Let ’em Lead: Unleash the Power of Your B-Suite

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Hi, everyone, and welcome to today’s webinar, Let ’em Lead: Unleash The Power of Your B-Suite. Hosted by HRDQ-U, and presented by Sally Foley Lewis.
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My name is Sarah, and I will moderate today’s webinar. The webinar will last around one hour. If you have any questions, please type them into the question area on your GoToWebinar control panel, and we’ll answer as many as we can during today’s session. You’ll also see that Sally will use the questions box a lot throughout today’s session, as well, So if you just want to find that questions box for me, type in a hello – where you’re coming from, just so you can find that there before we get things started with Sally.
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And today’s webinar is brought to you by HRDQstore. HRDQstore is based upon research of our published training tools.
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For more than 40 years, HRDQ has been a provider of research based training resources for classroom, virtual, and online soft skills training.
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We offer learning resources to help retain employees and clients, make better decisions, improve performance, and much more. You can learn more at www.HRDQstore.com.
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And I see some chats coming into the questions box here.
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Hello Susan from Florida, and Kathy from Oklahoma City, John from Oklahoma College and Tracy, Justin,… Hello everybody.
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And today’s webinar is presented by Sally Foley Lewis. Sally inspires skills managers to be high, performing, purposeful, and productive. She’s obsessed with leadership and professional development that ensures people reach their potential, values, presentations, and programs positively impact your confidence, leadership, and results.
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The drive to support and skill managers comes from her own CEO and senior leadership experiences.
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Sally delivers presentations, keynote speeches, workshops, and coaching, live online, and face-to-face, to skill managers, boost productivity, and self leadership.
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Blending over 20 years of working with a diverse range of people and industries in Germany, the Middle East, Asia, and across Australia, Sally has extensive qualifications, a wicked sense of humor, and our ability to inspire and make people feel at ease. Sally is your first choice for mastering skills, facilitating action and achieving results.
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Thank you so much for joining us today, Sally.
2:24
Sarah, it is always a pleasure to work with you and the crew from HRDQ-U. So, good afternoon everyone! And I will let you know that it is 4:02 AM from where I’m sitting in my little office in Brisbane, Queensland. And if you haven’t picked the accent… Australia. So good, g’day from down under! It is an absolute pleasure to be here and to talk about. It’s a nuanced little element that I think is quite important when it comes to lifting people so that they can lead even more effectively.
3:06
And Sarah gave you a little bit of an insight around my background. And I am having been in every position inside a range of different organizations. I get to look at the Middle Manager, the B Suite, from every vantage point.
3:23
And, you know, I’ve created a few resources over my time, and a few awards gathered along the way, and so, it is an absolute trait to be able to talk about a topic that I’m getting. Maybe I’m just getting old and a little bit angry in my old age, but I, but I’m really passionate an obsessed about helping the C suite and helping senior leaders really lift their base weight. But it’s, but, it’s something that, I think, applies that just about every level. Which leads me to this next question, which, I’d love for you to type into the question area.
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Type a, C, if you are in the C suite, A, B, if you’re in the base weight, as in a middle manager, and then S if you are on the frontline and then, oh, if you’re a business owner, now, if you don’t fall into any of those categories, make something up. It’s OK. Hurrah, here we go, we’ve got some based suite is, we’ve got some owners, we’ve got B plus, I liked that big pluses that your blood type there, John, A, C B O, OK, So, that’s interesting.
4:42
Awesome. Awesome. We’ve got a real mix. Love it.
4:46
This is brilliant. Thank you so much more Murray’s. I hope I’m saying your name right, F also. I love Brisbane. Brisbane. I hate my hometown. Thank you.
4:59
So, Kathy, you’re a C B B Oh, my goodness, does that mean you have three jobs? That’s huge. This is amazing, OK, this is great. We’ve got a really good mix.
5:14
Thank you so much.
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Thank you. Thank you. Great. And the reason why I’m asking this is because it helps me to then put a lot of this into context for you as we go through. But I know you’ll get it. So that’s, that’s not a really big issue at all. Jeff.
5:32
Leadership development. Facilitator, so for, OK, fantastic. Kathy, to associates with the on my team. Great, Brian, thank you so much for sharing. Really appreciate that. Awesome. So, let’s get into it. I want to talk to you about Renee. now, Renee’s, she was an executive director of a huge department, a huge government agency, Now I’m going to use the title executive director. But, what, when you look at the function that she had, she was essentially the CEO of that organization, even though it was a government agency.
6:09
She had a whole range of middle managers reporting to her. And she had this one middle manager whose productivity really suffered. And she just was at her wit’s end, Renee was, was, was really struggling to work out what to do to truly engage with this middle manager.
6:32
And so she, she got on the phone with me and we had a bit of a chat about what the situation was and whether I would come in and do some productivity, coaching or do some training.
6:44
So she engaged me to come in. I sat down with this middle manager and, and it was all quite transparent why I was there and this poor Middle Manager was was. They themselves were at wits, and two, once we sat down and actually started discussing what was going on.
7:01
And the middle manager said to me, I am, I have to submit a report every month. And I have to use software, and it’s, it’s bespoke. It’s custom software. It’s not off the shelf. It’s not a Windows, or an Apple thing, or an Android thing.
7:21
It’s, it was quite clunky. It crashes regularly. I don’t understand what the report is for or where it goes to. And so it was all this lack of clarity around what this whole piece of work was about, And so I then challenged her respectfully and said, Well, what training did you ask for? What training did you get?
7:46
And she said, I only get two hours. I only got about two hours of demonstration, and I keep asking for more. I keep calling IT, asking them to come and help me with it, but it’s not a high priority for them.
8:00
Then, I asked her around, Well, what is it that you’re doing to get clarity on this report?
8:06
And, um, this middle manager said to me, Oh, well, I have tried to reach out to the person who I send it to, but they haven’t gotten back to me. I’ve asked Renee for some more support to help understand why I do this report.
8:24
And so, I just then, they just really were stalling in the conversation with me and I said, No, what you say to me right now is between you and me, what’s going on?
8:37
And the middle man just said, I don’t know how to ask for the help that I need.
8:41
And I said, OK, good. Thank you for sharing that with me. And I don’t know! The other thing should, I don’t know how to approach those senior leaders, because I know the report goes to a senior leader, and I don’t know how to really approach when I because she’s.
8:57
She’s kind of getting upset with me and said, OK, so who’s the senior leader that you send the report to?
9:06
And where are they, based in the organization?
9:10
And this middle manager stood up, pointed to the other side of the office and says they around that corner, Rand on this floor. And I thought, right, let’s go! And so they looked at me wide eyed and a little bit like they were caught in the headlights. And I said, Let’s go and see if they’re available right now for two minutes.
9:29
And they were, I said, sir, I will take the blame. I will take the brunt of this, but we’ve gotta get this resolved. And so we went round the other side of the office to the far corner and we knocked on the door and I said hi. I introduced myself. Do you know this person? And they knew of them, but they hadn’t really had a conversation.
9:50
They had been receiving communication from this person, but they hadn’t actually properly formerly met, and so always introduce them.
9:59
And then I said, the report that you get from this person every month, we would like some real clarity on what it’s about and why you get it. What’s it for? Because we’re struggling with the software, we’re struggling with the clarity around this report and how to make it of value for you.
10:20
And that senior leader said, yeah, I don’t know why I get that, I just delete it.
10:28
And it was one of those moments where it’s like, this middle manager was on the verge of performance management, because that’s what Renee was talking about.
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To me, I’m going to report.
10:43
That goes basically to the bin to the trashcan.
10:48
And this was, this was one of those moments where, oh, my goodness, and so we had to go back and walk this back with Renee, and let her know that this report is redundant. It doesn’t need to be done, it’s not going anywhere.
11:03
And once that was brought to the table, it highlighted some real, issues around the relationship between the C suite and the base weight.
11:16
And so, this is one of the things why I talk about this nuanced pace of relationship, that I think that there’s a whole lot of opportunities that, uh, that are there for this relationship to be. You know, improved.
11:31
And when I think about that experience with Renee, I think about the three T’s of trust trial, and triumph and, and, know, this was pre covert, pre pandemic and so I think these three T’s applied generally.
11:48
But I think that could be absolutely amplified when we think about any senior leaders and middle managers, C suite and base weight, who have to operate in a, in a hybrid environment now, especially when you can’t see the people you have delayed. And so that’s why I want to jump into these three Ts and share them with you because I think they’re really quite valuable. And for those of you who are in a similar role to me and leadership development, I’d love for you to think about this as your, having conversations with your leaders that you’re supporting. And, and where’s the trust. You Know, where’s the the the the trials? That you can get them to? Think about and this will be an interesting take on it when I share what I mean by trial. And how are they celebrating the triumph? And an Understanding the value of trial.
12:41
So We’re ready to get into the three toys.
12:44
Can I have a Y or a yes, in the chat bar in the in the question box plays if you are ready Does anyone know or renee? That’s had a similar experience? Had loved denied. Yeah, definitely. Let’s do it says John. Thank you. You bet, yeah.
13:00
And anyone else had an experience like Renee, where you, you know, the, the, that big gap in that communication really could have been quite devastating outcome for that middle manager.
13:16
So, let’s start with trust. And I think it goes without saying that now it’s quite foundational, obviously. And I don’t think anyone said it better than Patrick Lencioni, and hopefully I’m saying his name correctly, in his book of those, The five Dysfunctions of a Team. And when he talks about, the first disfunction dysfunction, is an absence of trust.
13:39
And, and when we don’t have that trust, then, obviously, people not going to be prepared to, uh, to make mistakes. They’re not going to be prepared to risk, anything. They’re not even going to be prepared to be vulnerable in front of others. And so, and as we do know, being vulnerable is, is actually a strength, not a weakness. It’s a humanizing connector that so many organizations lack from their leaders.
14:11
And so, when we are hoping, when we are working in, operating, in, trust them, we’re creating that safe space for people to actually question, and challenge. And things get an idea, to innovate and create. And so, I think, that’s absolutely critical. And, Maurice, I hope one of the Ts is Tim TAMs Now, for everyone who might not know, I don’t, I know Tim TAMs are in the US.
14:39
And, and, but, I’m not sure if they’re global, Tim TAMs one of the most yummy cookies around that came out of Australia. So, nice, pick up their bars. Chocolate coated cookies. So, thank you for that in the question box there, for Tim TAMs Biscuits.
15:00
So, when we think about the trust that’s around an organization, I really want there to be that role modeling of trust from the senior leaders. That then, helps our middle managers to also demonstrate the same.
15:16
And when we think about trust, it’s absolutely one of those things where, uh!
15:24
Where, when we are operating from a space of our integrity walking, our talk, and being being the person, we say, we’re going to be being reliable.
15:35
I don’t know about you, but when someone’s not reliable, things happen.
15:40
Car accidents happen or emergencies happen. Things break down. That’s not, that’s not you not being reliable. That’s just the universe stopping you from getting somewhere, but when there’s that consistent, you know, lack of reliability All can be frustrating, and what does that do to trust, right?
15:59
Also, consistency: I remember having a managing director, many years ago, when I was an employee, is a corporate trainer, I didn’t know who I was getting from one day to the next one, this gentlemen walked into the office, and we’ll all be, always be walking on eggshells. And so no one trusted him at all.
16:19
We almost started a support group because we just didn’t know who was who, who we were going to be confronted with with this person and their different personality and, and their lack of consistency in their decision making and, And also the, the They were not consistent in, um, no, it will be a hard vicious. No.
16:44
one day for one particular situation and then when you apply the same situation to someone else at a different time, it’d just be a gentle no. And so I was like, well, like, who are you?
16:56
And it got to the point where we would get phone calls and we would get text messages on our cell phones telling us not to come into the office. If particularly for corporate trainers, we could work from our venues and work from our homes.
17:12
But it would visit don’t come to the office if you don’t have to the MDs coming to town.
17:17
So I was like big, big, you know, lack of trust, absolute lack of trust. Like working for an alcoholic parent been there. Yeah, yeah that market because I think that’s a, that’s a heart wrenching, good example. Yes, thank you for sharing that estate, yeah. Insincerity, you know, you’ve got to, know that’s a genuine thing, being genuine and who you are. And I know that authenticity, being authentic, it’s had that little overused. So it’s become a buzz word, which means it’s lost its flavor.
17:54
But it’s still the truth.
17:56
You know we need authentic and sincere leaders. And so I think it’s a really critical thing that we give ourselves, particularly the senior leaders, the opportunity to be who they are.
18:12
And that includes that vulnerability excuse me. What type of work environment that practices telling staff to walk on eggshells. In other words, you have to come to the office actively looking over your shoulder down, I know.
18:25
Yeah, It’s a way, it was very stressful for all the office staff.
18:33
But was also in an environment. Because, I was working in another country at the time, and the country’s environment was also quite interesting way. If you didn’t have a job, you weren’t able to be in the country.
18:43
So, there was a little bit of, little bit more of a trapping, some might say, to being in that an organization and being employed.
18:53
So, yeah, exactly, and commitment, Know, how are you, and how the leaders showing up? In their commitment to the work and the, and the people that they lead. You know, are they truly committed to? Their leadership? Are they truly committed to being the person they say they’re going to be? And they truly committed to the work and engaging the people so that they can work the best? You know, I my last slide for you today is that your team success is your success and that comes back to what are you doing and what are you committed to doing? Excuse me. So I think that reliability, integrity, consistency, sincerity and commitment then they use strategies for demonstrating trust and being trustworthy and being seen as trustworthy as well. So the first one, I think, is really critical is this trust pace.
19:52
And interestingly, it taps into the question that I have around. And I love that this came out of an inc dot com article that when you compare senior managers to, to other staff, look at the gap there from 72% to 45%, believe the company projects a clear purpose and operates within the mandates of the stated purpose.
20:19
Now, I think that’s interesting when you look at the gap and that’s a big gap.
20:25
And so while that gaps there, think about that from the filter of clarity of role like what Renee was doing from the, the eroding of trust that can happen.
20:40
So I think it’s a really critical thing to keep in mind that, if you’re a senior leader for all the C suite, is in the business owners that we’ve got here, while you believe you’re projecting a clear purpose, and you operate within the mandate of your purpose, Are you articulating that?
21:03
are you actually, is that actually landing the same way as you think it is for the people you’re leading?
21:13
And if, and if it isn’t, then there’s a great opportunity to close that gap.
21:17
And I think if you’re someone who works with other leaders, this is an interesting way to really sort of challenge some thinking around while you, you, as a senior leader, might be thinking you are doing this. Is it actually being received that way? And there’s a great opportunity to close that gap. And starting with trust would be the first place.
21:41
And I think the, the elements of trust that we talked about: how you show up, but when it comes to have that into plays with others. We talked about having a mandate, and making sure it’s clear, and it’s understood, so that comes down to your expectations. What do you expect of you people? And I think it’s really critical that we are making sure that our expectations are absolutely clear for what we’re wanting people to be achieving to be focusing on, and also clear around your expectation of productivity and prioritizing work.
22:19
And it’s really interesting that when I come back to the example of Renee, she was expecting this middle manager to be more productive. But the conversation didn’t go deep enough.
22:32
It was just surface level.
22:34
And so, while Renee thought she was clear in her expectations, it wasn’t clear for the Middle Manager, and it wasn’t deep enough in its conversation to really get through and know, where was that middle managers sense of safety to be asking the questions as well.
22:52
Then the next element is permission and I love the quote and it came from a management and leadership expert, Meg Whately. And she wrote a great book called Leadership and the New Science and she says proceed until apprehended. But, I think one of the things that’s really important is to think about permission as making sure that you, as the senior leader.
23:22
Again, clearly articulating the permission that the base we’d have to lead in their role to fully encapsulate the leadership opportunity that they have. Because let’s face it when you’re in the base weight role, I know some people say, middle managers in the base weight, a stuck in the middle, that’s the negative you. I kinda think what the best position you could be. You have perfectly position because you can inform and you can influence up, You can collaborate across and you can inform and inspire down.
24:00
And so, I think that this element of permission is really critical and making sure that that’s been articulated and understood. And, of course, feedback.
24:10
And we all know that feedback is critical. Everyone wants to know how they’re doing. They want to know if they’re doing a good job. And they want to know if they’re not doing a good job because they don’t want to be, you know, filing. You know, we know this poor middle manager that I was dealing with. They absolutely knew that we’re filing. But the feedback, again, it was surface level.
24:34
It didn’t go deep enough.
24:35
They obviously didn’t go deep enough because if they’d had a better conversation, they’d both realize that that report was useless, it was for nothing. Now that poor middle manager would take days and days and days working on getting that report done and what a waste of time.
24:56
Stress, the mental health, the wellness. The. That their lack of ability to focus on the attain because they’re having to do this report, you know, every single element around that suffered because of, you know, basically, when it comes down to it.
25:15
Communication.
25:16
And you knew that was coming. I know you did. Right. It’s absolutely comes down to communication. And it’s fundamental, you know, that.
25:25
But I think one of the things that we’ve got to really start having conversations about is not surface level. We need to take it down another level, and be really clear in those expectations, making sure that we’re articulating permission really clearly, and having robust, respectful, two-way feedback conversations, and also as a senior leader. How willing are you to receive feedback from your base weight?
25:52
Yeah.
25:53
Yeah, I think that when, when a senior leader is willing to hear feedback, come up the line, and I’m not talking an anonymous 360 degree online tool. That’s a great conversation starter.
26:08
It’s a great place to start, but I’m talking when you can have lens to lens or face-to-face feedback conversations, and being in a position to receive feedback from someone junior to.
26:21
I think that is a massive step forward in demonstrating true leadership, and what an amazing role modeling to a base weight leader for them to do the same.
26:38
So, I think there’s an opportunity there. And especially women.
26:42
I want to tap more into that permission pace because it links into number two, which is trial, and I don’t mean trial by jury or the law. What I’m talking about here is pilot testing, trying things out, permission to have got permission to work on something to … and to create. And this has …
27:06
into what I say is, this is where risk adversity meets permission, and one of the things I think is really important, and where this shows up a lot is in delegation. And when leaders don’t delegate, they, they find themselves into a whole lot of trouble. Doing a whole lot of work that they should not be doing. And it’s just easier if I do myself, you know, everyone else is too busy. They won’t do it to my standard, you know, all these reasons and rationales for why people don’t delegate.
27:38
But that falls short of being an effective leader. And I love this quote from Elizabeth. The first is, I don’t have a dog, I’m back myself.
27:48
And one of the things that I think is really important is that, when you’re a leader and you’re not delegating, it’s not just that you’re creating more work for yourself and more stress and anxiety. But you’re also the, the, the ripple effect of that is people can see that you’re not delegating. They’re missing out on opportunities. And over, not a not a long period of time, then, not even going to be willing to step up because why bother?
28:18
I don’t bother putting my hand up because the bus, we’ll just do it anyway.
28:23
Yeah. So, we’ve gotta be careful about trialing and making sure that, you know, to me, delegation falls into this category of one of the T’s of trial.
28:33
But the other one that I wanted to talk about, and I wonder if, um, if you have a Roxanne, particularly if you lead people, and if you’ve ever met a Roxanne and so Roxanne when I was the CEO of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award program here in Australia, Roxanne was one of my senior project leaders, Roxane Bubbly Effervescent chat. I loved when she would come into the office and be and have an office day as opposed to being out with our clients and stakeholders because she just would bounce into the office.
29:09
And I just she just boosted everyone’s day, big beaming smile, and full of energy and full of ideas.
29:20
Every single day was a new idea. And this is almost what roxane would do. As you can see on the slide that she’d come in and she said, You know what we should be doing and why I think we should do this, and why don’t we do this? and then here’s what I think we should do. And Roxanne is one of these people who has got brilliant ideas and wants it to go global.
29:42
Let’s start by changing the world. And one of the things that it took me a little bit of time to grapple with back then, as a young CEO, was this concept of trial, or test piloting, or start small.
29:58
And so, it took me a long time to realize that all my resistance that I was giving Roxane was actually creating more, more distance between us, until one day.
30:13
A very wise volunteer said to me, you know, what, how about you get it to try one of these things, but try it at a smaller level.
30:23
I was like lightbulb moment, of course.
30:26
And so thank this volunteer for saying something that I couldn’t say. And I instantly the next time Roxanne came into the office with another thing that we shouldn’t be doing.
30:37
I said to her, you know, what, Do this, in a small way, at this area, and let’s see what it looks like. And the, the shift changed.
30:48
And it wasn’t.
30:49
I think one of the things that I realized, as as being the CEO, I, wasn’t you know, I’m pretty good with risk, but I didn’t have permission understood.
30:58
And so sometimes we’ve got to make sure we understand that, where our risk lies, but also match that with the permission.
31:06
And say yes, say yes, but we can say, yes to trialing things out, to letting things happen, but doing them in a way that actually sits safely with us.
31:19
So has anyone mita Roxanne, Do you have a Roxanne working for you? I’d love to know.
31:31
And it’s really difficult with Roxanne’s, and the roxane’s of the world, and because, you know, they, they, they’ve got so much to give.
31:40
We have to be able to, what I say, is wrangle that energy in that focus in a way that we can then get them to try their ideas, because who knows what innovation will come? Yeah, John wants the rocks in. Absolutely. When you know who you can trial and harness, absolutely. We all could do with a rock scene. Definitely.
32:04
So it was a great lesson for me as a CEO to be able to really maneuver in a way so that we got the best of Roxanne without risking at a bigger level.
32:17
Definitely.
32:19
any questions so far?
32:20
Because we’re back to heading to our third element, Excuse me.
32:29
Just check the question box.
32:37
I am a Roxanne. Good on you.
32:42
My new boss is Iraq saying, OK, Easier to pull back someone, then light a fire under someone. In two different strategies isn’t a giant. I think that’s a really good thing to tap into.
32:56
And I think if we’re lighting a fire under someone, then we move down that delegation road and really look at matching the task to the person and explaining why we think that they are the best person to do that work and tap into what skills and abilities they’ve got to offer. Whereas in with Roxanne, we’ve got two.
33:15
No, say, yes.
33:19
With contingencies. Yeah. Angela’s I am a Roxanne. Go, Angela.
33:26
Go, you. Yeah. I love that. Thank you.
33:29
So, our last one is Triumph, And this is where I think because of the the way we work in this world now, we are so connected that we are e-mailing at all hours of the day, we’re …, where, Whatsapp thing, where pinging we’re digging with teams meetings where zooming way goto Webinar. And we’re constantly connected. Yet I think we’ve never felt so disconnected.
33:59
And one of the things that’s amplified this is also because we are in a in a sort of a lot of places or in a remote or hybrid environment. These apart from those have been pulled back into the office.
34:14
And that’d be an interesting concept as well to look at what the culture is like having gone from a hybrid or remote situation.
34:25
Thank you very much, …, to being mandated to come back to the office, particularly when there might be some people who didn’t want to come back to the office, and couldn’t see why they had to, given that we’re just as productive at home. But I think one of the things is really interesting is that because we’re so busy, we’re so.
34:49
Hmm.
34:50
Concerned with making sure that we are getting so much done. That we don’t slow it down and really think about the value of celebrating the triumphs.
35:00
And as senior leaders, we need to be making sure that we actually understand the value of a triumph.
35:07
You know, there’s a true return on investment, and I just want to share with you that this year alone, I was very fortunate to work with 40 middle managers. from from a south-east Asian region, for a massive, fast moving consumer goods brand.
35:26
And one of the elements of the program was that I wanted the participants at the end of the program to calculate the return on investment.
35:38
Now, I work for myself, so commercially, it’s a smart move so that I can demonstrate the return on investment and now that the client will have me back.
35:49
Yes, I’m not going to deny that, but the other element to this is when each participant calculated their return on investment, you can see that little twinkle in their eye.
36:02
And it was Oh Oh, Yeah. And they got the triumph of the work that they’ve done.
36:12
There was a measure in front of them that showed them, this, the, the work that they put in, gave them a bigger return, and it was truly a delight to see and experience each one of those participants, share their, their return on investment.
36:31
And then the, the ripple effect of that, onto the senior leaders who are listening and being informed of those return on investments And then the ripple effect.
36:42
The culture of the teams because of that, was phenomenon. And the whole program rated 97%, and 93% overall satisfaction. And so it was absolutely amazing. And I’m not saying that to brag. I’m saying that to him impress upon you not impress you, but impress upon you, the value of the trial.
37:08
Because one of the things that really shone through was that demonstration to themselves of the work that they did.
37:17
And so it’s one of the things that I think, is really kind of interesting when it comes to, there’s this element of celebrating and acknowledging the work that happens is maybe, if we start from the bottom up, know.
37:32
A lot of the times, you know, we might have, I think, before coven, we would have had no cake for morning tea or gathering in the office to celebrate, Or, we might go out after work, and have, have a bit of a party, Excuse me.
37:50
At the end, you will event, they might be an acknowledgement of some work done. And then, that’s great, That’s fantastic. But I wonder if there’s not an opportunity for the senior lead levels to actually got, gather, more, and have a more bottom up approach to sharing the triumphs and really highlighting the triumphs of the work that gets done. Because one of the things that’s really important is that this taps into that engagement and the culture of the organization.
38:25
And so, you know, when covert hit, I know that I worked with a lot of middle managers who really struggled with finding innovative ways to triumph and and celebrate their people, because the all staff e-mail was just not cutting it. You know, we went from having gatherings and functions to an all staff e-mail. Yay! Us, know, if that’s not enough. And, you know, it just gets, it just gets lost in every other e-mail that comes out. And so one of the things I think is really critical for us as leaders is is really getting creative about how we slow it down.
39:05
And make sure that when we have a triumph, we make the most of it in a sincere and authentic and genuine way.
39:14
I think we’re rushing around way too much, and unless we are the surgeons that have to go into the emergency room in the hospital because there’s a massive, no tragic emergency, we’ve got the capacity to slow down a little bit and make sure that we are leveraging the triumphs that are there. And one of the most important things your company could do to cause you to produce great work. I love this question, and it came from …. And before I show the answer, can anyone guess what the answer convey? Just pop that in the question box.
39:52
When you think about what is the most important thing your company could do to cause you, to produce great work, what would be your answer?
40:08
Yes, all right, I’ll have a, Oh, thank you for a question. I will talk about some creative examples in a moment.
40:14
I’d love to hear everyone share some creative examples.
40:17
As the appreciation employee, engagement show, gratitude Expect, great work. Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, resources acknowledgement once in a while communication allow me to pursue my passions.
40:33
They’re all, they’re all correct, but they’re probably not the number one.
40:39
They’re not the number one, Recognize me?
40:43
This was, this, came out as number one, recognition.
40:47
And so, I think it’s really critical that, as leaders, we’re focusing on that.
40:54
And so, coming back to, Excuse me, aren’t your question, are you able to give some successful, creative examples of creating a remote environment? Recognition? Start with recognition.
41:08
And I know that in one little, it was a small company here in Australia, that the leader actually started creating videos and sent a video as opposed to an e-mail.
41:22
Now, that was low budget, but it was the next, you know, that all they were doing was sending all e-mail. All, all employee, all staff e-mails, saying, Well done to Bob for the work you did with this project. Now, nothing was wrong with the content of the e-mail, but it was just another e-mail. And so, I challenged that later to do something differently.
41:44
And what they did was they said, Oh, they wanted to connect strong more, much more quickly and more with more strength with their people. And so video was something that we explored and so I challenge them to do video.
42:01
And from that point, instead of just doing a weekly video with staff, because we do know that, you know, over time and over repetition, it would get a little bit, it become another e-mail, as such.
42:16
We said, instead, what could you do to recognize people?
42:20
And so, it was a simple, a simple video than he created that just said, I just wanna highlight, Bob. You just, you know, what you did with this client was really great. Thank you so much. And so, the video went out to the whole team the same day.
42:37
The boss sent a lockup hamper to the employee’s home.
42:44
So, that was what they did to recognize that person. And it was within their budget and within their scope of doing it.
42:52
So, I don’t think we have to be, Um, I don’t think we have to overthink this, it doesn’t actually take a lot, particularly when the whole point of this is to recognize me. So I think that’s really really critical.
43:10
Agree recognition is vital. Bingo says Maurice. Yeah. Recognition with specifics on the good work done and how it impacted the organization helps people to continue to give their best. Carol, you make an absolute brilliant point. It has to be specific. Doesn’t know where we say, Oh, great work. We leave our employees going.
43:31
On. What? We do that way, We do need to be specific and, And highlight that piece of work that they did, and I think, also highlight what that piece of work achieved. Not just that they did X, but they got Y as well. So, yeah, totally agree with you, Kow, yeah.
43:50
Brent, Any questions so far?
43:54
Loving the interaction here, in the question box. So thank you.
44:03
Has that helped us, helped to answer your question by the way, I just wanted to check in there.
44:11
And you also have just had another question come through from ST if you see that one Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Thank you, So recognition to me is about.
44:23
So we can go to the dictionary, but it, But my simple brain says, Recognition is, I see you, and I see what you’ve done.
44:33
An appreciation is the addition of the thankfulness and the gratitude for it. So I think they probably go hand in hand and if that I might be being a bit pedantic, but that’s how I would put the two together.
44:46
Yeah, I think they’re quite similar. But the research used, the word recognize me. But, SD, I think what I would say, is that they’re very similar. And, and I don’t think any leader would be in any trouble if they blended the two together.
45:03
Does that make sense? Does that help?
45:05
I think it would be really valuable to recognize, so this person has done this, and I appreciate them for doing it. Yeah. Yeah, OK, great.
45:18
Yeah. So this is another statistic I thought was really quite interesting that came from …
45:23
as well, is that organizations that practiced recognition effectively a 12 times more likely to have strong business results, including increases in the shareholder return, you know, in the old money stakes.
45:41
So I think that when we talk about the value of recognition, there’s actually a true return on investment for that recognition, and and in going and putting the effort into recognizing and appreciating thank UST, recognizing and appreciating the work that gets done.
46:03
I’d say it’s, I think as leaders We sometimes struggle with overthinking. What this could look like yet if you maybe pulled a group together and actually surveyed a sample size of your organization and just said what would you like?
46:25
When it comes to the way in which this organization recognizes you? You’re definitely going to get that’s, you know, the bell curve.
46:32
That’s definitely going to happen because you’ll get some people who will want, you know, a Lamborghini, a unicorn, a Tiara, a castle on a mountain, you know? You’re gonna get the funny answers, Right? But?
46:44
you’ll also get the, the real answers as well, and when it’s for, when, it’s a facilitated conversation with someone who, um, is seen as really genuinely and sincerely wanting to know what and how the people want to be recognized. Then I think you’re going to get the data.
47:07
So, you don’t have to try and make it up.
47:10
You don’t have to actually get the crystal ball out, and try and, you know, work it out yourself, and be the brain reeder, you can actually ask.
47:21
And I think the the active asking in itself is also a really big, positive step towards engagement.
47:30
So, do you find that it is different, for not profit or government organizations?
47:38
in quite in, quite um. In. simple terms, no, because I’ve worked in Not for-profit. I’ve worked in government agencies, and I’ve worked in co-operation, and, No, we are humans First, so we don’t have to be throwing masses amounts of money or resources at recognition.
47:57
It’s the Act itself. So, I think that’s the critical piece there. Remembering, putting, the human Thirst.
48:05
I hate this saying that our that your your people are your best asset. because I don’t like calling people assets, because then we get depreciated, like, on a register. But our humans are our most critical part of the organization. So, I don’t think that it should be different for not for-profit for government, for corporate, or any type of organization. So, good question is. Do you think you? Yeah.
48:33
Susan, any other questions before? I’m just about to wrap this up.
48:40
So, when I think about the three T’s, we’re talking about trust, trial, and triumph. And, and, and as I started at the beginning of the session, it’s that nuanced pace of what we’re doing to help our leaders engage better with our base weight. Because one of the things I think is really important is that when the C suite and the base, we actually really come together and become stronger as one team. They become the IE team.
49:09
And I think that if we have that attitude and that mindset going forward, despite whether we’re in the C suite or the base weight or whether we’re working with C suites and base rates, we can help them be an IT team.
49:25
And I think that.
49:28
Tapping into, where’s the trust right now, What is it that we have to do to strengthen the trust, to make sure that our expectations are clear? We’re actually what I think I’m communicating is actually understood in the same way.
49:44
What permissions am I, ah, thwarting, you know what creativity and ideation and an opportunities, as am I as a lead and getting in the way of? and should I be stepping back and giving more permission for people to try things, that people to have the opportunity to make mistakes.
50:03
Understanding, as a senior leader, where’s your risk adversity level, is really critical.
50:09
And so then also where you can then celebrate those triumphs and recognize people. And I think that when the C suite, and the base weight, or operating really well as a, as a team, they are definitely an IT team. And, so, really want to thank you for all the engagement here. I think it’s been brilliant, and please ask any questions just, just, before I close out with my last slide, I just wanted to let you know that if you, that, If you’re interested, send through an e-mail, and put lift please in the subject line. That way, I know what to send you.
50:46
And I’m happy to send you a copy of chapter, one of the productive leader, as well as chapter one of my latest book, Spark, The non simple Strategies to Ignite Self Leadership. I’ll also throw in to that little bag of goodies and freebies. the delegation decision map. You’ll also get weekly leadership notes, and the self leadership white paper, if that interests you.
51:11
So, the most valuable resource we have is the staff, dedicated and engaged staff that are committed to our vision and values, as well as fulfilling our mission and purpose, a key to successful implementation of strategic initiatives.
51:28
I totally 100% agree with you, Kerry, and my challenge to you, would be, can you say that, in a really, ah, in a way that doesn’t make it sound like it’s corporate speak?
51:43
And I’m, and I totally agree with what you’ve said. But I’d love it to be said in a more human to human, less corporate speak way.
51:52
That’s my challenge to you, is to, do you find it’s different, kind of, answer that question I’ll hopefully Tim TAMs in the US don’t taste the same, Thanks marks. OK, good to know. Barbara, thank you, Barbara. Appreciate your comments there. Thank you. Yeah, please, if you’d like these goodies, let me know, by sending an e-mail, Sally, as Sally Folly lewis dot com.
52:17
If you just pop lift please, into the subject line, then I know to send you these freebies, and not something else, not an invoice.
52:28
Just kidding. Yeah, OK. So, as I said before, that, you know, I truly believe that your team’s success is your success.
52:36
And, and it’s about making sure that when we look at the work we do as leaders, When we’re lifting our people and they, particularly when our middle managers are in a position to lead just as well as we are, the The outcomes are going to be phenomenal. The engagement, the culture, the return on investment, will be there. And the way in which we can do that is through definitely trust, trial and triumph. So thank you, over to you, Sarah.
53:07
Think Sally. And if you do have any other questions, we do have a couple of minutes here, You can type those into the questions box while we have thali on the line.
53:16
And let’s see here, OK, small set of myths that slide, the list, is that the one checking?
53:27
Carol said, Thanks for getting up, so early to be with us today. And we do have a question here.
53:36
It said, how do I make sure I don’t become a bad boss? The others have demanded.
53:41
How do I make sure, I don’t think I’m a bad boss, where then, you know, others have to manage?
53:49
Oh?
53:50
get feedback.
53:51
I’d start with feedback, and start with someone who knows you really well, and is, and you need to set it up so that you assign to them, I’m worried about my leadership, or I’m wanting to make sure I be a great leader, I’m on a lifelong journey of improving my leadership. Could you please give me feedback about X?
54:20
So, and the reason why I say this is because you don’t want to necessarily give someone permission to just cool put the fire hydrant on and just go at you because I think it’s really important that you think about the elements of your leadership that you didn’t. You want feedback on.
54:42
What is it specifically that you’re worried about, becoming a bad boss about, that you should be asking for?
54:49
Now, for example, communications are really big, but so fundamental.
54:56
So, if there’s an element of your communication that you’re worried about, what’s the element, for example?
55:06
Is there something about the way you lead team meetings?
55:11
OK, so that’s how you can, that’s how you can get more specific, and then say to your trusted colleague, or even to your two IC, if you’re a Senior Leader, to someone in your base way. And it’s a private conversation, and you just, you just can say to them, I want to make sure that I’m the best leader I convey, and I’d really like you to give me some feedback about how I run meetings.
55:35
Just anything about the meetings that I run. Can you just give me some feedback from your perspective, and then you need to then?
55:46
And listen.
55:47
And don’t shoot the messenger, because you might not like what they hear, but, but it’s valuable feedback and this, and the thing is, you then get to choose what you do with that feedback.
55:58
As well as you get to, um, hear what it’s really like from from the other side of the, the, from the receiving end of, of what you do, which is incredibly valuable, and then please thank them, because it won’t be easy, Particularly, if they report to, generally. Please thank them.
56:20
Hopefully that helps. And that answers that question. I’m sorry, I missed the question.
56:24
Great! And then the 1, 1 more question here today, and we have time for is, do you have any tips for micro managers?
56:35
Don’t get me started, All right? Let’s roll our sleeves up with our wonderful micro managers. Where do you think micro managing comes from?
56:44
So to me, the way I say in the way I’ve worked with and helped those who micromanage is they don’t have a sense of control.
56:53
And where does that come from. It comes from a range of different things going on. And fundamentally, one of those things is trust.
57:02
And if they don’t have trust, then we’ve got to look at the relationships.
57:06
So if someone’s a mock our manager, and I would be encouraging that marker manager to actually, it’s almost, it’s like, let’s start again. Let’s start from the beginning. What are your relationships like with your people?
57:21
And build those trusting relationships, because when there’s trust, you won’t want to take over. You won’t want to necessarily step into and step onto the toes of others. So, that’s one element of trust of the micro managing is trust.
57:38
Then, when I went to micromanage a thinks they’re delegating, when in actual fact that they’re not the meddling and then the dictating than what they haven’t done is I haven’t set the delegation up properly.
57:51
And I don’t know if you remember the, this image. Let me go back.
57:57
The image. slow is fast. Again, we rushed through things and we don’t actually set ourselves up for success.
58:05
And so, one of the things I think is really important is the, the setup of delegation is done why to haphazardly.
58:15
A lot of leaders just dump and run what I call a drive by delegating delegation, and so they don’t actually have a star, a conversation that helps the person set up a plan, set in milestones to talk about when they’ll check in with each other.
58:34
And so naturally, someone who’s going to be a micromanager is going to have a heightened level of stress because they’ve walked away from thinking that I’ve delegated, but there’s so many more questions.
58:45
There’s so many gaps, But what if they can’t do this? What did I do that? What does that it is? What am I going to get it done? Who’s going to do this?
58:50
And said, I haven’t actually created out an effective plan with the person and that then just leaves a whole lot of space for stress and to trigger the micro manager. So does that help answer that question about micro manages where we don’t have a lot of time but I could talk about Margaret manages for a long time.
59:13
Yeah.
59:14
Yeah.
59:17
ETA, excuse me, think that we hit the nail on the head with that one and that does lead us now up to the top of the hour.
59:27
And brings us to the end of today’s session.
59:29
Thank you so much for your time today, Sally Q: And thank you all for participating in today’s webinar. Today’s webinar was sponsored by HRDQ, providers of research-based training resources for classroom, virtual and online soft skills training. You can learn more at  www.HRDQstore.com. I look forward to seeing you all in next week’s webinar. Have a great day.