Do you ever long for simpler times when change occurred only occasionally? Do you even remember times like that?
Those days are long gone, but strong managers need to know how to deal with tumultuous change for themselves as well as in leading their people.
Much of our discussion about leadership is within the context of the functional job that you do as a leader. This framework includes attributes such as sharing and acting on the company’s vision, managing a positive professional environment, and providing the support and resources that your staff needs.
There are times, though, when the organization’s vision or direction changes and you face more personal considerations. Typically, these changes occur gradually and although they may not be too noticeable, one day you wake up and realize that things are quite different.
People often say that they welcome change, but you don’t need to dig too far below the surface to realize that many people actually resist it. They outwardly support change while internally fear how it will affect them.
This frequently occurs during an organizational or management change, which can be tricky. The new regime doesn’t do things the same way as the outgoing people. And nor should they!
The winter solstice took place in the northern hemisphere on Tuesday, December 21. Although many people simply think of this as the first day of winter and the shortest day of the year, it is a day that is celebrated in different cultures.
Psychologically, some believe that this is a time to release anything that doesn’t align with our highest purpose. Although presented somewhat differently, last week’s column discussed using year-end as a time to identify what you want to keep, what you want to add and what you want to eliminate from your life. Sounds similar, doesn’t it?
In today’s quasi-post-pandemic environment, certain skills have become more important for successful performance on the job. Leaders need to encourage these in their employees, and to provide support if they are undeveloped.
We’ll be looking at three skills over the next few weeks, beginning today with flexibility. This competency takes on renewed significance if you are migrating towards a hybrid work structure, that is, working in the office for 2-3 days/week and work remotely for the balance.
Recently, CNBC and Catalyst released a report, “The Great Work/Life Divide: How employee desire for flexibility and employer concern is driving the future of work”. The key results of this report continue the theme we have been discussing in recent months.
The report reveals that half of working Americans want to change careers for two key reasons: (1) the perception that employers haven’t cared about their issues during the pandemic, and (2) the need for flexibility, whether it is location, when they work or how they work.
It’s time to climb out from under the rock! If you haven’t already started, begin reconnecting with people. In the past 15 months, there has been a decided change in how we stayed in touch with people who matter to us. During this month of June, we’re going to explore how you can relaunch these connections.
Today’s focus is on how to get started. Of course, you can randomly reach out to people, but after a few weeks the randomness will keep you from making progress. Make a list of 20 people and commit to reaching out to an average of five people a week for this month.
A year ago today, COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the head of the World Health Organization. Since then, there have been both losses and successes that we have faced in all areas of our lives.
I’m sure you’ve been thinking back over the year from different perspectives. For our focus here, I invite you to reflect on how your leadership has evolved in the face of the uncertainties the pandemic presented. Here are some questions for reflection:
Do you ever feel like you just can’t take one more meeting? People are becoming increasingly numb to them, especially those who are working remotely. The remote workplace has spawned more meetings, many of which are valuable check-ins for teams, while others are unnecessary wastes.
A lot of meetings were created in the early days of the pandemic for specific reasons tied to connecting with co-workers. Thoughtfully consider the relevance of these gatherings. The original purpose may have run its course and it’s time to “retire” it. Or, it may be time to repurpose, shorten, or reduce the frequency.
The recent announcement of Jeff Bezos stepping aside as Amazon.com CEO to become the firm’s executive chairman has captured much attention in the business press. Do you even remember that Amazon started off as “just” a bookseller?
I’ll leave it to others to describe the myriad accomplishments and innovations that Amazon has pioneered over the years. What this triggers, though, is how we can apply some concepts to our complex business environment.