The power of learning to unlearn

There has been a lot of change in a small period of time in the workplace. Organizations are constantly making changes to keep up with competitors or become the next best thing. Even in industries that used to be steady and stable like healthcare and education, we’ve seen layoffs, closings and mergers in the past few years.

Through all this change, I’ve seen a vast array of struggles and coping methods. The most interesting to me, however, is watching people try to unlearn things. That’s right, unlearn. The beauty is that those who were able to do it survived some of the greatest changes in organizations.

Often times, people going through change have a hard time accepting new ideas, new work and new people and that’s to be expected. The problem I see is not so much that they cannot learn new things or that they don’t want to but more so that they have a difficult time letting go of the way things used to be – a problem with unlearning what they’ve known for years or maybe decades.

While most people struggle with change, I’ve seen a common theme in those who overcome their struggles and it’s the ability to unlearn things. They are able to make connections between what was, what is and what could or should be. They know how to evaluate the differences and determine whether a change is good or bad. Then, they unlearn what they knew previously if they think the new way is better.

The magic is in unlearning because they aren’t committed to believing that what they used to know is necessarily the right and only way. They can hear the reasons for change, understand it and thus, embrace it – if it’s a good change, of course. These are not easy things to do because it’s natural to gravitate towards the things we are comfortable with rather than unlearning them.

If we all focused on the power of learning to unlearn things when we are dealing with a lot of change, we may be able to better see the benefits of the change. How have you struggled with unlearning and how did you overcome that struggle?

—
Enjoyed this post? Check out our course library, talent and coaching services, and corporate offerings; book a speaking engagement for your next event; shop our resources; or follow us on instagram at @talentremix.

Accountability without support does not work

As an HR professional, I could not agree more that we need to hold employees accountable for their performance. In fact, I find that leaders don’t do this enough. However, the biggest problem I see leaders make when it comes to accountability, besides the fact that they don’t do it enough, is that they try to hold people accountable without ever providing the proper training or support.

If your team is not meeting expectations or you’re not meeting your numbers for the month, why not start by asking what you can do? Too many leaders look first to blame their staff – they’re not working hard enough, they’re not competent enough, they don’t care about their work enough. Well, sometimes, it might be because they have not received enough resources, guidance, technology or training.

Next time your team falls short, don’t look for blame but instead, look for areas where you can help. If you don’t know where the problem is or how to help them, ask. Ask for feedback from the staff. They usually know exactly where they need help and what would help them do their jobs better.

Leaders should take ownership in improving and developing their teams to be successful. Once you do that, then you can set clear expectations and hold people accountable. Only when you have done everything in your power to make your team successful can you realistically hold them accountable for performance.

Invest the time in your people and it’ll pay off. Not only will you develop a strong team that way but you’ll boost morale. People will want to work for you and do their best every day because you invested in them and believe in them.

Once you’ve done everything to make your team successful, you can hold them accountable. As a leader, you have the power to give employees encouragement, tools/resources and independence to do their work, make decisions and succeed. If you don’t give people the tools to do their job effectively/efficiently, you can’t expect fast/accurate results.

—
Enjoyed this post? Check out our course library, talent and coaching services, and corporate offerings; book a speaking engagement for your next event; shop our resources; or follow us on instagram at @talentremix.

Why workplaces should have an alumni network

Almost every college and university in the world has an alumni network for their graduates to stay connected to the school and to each other. Why haven’t businesses followed this concept?

No matter how great you are, how independent you are or how confident you are, you do not reach success without people. Put the ego aside and think about all of the wonderful employees who have made your business a success, including the ones who have left to pursue new careers and opportunities.

Remember, not every employee leaves because he/she is fired or because he/she hates the company. Many people leave organizations because of personal reasons, professional opportunities elsewhere that they just can’t pass up or other priorities. Often times, they leave with mixed emotions, knowing how much they love the organization and its people.

So, why are we just letting these people go and not staying in touch with them? Business isn’t just about revenue anymore. It’s about relationships.

Developing an alumni network for your workplace is one of the best ways to build relationships. Everything gets reviewed online these days. Employee satisfaction is no exception. With sites like Glassdoor, your current and previous employees are rating their satisfaction with working at your organization.

Maintaining and engaging a strong alumni network allows you and your business to improve in areas of need and continue doing the things you do well. Alumni feedback is just as important as the feedback you receive from current employees. It allows you to see trends in employment and employee satisfaction.

Engaging alumni also keeps them in your recruiting pool. For example, if a phenomenal employee left for a better opportunity, you can keep engaging them so that when an opportunity becomes available at your organization, they’ll know right away and might just consider coming back. You save time and money in recruiting, hiring, orienting and training because they’ve already worked for your organization, know the people and understand the culture.

There are also other ways to keep good employees around besides keeping them employed. Alumni can also be customers, business partners, donors, board members or volunteers. Forgetting about your employees who have left your organization is too common of a mistake that organizations make.

I wrote a recent post called Leverage relationships to reach success to encourage jobseekers to build real relationships with people in order to find new opportunities. It works both ways. Organizations need to leverage relationships with alumni to reach or maintain success.

—
Enjoyed this post? Check out our course library, talent and coaching services, and corporate offerings; book a speaking engagement for your next event; shop our resources; or follow us on instagram at @talentremix.

Leadership fail: A “make everyone happy” attitude

Whether we are conscious of it or not, we often want to make everyone happy. As leaders, we don’t take pride in firing people, writing people up, not taking people’s ideas or leaving people out of important decisions but the truth is that we may very well have to do these things sometimes.

One of the greatest leadership fails I’ve seen is avoiding difficult decisions, crucial conversations and other unpopular but necessary actions. I’ve seen leaders let their employees get away with some of the worst behaviors because they think that talking to the employees about their behaviors will make things worse and the employees won’t like them anymore. First of all, this is a poor excuse for not addressing people problems. Secondly, the reality is often different from the leaders’ perceptions.

A leader with a “Make Everyone Happy” attitude can be extremely detrimental to a team. We’ve all seen them. They’re the ones who ask everyone in the organization for their opinion before making a decision and values every person’s opinion the same. They’re the ones who give poor performers a good review because they don’t want to have “that” conversation. They’re the ones who try to reward everyone, even people who aren’t doing their job well…or at all.

In hindsight, these leaders are actually hurting themselves and their teams. A “Make Everyone Happy” attitude can:

  • Slow productivity. When we try to make everyone happy by including them in every decision, we never get a decision made or we end up making a decision without everyone because we need to meet a deadline – and then, they get even more upset with us because we asked for their opinion and didn’t wait for them to give it. Sometimes, involving too many people in a decision, assignment or project can hinder productivity. Leaders must know when to include everyone and when not too.
  • Devalue high performers. If we treat our poor performers the same as our high performers, our high performers will start to notice. I see leaders do this a lot when it comes to performance reviews. Whether we like it or not, employees talk. Our high performers will find out if you rate a poor performer similar to them and they will become less motivated to do a good job. Why should they go above and beyond if we don’t recognize them for it?
  • Ruin a leader’s reputation. Employees will stop trusting us if we are always trying to make everyone happy. They will notice. Trust will be broken. Leaders must focus on doing the right things the right way, which may not always be the most popular thing that makes everyone happy.

Trying to make everyone happy can often backfire on leaders and do the opposite – piss everyone off. Great leaders aren’t afraid to stand alone, which is why they rarely have to.

—
Enjoyed this post? Check out our course library, talent and coaching services, and corporate offerings; book a speaking engagement for your next event; shop our resources; or follow us on instagram at @talentremix.

Leverage relationships to reach success

You hear it all the time now – build relationships, develop a strong network and connect with other professionals online – but what are you supposed to do with all of these new connections? Leverage these relationships to reach success.

What people fail to tell you is that it’s not just about building relationships but it’s about really getting to know the people in your professional networks and maintaining those relationships. Only then can you take advantage of that network to help you grow and develop your career. This is easier said than done. It requires a lot of time and effort.

Understand the People in Your Network

Get to know the people you’ve connected with – beyond their name, job title and place of work. Find out what their strengths and obstacles are so you can leverage their strengths and perhaps, help them overcome their struggles (it’s a two-way street).

Professional development is much more than figuring out what the next job in your career will be. If you know the strengths of each of your connections, you’ll be able to easily reach out to the right people at the right time, and it’s often when you least expect that you will need them. You may want to leverage their expertise for a project you’re working on or when you’re trying to find a specific resource or learning opportunity.

Maintain Your Relationships

In order to be successful, you need to turn the connections you make into a network of long-term relationships. This requires continuously reaching out to people, learning about what they’re working on and keeping them posted on what you’re working on. This can be as simple as a quick LinkedIn message once in a while for some connections or it can be a regular phone call or coffee break for your closer relationships.

Strong relationships are easier to keep up with but if you have a difficult time maintaining some of your other relationships, try scheduling them into your calendar. Place a reminder for every four months or so to take five minutes out of your day and write them a message. How awkward would it be to ask for something, even advice, from someone you’ve lost touch with? They may not even remember you.

Take Advantage of Your Connections

Taking advantage of your connections does not indicate a one-way relationship where you take and never give. You’ll also benefit from helping others. It all goes back to the first point about understanding the people in your network.

When you are working on a project you need guidance on or when you really are ready to make that next step in your career, you’ll know exactly who to reach out to for what because you’ve taken the time to get to know the people you’ve met and develop a true relationship with them.

Perhaps, you’re not even looking for a job for yourself but rather, you’re in a fortunate position and are looking to hire a strong team of professionals. Leverage the relationships you’ve already built to find the best talent. It might not be them but other people they know.

If you stop thinking of your connections as people just to “have” in your network and start building relationships with them and staying connected with them, you’ll be able to better leverage them to reach success in your current career or future career.

—
Enjoyed this post? Check out our course library, talent and coaching services, and corporate offerings; book a speaking engagement for your next event; shop our resources; or follow us on instagram at @talentremix.

Leadership fail: Micromanagement

I posted a poll on my blog for about three weeks. I asked the question: Which type of manager is the worst? 80% of people said that a micromanager is the worst type of manager.

Essentially, people would rather have a manager who was totally hands-off and a manager who is not personable or approachable. So what’s so bad about a micromanager and how do leaders avoid micromanagement?

Micromanagers are annoying.

To employees, it feels like micromanagers are nagging them. Micromanagers are constantly asking for progress reports and telling employees how they should do every little thing.

What should a leader do instead?

Ask, listen, and coach. If you ask your employee how things are going, listen to what they have to say. Don’t jump to conclusions and start telling them how to do something. Then, if they need help, offer suggestions and guidance but don’t solve their problems for them. Help them solve it themselves. Give them time to try before asking them for an update again.

Micromanagers are hurtful.

Micromanagers ask employees to do something and then turn around and tell the employees how to do it or do it for them. This makes employees feel that they are not trusted or competent, which can be very hurtful especially if it’s not true.

What should a leader do instead?

Trust your employees! Provide them the resources and then hold them accountable for accomplishing the assignment. It really is that simple. Surprise your employees by trusting them and they might just surprise you by doing a great job!

Micromanagers are harmful to team morale.

Micromanagers focus too much on managing the work that they forget to lead their people, which will quickly diminish morale. Micromanaging people also makes it feel like you think you’re the only one who knows how to do something and that you’re not part of a team working together.

What should a leader do instead?

Allow people to contribute. Get to know your team and their strengths and areas they want to grow. Then, utilize that information to make appropriate assignments. If everyone contributes to the cause, they will begin to feel like a team again. Avoid creating the me vs. them culture.

Realizing you’re a micromanager is the first step. Being proactive in changing your micromanagement tendencies is more difficult but will put you on the road to becoming a better leader.

—
Enjoyed this post? Check out our course library, talent and coaching services, and corporate offerings; book a speaking engagement for your next event; shop our resources; or follow us on instagram at @talentremix.

Growth doesn’t always happen through upward movement

That’s right, growth doesn’t always happen through upward movement. In fact, To grow, sometimes you have to move laterally or maybe even downwards. Sometimes, you also have to standstill for a while because there’s more to learn where you are.

I’ve seen Directors move back to a staff-level position before becoming VPs of large organizations. It’s not always about the title or hierarchy; sometimes, a job or department or even an organization just is not a good fit and that’s okay. Moving to a lower position in a department or organization that allows for more growth is better than staying at a higher position where there is no growth or learning.

So, what do you do if you want to grow? Growth is about learning, grasping new opportunities and finding ways to improve yourself. When it comes to career growth, here are three tips I’ve learned from experience:

  • Get yourself a mentor. Find someone who can guide you in the right direction. Having a mentor in your organization can truly be one of the best things for your career. Your mentor does not have to be your boss or even someone from your department, for that matter. For me, I was able to find my mentor in a VP that I rarely work with directly but has grown herself in a way that I admire. Plus she’s willing to put in the time and effort to help and advise me, and that’s the first characteristic of a great mentor.
  • Develop a “can-do” attitude. Attitude goes a long way these days. It doesn’t matter what industry, job or organization you work in, the workplace is becoming a busier place everyday. Technology and society have made it possible to do more with less. Sometimes, it can feel like everyone is “too busy” or that nothing is “their job.” If you’re willing to do whatever it takes for the team, no matter how big or how small, you will build stronger relationships that will help you grow your career. In such an individualistic society, it can be refreshing to have a collectivist mindset.
  • Push yourself out of your comfort zone and try new things. Don’t just stay in a job because you know how to do it. If you’re not being challenged, you’re probably not in a job that is going to help advance your career. If you’re looking for new job opportunities, don’t just look for ones that are directly aligned with your experiences or your degree. If there’s a great opportunity to learn something different, whether it’s a whole new job or just a new project/assignment, take it and diversify your skills. Trying new things, gaining different skills and taking every opportunity to learn will help you build your value proposition.

If you’re scared of doing any of the things listed, ask for guidance. If you don’t have someone to ask, go online. For example, LinkedIn Groups and Twitter chats are great places to connect with fellow professionals that are ready and willing to give you great advice on how to learn and grow.

—
Enjoyed this post? Check out our course library, talent and coaching services, and corporate offerings; book a speaking engagement for your next event; shop our resources; or follow us on instagram at @talentremix.

10 tips to succeed in the workplace as a new professional

Whether you’re entering the workforce for the first time or just making a career change, it can be challenging to be a new professional. What’s even more difficult is being new to a very tenured team – a team that has already spent years or decades creating their culture, developing common ways of doing things and building a shared understanding between members. It can feel awkward, uncomfortable and lonely.

It doesn’t have to be though. There are several things you can try as a new professional – whether you’re new to the field, to the world of work or to a team/company.

  1. Set realistic expectations. You cannot go into a new job and expect that everyone on the team should automatically show you respect simply based on your qualifications. This is a mistake that new leaders, particularly, make all to often.
  2. Invest your time in building relationships. Internal networking is so important for everyone to do but especially new professionals. Go beyond your team or department and make sure you are building relationships with other employees and departments, your customers, leaders in the organization, vendors and all other stakeholders. You never know when other opportunities in the organization will open up. If people know you and your skills and abilities, they’ll be sure to reach out to you when they have an opening that’s a good fit.
  3. Be brave, share your ideas. Holding back for fear of rejection may be counter-productive. Don’t shove your ideas down your coworkers’ throats but be sure to offer them up for discussion. Often times, people are shy when they first start a job but if you don’t share your ideas, you might be missing out on a great opportunity. Also, if your idea is the perfect solution and you don’t share it, you could be hurting your team. Do this in you own way but know that it is more than okay to share your ideas even if you are new.
  4. Exemplify a “can-do” attitude. Don’t take everything on! Just try to be a problem solver whenever you can. This can be a breath of fresh air for teams that have been stuck in a negative, non-collaborative and disengaged culture for a long time. If there’s something that they feel has been impossible to do, you should see if there’s a way. Be creative.
  5. Avoid the drama. It’s stressful enough to be the new one and to have to learn the culture, processes and assignments that exist at an organization. Don’t get involved in its baggage too. Avoid anything that insists on bringing you or others down.
  6. If you’re going to suck up, suck up to everyone. You should treat everyone kindly and with respect, not just your boss. If you only do good things when your boss is around, your coworkers will get annoyed pretty quickly.
  7. Be a helpful team member. When your team members are struggling, have a lot on their plate or just need a hand, make sure to offer your assistance. Show that you are a team player. Others will follow suit.
  8. Solve problems. Find out what people dislike about a current process, technology or idea and think about a way to make it better for them. You’re likely to think of things that they did not think of and vice versa. If you know of a way to make someone’s life easier or better at work, do it.
  9. Recognize others. You don’t need to be a formal leader to do this. People appreciate recognition no matter who it’s from. If you notice a great skill in one of your coworkers, complement them on it. If someone helps you out, make sure to show your appreciation. If your coworker accomplished a great feat, celebrate him/her.
  10. Know when it’s time to leave. A common mistake that many new professionals make is sticking around in a job or at an organization that they know is not a good fit. Whether it’s a lack of ethics, a lack of support or a lack of professional development, know when it’s time to leave and do it. Don’t get stuck in a job or company that you’ll hate for years to come. You don’t have to settle. I don’t mean leave after your first week. You have to use your best judgment but the point is: don’t expect that time will cure everything. If it’s time to move on, then move on.

—
Enjoyed this post? Check out our course library, talent and coaching services, and corporate offerings; book a speaking engagement for your next event; shop our resources; or follow us on instagram at @talentremix.

Leaders & HR, do we really understand our employees?

As HR professionals or as leaders of an organization, we are writing policies and procedures, developing benefit plans, creating pay structures, launching employee engagement initiatives, making hiring and firing decisions and other activities that impact our employee populations. Are we pausing to ask whether or not we truly understand what our customers’ needs are? Our employees’ needs? Do our practices align with what they need to get their jobs done successfully? Are we really serving them?

I can’t help but recall a policy that one of my HR departments wrote and enforced that was not aligned with helping employees get their jobs done successfully. It was the most ridiculous and complicated policy I have ever seen. In fact, I don’t even think I could explain it to you accurately. However, my experience with reading the policy, being asked to enforce it and training other leaders to enforce it was enough to make me start thinking – reflecting, really. Did my HR team really understand who its customers were when they wrote this policy?

To be effective leaders and HR professionals, we need to understand how our practices, policies and initiatives impact our employees. Sometimes, we focus so much on risk – creating policies to protect the organization from legal action, sending communications that are too business-oriented and complicated because we want to make sure that we document our conversations with our employees or rewriting procedures/policies because of one person or one incident.

We need to remember that the key is to manage risk, not let it manage you. Don’t let the fear of the legal system be an excuse for not providing your employees, who are your customers, with an engaging work environment where they can thrive, grow and have some fun!

Don’t make assumptions. Ask a lot of questions. Work next to your employees, not above them or below them. Be creative when determining how to best serve your customers, your employees. Make sure they are at the forefront of your mind when making decisions. Make sure they have all the resources and support they need to do their jobs in the most efficient and effective ways. Make sure you understand their perspective as they are the ones on the front line.

—
Enjoyed this post? Check out our course library, talent and coaching services, and corporate offerings; book a speaking engagement for your next event; shop our resources; or follow us on instagram at @talentremix.

Work-life balance is so last year!

OK, so I’m exaggerating a little with that title but it’s only because I want people to really get it that work-life balance was just a fad that didn’t last too long. For a few years, HR professionals were trying to figure out why employees were so unhappy with their jobs and why they were getting so burned out. So, they came up with “work-life balance,” the idea that employees will be more productive at work if we can create a better balance and distinction between their work time and their personal time.

Many companies, now, are finding out that their employee’s productivity and engagement still are not improving. But, why? Is it actually because work-life balance was a bad idea? Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe the world of technology and work just grew faster than companies and HR departments could keep up with. Maybe before we had all this technology and ways of multi-tasking and working more efficiently, things in work and life just took a lot more time and effort. Thus, it was important to differentiate and allocate specific time to our professional lives and our personal lives.

Now, we can actually engage in work and personal time simultaneously, which is why work-life balance is so last year. The new trend? Work-life integration. It might seem like it’s only a matter of semantics but I think it’s a little more than that. Whereas work-life balance focuses on how we can make sure that our employees are getting an appropriate portion of both everyday, work-life integration places a greater importance on how we can find ways to blend work and personal time so that both come together (rather than stay distinct) to create a more meaningful and whole life.

Work-life integration also forces our HR professionals to think about how to make work more enjoyable so that employees want it to become part of their being, their every day, their every second. The idea is that our work should somehow merge with our personal lives so that we can get the job done and still be able to live our lives as we please.

What does this look like in the real world? Gone are the days of no cell phones at work, no social media at work and no internet at work. Gone are the days of 9-5 shifts, work-life balance/distinction and dare I say, those ridiculous attendance policies. That’s right, employees are no longer being measured by whether or not they “show up” for work. Innovative companies are moving towards measuring performance based on results. This solves the problem of presenteeism, the concept of employees who are present at work but do not actually get work done.

With laptops, ipads, smartphones and smart gear (watches, fitbits, glasses, etc.), we can get work done anywhere, anytime. We can multitask too, performing personal and work-related tasks at the same time. For example, I can send a tweet out from my iPhone while I wait for my work computer to start-up or send a group text reminder about my dinner party to friends while I’m waiting for a meeting to start. For many people, technology has become such a norm for them that it is the only way they know how to focus (versus the idea that technology is a distraction). Technology is no longer a distraction for everyone.

Clearly, everyone works differently and for some people, keeping life and work separate may still be a preference. That’s why it’s important for HR departments and business leaders to offer more flexibility and more choice in the workplace. If we let people work however it is that they work best, we’ll see more results, productivity and engagement.

—
Enjoyed this post? Check out our course library, talent and coaching services, and corporate offerings; book a speaking engagement for your next event; shop our resources; or follow us on instagram at @talentremix.