or less per person—it’s important to keep it moving at a brisk pace
• Are relevant and interesting for that group

Should you feel inspired, here are a few that check all the boxes and will set you up for success!
 

1. If you had to give a TED Talk next week, what would the topic be?
2. If you were a doll, what two accessories would you carry?
3. What was the first job you had, and what did you learn from that job that still helps you today?
4. You’re receiving an award, and the recognition means the world to you. What is the award?
5. What question should you ask me if your goal is to really get to know me quickly?
6. If you wanted to get to know me, what activity would we do together?
7. What song do you listen to when you need a mood booster? (Bonus: you can make a playlist of all the songs, to share after the discussion.)
8. What is your diving-board moment?

​The last one on the diving-board moment is a fun one I picked up from this article, and it requires a bit of explanation. Here’s how to set it up…
 
Imagine we are making a documentary about your life: What is the opening scene?

Think of a pivotal moment in your life and describe it. For example, when actor Reese Witherspoon asked Wharton Business School professor Adam Grant what the opening scene in his documentary would be, he said he’d be a teenager, standing at the top of the high-dive, trembling.

​Grant had been a competitive swimmer for much of his youth, yet the high dive was scary. Today, he is the author of best-selling business books on the psychology of leadership, a wildly successful podcast, and numerous resources to help leaders thrive. As he tells the diving-board story, you can imagine where he got the determination and self-discipline to push his limits and conquer mind over matter.

As you think about your diving-board moment, the ideal story will take us to a real moment in your life when you overcame odds, realized something about your strengths, or defined for yourself an important core value. Fun question, huh?
 
What are some of your favorite ice breaker questions?

​Remember how we started the pandemic nearly three years ago with so much uncertainty? If I had to draw a cartoon of myself in the spring of 2020, I'd be sitting under a mountain of used Clorox wipes asking a series of never-ending ‘what if’ questions! And at the same time, those of us who wanted to be forward-thinking and strategic were determined to look ahead and make sense of the mess (no offense, past-self, I know you were doing your best!).
 
At some point I lifted my head up from the sewing machine where I was making cloth face masks and asked, “How do we want to emerge from this pandemic?”
 
It was a noble question. The years that followed have provided us with some answers, but many of us are still stitching it together.
 
So how do we want to emerge? I can throw around some buzz words like “resilient,” but to be honest I am jumping to a more practical thought: I’d like to hold onto the best “innovations” of the pandemic while learning from the others.
 
And speaking of buzz words, fast-forward to April 2021, Adam Grant’s NYT article made us all feel seen. He gave us the vocabulary that described what many of us had been feeling in the first year or so of COVID-19. It was not burnout, it was not depression, it was not grief—it was “languishing.”

• Leverage video. I know it’s annoying to have to shower and put on a nice shirt, but it’s critical that you visually see people throughout the day. From my experience, there is a drastic difference between the companies that use video and those that don’t. Those leaders who use video seem to have teams that feel more connected and have less miscommunication.
• Of course, we’ve all felt the Zoom Fatigue as well and we know it’s real. To counteract that, some companies are creating “no Zoom” days or they encourage phone-only meetings. One client has a virtual walking meeting for their 1:1s where both parties are walking outside while talking on the phone.
• Participate in events such as virtual conferences or our virtual book club sessions to continue to prioritize your networking and professional development (The CliffsNotes Book Club is a great example!). This will help to keep you stimulated on new ideas and feel current in your industry.
• Keep to a structured, scheduled workday, as you would if you were driving to the office and needing to truly “shut down” at the end of the day—and that includes structured meal times, too.
• Make time for movement, whether that means walking the stairs in your house or raking the leaves while on a short break.
• Proactively engage with your team leads and/or managers. Communicate more regularly to offer status updates and solicit feedback on your work when appropriate. This will reassure others of the work you’re doing, help you stay visible and involve others in the process.
• Before engaging in each meeting, be intentional about small talk. Ask about the person’s weekend or an event they recently attended. These 5-minute chats will enhance relationships and build trust over time.
• Carve out time for “meet and greets” with new team members.
• Proactively set up quarterly career conversations with your manager. Highlight areas that energize and de-energize you and discuss areas of interest to grow into.
• If/when you do go into the office, make the most of your in-person time and plan for social time, too. Schedule coffee meetings, team brainstorms, or collaborative sessions that will maximize your time in the office.

What would you add to the list? What’s missing to help you get to a point where you are truly “flourishing,” pandemic or not?

If I say the phrase, “Use your words,” you probably immediately picture a young parent and an upset toddler. I know I said it often when my boys were young, as we tried to empower them to name whatever it was that was troubling them. The rationale is that, putting a label to an emotion accesses rational thinking, which in turn can create calm.
 
Fast forward a few years, the notion of learning to properly label your feelings was the central topic of our CliffsNotes Book Club discussion last month! However, this time it was a much more nuanced discussion of all the gradations of emotions, in all the Pantone varieties possible.

Atlas of the Heart
 
Brené Brown’s latest book, Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience, is a resource to help us access the language we need to better understand our feelings. Every feeling. In the book, she pries apart emotions that are sometimes confused such as jealousy and envy, and helps us distinguish and separate the terms.
 
Whether you’re three or thirty, the words we use every day help us make sense of the world around us. When it comes to naming an emotion, having access to a specific term to name a feeling means having the ability to move through it. What Brown tells us is that, when we don’t notice or appreciate the differences between envy and jealousy, or joy and awe, we miss an opportunity to learn about ourselves and to connect with others.
 
But What’s Happening in the Brain?
 
Of course there’s brain science behind it. When you label a feeling, you are accessing the rational side of your brain. Labeling helps you re-gain control. You’re shifting away from the emotional reaction and toward the thinking reaction. This is particularly helpful in times of anguish or anger, but it can be useful to build self-awareness of any situation.
 
This Mindful.org article by Mitch Abblett speaks to the neuroscience and provides context for the original research. From the article, “Matthew Lieberman refers to this as ‘affect labeling’ and his fMRI brain scan research shows that this labeling of emotion appears to decrease activity in the brain’s emotional centers, including the amygdala.” 
 
A Simple Application
 
A simple action you can take is to prompt others to help them label their own emotions. If a colleague at work or friend outside of work comes to you with a challenge, try taking a guess at what they might be feeling. You may say, “What you’re describing to me sounds like [insert emotion]. Is that how you would describe it?”
 
The best part of this strategy is that it does not matter if you’re right or not. By simply offering one possible emotion, you offer a starting point that helps the person clarify what they’re experiencing and helps them get closer to an accurate label for the emotion. They can then talk through what it might be, and that can make all the difference.​

In my previous post, I talked about dynamic leadership and why it is important, considering the ever-changing environment and the increasingly complex issues that today’s leaders face. We, at MCG, also believe that to become a better, more impactful leader, one has to commit to continuous and consistent development.

MCG’s leadership philosophy is based on the premise that leadership is an ongoing cycle of awareness, insight, and action. It is a journey and not a destination.

So, how can you, as a leader, make your journey a meaningful one?

Practice awareness
First, you need to build a deep self-awareness, which is the foundation of leadership. It is essential for self-control, decision-making, creativity, learning, growth, and self-fulfillment. Also, learning how to understand the people around you is essential. Awareness of others enables you to consider the perspectives of your team members and apply that understanding in interactions with them. Finally, you must be constantly aware of the context – environment and the system in which you work – and adapt your behavior to what the situation requires.

Gain insight on new knowledge, information, and perspectives
Further along on your leadership journey, when you see the results of your behavior and decisions, it’s essential to analyze them and gain insight into how your own or your team’s behaviors impact others.

Act by applying new behaviors immediately
If you realize you made a mistake, take action to recover and improve. Inevitably, you’ll be faced with situations you’ve never been in before, and so you’ll need to apply a new behavior or skillset. Moreover, a pre-set destination may change at any time. Occasional detours and going off track will happen. What’s crucial is to be able to recognize those missteps early and do a course correction. There is nothing wrong with being an imperfect leader as long as you’re continually learning and growing. Let your team guide you along the way. You just have to be open to hearing the feedback and experimenting with new behaviors.

Wash, rinse, and repeat
There is no end game. Being mindful and intentional about your leadership is never ending and sometimes, you need to hit the reset button several times in one day. Know that it’s a process and learn how to recover gracefully when things get tough.

What techniques or strategies do you use to keep yourself on track as a leader?

In my previous post, I talked about the things that great parenting and effective leadership have in common. In a nutshell, they both boil down to having a vision, inspiring others to be their best, leading by example, and building trust.

So whether you are a parent managing kids at home or an executive developing a team at work, you are a leader. In the end, leadership skills are life skills.

The more aware and intentional you are about how you show up as a leader in different life settings, the more effective (and happy) you’ll be in life – instilling a sense of purpose and well-being in others around you.

So how do you bring the science of leadership to life outside the workplace?

You can take the principles of Connected, Valued, and empowered from the Dynamic Engagement model and apply them to any domain of your life. Let’s take parenting as an example.

Feeling connected. Kids have a natural psychological need to connect and belong. When it comes to family dynamics, the sense of belonging and the feeling of being cared about are the most obvious. However, with everyone's busy schedules, it's sometimes hard to carve out time to connect.

Make it a habit to spend some quality time with your little ones. It doesn’t have to be a long time period. All you need to do is be fully present (i.e., turn off your devices). Whether it’s a family dinner, a date night with the kids, bedtime talks, or walks in the park, be there for your child, listen to them, and take an interest in what’s happening in their life.

Feeling valued. Children want to be recognized for their abilities and contributions. Consider how they contribute to the family, regardless of their age (e.g., they add humor, keep everyone on schedule, are always sharing/looking out for someone, bring energy, etc.). Notice their everyday achievements, especially when they are working hard toward a goal or doing something out of the ordinary.

Feeling empowered. Kids also want to feel that they have a choice. Based on their age, think of ways you can allow your children to make their own decisions. Also, allow them to perform tasks independently, without hovering nearby and giving instructions. Don’t rob your children of the opportunities to be autonomous.

I know it’s easier said than done, as applying leadership skills does require self-awareness and intentionality. But when you continuously practice leadership behaviors across domains, you will see how your life will change for the better. 

I’m curious, how are you already honing your everyday leadership skills? 

If leadership is defined as the process of social influence that maximizes the efforts of others and leads to positive outcomes, should it be limited to the workplace?

I believe that leadership goes way beyond the office walls. Practicing leadership skills in everyday life can help build better relationships with family, neighbors, and community members.

The leadership principles of Connected, Valued, and Empowered from MCG’s Dynamic Engagement model can also assist parents in their attempts to become nurturing mothers or fathers.

At first sight, this might sound counterintuitive as parents may believe they need to leave all work-related skills at work. However, applying these principles to the parenting arena is highly beneficial, as raising children can be compared to leading others in the business setting. And here’s why.

• Great leaders are capable of offering guidance, training, and encouragement. And that’s exactly what great parents do, planting the seeds of well-being in their children and nurturing kids’ ability to spread their wings.
  
• Leadership is all about providing just the right amount of autonomy. A good leader knows how to empower an employee and when to step in. Good parenting skills are also both about giving children autonomy and setting healthy boundaries.
  
• Great leaders and parents alike built relationships based on open and honest communication.
  
• Just like employees incorporate the values and attitudes of their leaders, kids are likely to mimic parents’ behaviors and grow up a lot like their parents. Thus, both leaders and parents can either stimulate or undermine personal growth and performance outcomes.
  
• To be successful, an effective leader and a great parent need to develop such competencies as self-awareness, empathy, social skills, and the ability to manage emotions.
  
• Great parents and influential leaders focus on building trust in their relationships, are clear about their values and have a vision of where they’re headed and why.

We’re not saying to treat your employees like children and treat your children like employees, but rather notice how you show up in challenging situations both at work and at home. What better way to grow as a leader than to experiment with leadership behaviors across all domains of your life?

Do you, as a parent, think of yourself as a leader? 

Have you ever been called a control freak? Many of us associate the word “control” with something negative, and we don’t really like dealing with controlling people.  As leaders, we’re told not to focus on controlling things or others but rather focus on stepping back and letting others take the reins. 

Where does this sense of control come from, and is it really all that bad? 

Autonomy is a psychological need based on the idea that people are empowered when they experience a sense of choice and endorsement in a task (Deci and Ryan 2008). This means that individuals gain a sense of intrinsic motivation from engaging in tasks. There are many theories as to where this comes from in human evolution, one being the most obvious that when we are oppressed, we suffer, and humans do everything in their power to avoid pain and suffering. 

In the Psychology Today article, “The Desire for Autonomy,” author Alex Lickerman, M.D., states that we are hardwired to desire autonomy. Even internal pressures like guilt or shame, let alone external coercion, affect a “healthy” sense of control. That’s why empowering is all about giving your employees both decision-making responsibility and ownership. When people feel they have a sense of autonomy, they have an increased sense of well-being.

You can strengthen your team’s autonomy and empower employees by delegating familiar, everyday decisions to those closest to the core question or issue. By doing so, you can also take a lot of decision-making off your shoulders! Being a leader does not mean you are the sole person that has to make all of the decisions. You have a team of highly qualified, intelligent people… So leverage them!

While providing autonomy is positive, try not to fall into the trap of stepping back too much. When this happens, task leads may veer in the wrong direction or make decisions that aren’t aligned with the overall strategy.

Remember that delegating tasks is not an “all or nothing” phenomenon. Based on the other person’s skill set, experience level, confidence, and past successes, you as the leader can determine the level of frequency required to check in along the way to ensure the project is moving in the right direction. Also, keep in mind that the task lead may have a different approach or process, but you’re checking in on the end results.

Here’s a challenge for you. Next time, during your 1:1 meetings with your direct reports, ask them, “What am I currently doing that you feel you could and would want to pick up?” 

You don’t have to agree to it on the spot, but it opens the door for a conversation. You’ll learn about their areas of interest for their own growth and potential areas for you to let go of. It’s amazing what happens when you let your team guide you into the area of autonomy and empowerment. If you give it a try, let us know what happens.

Do you ever catch yourself thinking about the cliques or groups that are formed at work? Sometimes it may feel like your manager hangs around the same offices or plans golf outings with the same people. It may feel like favoritism. At the surface level, you may feel silly feeling a little jealous or excluded but underneath the surface, there’s a very good reason why this radar is going off in your head. When you’re in the “in-group,” you feel that you belong.

But why is the sense of belonging important? It’s been deeply-rooted in our DNA.

In her paper The origins of belonging: social motivation in infants and young children, Dr. Harriet Over states that, back in the day, humans could survive in adverse environments and gain access to food, shelter, and protection from attack only through cooperation with other tribe members. Exclusion from the tribe meant inevitable death.

Today, humans can survive even in individualistic cultures, and our "tribe" is limited to our immediate family and colleagues at work. But much like thousands of years ago, we yearn to be accepted and included by those around us. The sense of belonging makes us feel happy and fulfilled. Belonging to a group also increases our self-acceptance, which is an important factor in coping processes, especially in difficult situations (Thoits, 2011). Furthermore, people's resilience is directly and persistently influenced by a sense of belonging (Scarf et al., 2016).

Companies, too, can reap significant bottom-line benefits when employees feel like they belong. According to the 2019 Harvard Business Review article by Evan Carr, Andrew Reece, Gabriella Rosen Kellerman and Alexi Robichaux, high belonging was associated with a 56% increase in job performance, a 50% reduction in turnover risk, and a 75% reduction in sick days. For a 10,000-person company, this would result in more than $52 million in annual savings.

MCG’s Dynamic Engagement model is built around the sense of belonging, or feeling connected, as one of the three foundational needs, along with feeling valued and empowered. I’ll elaborate on the other two needs in my next posts. 

In the meantime, I’m curious what does belonging look like in your workplace? And, what do you do as a manager to create an inclusive environment?