Ever wondered why some workplaces are buzzing with positivity, while others feel like a drag? The secret sauce is: HIGH-QUALITY CONVERSATIONS!
They’re the cornerstone of a thriving workplace culture!
Let’s dive into why workplace conversations matter and how you can create an environment that fosters better communication. 🌏🤝
Continue reading Discover the secret to a thriving workplace
One of the biggest challenges faced by #21CenturyLeaders, is receiving regular, honest, #feedback.
You can overcome this challenge by using the following technique.
When you are conducting your regular one on one #conversations with your direct reports or peers, consider saying the following:
“Like yourself, I’m eager to improve myself as a leader, and I want to be the best leader I can be for our organisation. Over time, I have learned that it is challenging to improve without feedback. No doubt I have a view about how I’m performing and behaving, but it is never quite the same as hearing other people’s perspectives on how I am doing.
In that context, I would appreciate it if you would be willing to provide me with specific regular feedback? By regular, I mean every month or so, while sometimes it would also be helpful if you gave me immediate feedback if you saw something that needed instant attention.”
Is this something you would be interested in helping me with?”
(Assuming they agree – which most people will)…
To help them be effective with their feedback to you, they will need clarity and structure. In this context, there are four questions I recommend you ask them to focus on.
Continue reading The no-fuss way for leaders to seek feedback
Anna is a confident senior leader with seven people reporting to her, and Jo, one of her direct reports, is a trusted colleague.
Last week, Jo asked Anna if they could have a chat about something “sensitive”. Anna agreed.
Here is their dialogue from the start of their meeting.
Anna: What sensitive issue would you like to discuss with me?
Jo: It’s about Jason. He has asked if I can share some feedback with you on his behalf, but he doesn’t feel comfortable telling you.
Anna: Why doesn’t Jason feel comfortable telling me whatever he wants you to say to me? As you know, I have an open-door policy, and anyone can give me feedback. I always tell everyone they can say to me whatever they like, and I will listen. I thought I had a good relationship with Jason, which is disappointing news. And he has been part of our team for nearly a year now. I can’t believe he can’t tell me what is wrong. What is it that he wants you to say to me?
Have you ever been in Anna, Jo or Jason’s position? All three are tricky, aren’t they?
How do you know that you are performing your role to the best of your ability?
The first step is to have a 100% role clarity. That is, you are certain that what you are focusing your time and energy on, is what you should be focused on.
To ensure that you have role clarity, follow the two steps below.
Excellence is an exciting topic. Is it about being perfect, never making a mistake? Or is it more about a mindset and set of behaviours?
In this article, I will share five tips that individually, and collectively, will have you achieving excellence more often, than not.
Here’s a formula.
High-quality conversations lead to high-quality decisions, which lead to high quality actions and ultimately, high-quality results and performance. The reverse is also true. Low-quality conversations eventually lead to low-quality results.
Achieving high quality results and performance are worth the effort to learn how to conduct high-quality conversations.
The point of leverage in this model is high quality conversations. But what is a high quality conversation?
Continue reading High-Quality Workplace Conversations Matter
One of my executive coaching clients is extremely successful. He regularly receives six-figure bonuses and is constantly approached by head-hunters.
Earlier this year he was flat. He was frustrated with his boss. Despite his success, he wasn’t sure if his boss had his back or understood what frustrated him.
“Have you told him?” I asked.
“No, not really.” he replied.
“Why not?” I implored.
He had a lot of reasons. The biggest one was that he didn’t want his boss to see him as being paranoid. As we explored this issue, he shared that his frustrations were affecting him at home, and he had been less motivated than usual about his exercise and health program. This issue was affecting his entire life.
This Sunday it is Father’s Day. When collecting my two youngest sons from school yesterday, my seven-year-old son, affectionately known as ‘D-Man’, was covering a paper bag with a drawing he had just completed in class.
“Dad, you can’t see what’s inside the bag because it has the presents I bought for you from the Father’s Day Stall.”
“Okay, don’t worry I promise I won’t look.” I said.
He then went on to say, “Dad, when we get home, can you give me ten dollars?”
My eldest son is 17 and is eagerly searching for his first car. We have two parameters for his search. The first is his car must have a 5 Star ANCAP Rating, and the second is our budget.
Prior to facilitating a Safety Conference for Programmed with my good friend Jock Macneish in 2011, I would have shared different criteria with you regarding a first car for my son. He was only 11yo at the time so my criteria were somewhat premature, but a story shared by Programmed’s Managing Director Chris Sutherland changed my mindset.
When working for Commercial Services at Monash University which had 750 staff over 28 sites providing a wide range of services for the students and staff of Monash University’s nine campuses, the CEO asked me to lead a recognition and reward project called Project Grateful.
He was a fan of Disney and had previously attended the Disney Institute’s leadership programs.
He handed me a ‘Star Card’, a card the size of a business card that read, “You’re a Star!” on one side, and had room for an employee to identify a colleague and create a short hand written note to either thank them or congratulate them for doing something useful, on the other side of the card.