Tag Archive for: leadership training

Exhibiting Leadership within a Hybrid Workplace

October 18, 2024/0 Comments/in Hybrid Workforce, Leadership/by Angela MacCabe

Over the past year, one big question has been on everyone’s mind. What does the future of work look like? If the answer is slowly starting to take shape for many organizations, one thing is clear: the future of work will involve a mix of in-person and remote working arrangements. Managers exhibiting exceptional leadership skills will be the most successful at manoeuvring within a hybrid workplace.

A New Reality Requiring Adaptation

The winning formula may look different for every business but a recent McKinsey survey showed that 9 out of 10 organizations intend on combining remote and on-site work in the near future. Motivations include staff well-being, safety and security, real estate costs, increased productivity and greater access to talent.

This may come as good news but management can expect a whole set of new challenges to arise.

Let’s not forget that aside from freelancers, remote work has only gained traction over the past few years and that to this day, most people have acquired professional experience in physical work environments in which people meet face-to-face and work hand-in-hand.

We may be used to technology but managing a team partially or entirely made up of remote workers is a different story and requires time, effort, adaptability and commitment from leadership.

Showing Up as a Strong Leader

In a virtual world, a lot of the usual cues are gone, making leadership skills even more important.

Zoom meetings don’t provide the same level of information as physical interactions, nor do they significantly contribute to create culture – unless handled with that goal in mind.

Surprisingly, a hybrid model combining entirely remote workers and others working from the office at least part-time can prove to be as or even more challenging than a 100% remote team, the risk being of generating two separate cultures.

As a leader, you act as the captain that steers the boat in the right direction. It is imperative that you communicate with confidence and ensure your people have the tools and resources to perform to the best of their ability and feel comfortable in doing so. Don’t pretend to have all the answers. Be open to change and suggestions while realizing that how you show up will impact how they react.

The devil is in the detail and it is by observing people’s reactions, witnessing their behaviors, and testing different approaches that you will know how best to handle the situation and exhibit leadership in doing so.

However, a leader can do so much in brushing up on its leadership skills. Training and coaching therefore becomes an interesting avenue to gain more perspective on oneself and access tools and techniques to elevate interpersonal capabilities.

Getting Started in Leading a Hybrid Workforce

1. Assess your own personal readiness as a leader

How do you feel about the changes you are faced with?
What biases or concerns do you have?
What can you do about them?
How might they impact your team?

Make sure to look at the big picture. Identifying how hybrid work can positively impact yourself, staff and the organization may help put things into perspective. As a leader, you are required to do what is best for the organization while taking into consideration the people you are responsible for.

In any case, finding this out will allow you to explore your solutions and make intentional decisions for all moving forward.

2. Assess your team’s readiness

Two-thirds of American workers have reported feeling anxious about returning to work.

Gauge where your employees stand.

Are they happy about the situation?
If not, what is preventing them from committing?
Are there simple measures or accommodations that can be put in place to help?

Taking note of this and addressing it early on will help overall productivity and performance.

3. Seek feedback

When making decisions about organizational policies and processes to facilitate a hybrid workplace, don’t let chance be your guide.

Ask other members of the leadership team for input and advice. What are their strategies to help them lead their teams with more confidence in this evolving workplace?

A leader is also a good listener so don’t be afraid to ask staff for their input as well. Without promising anything, ask them what they think would be useful tools, processes and practices to make their work easier and improve team dynamics. Present it so that everyone understands they have a role to play.

After seeking input, create a clear, consistent policy and process to clearly outline your working expectations.

The next step will be to communicate your plan – clearly and confidently.

In our next post, we’ll discuss how critical efficient communication is in workplace, and how taking into account different types of personalities and communication styles can help bring your team together.

Through workplace training, coaching and human resource solutions, Intuity Performance applies a Whole Person Performance approach to cultivate an environment for growth within organizations.

Contact us to find out how we can elevate your leadership skills.

The Difficult Conversation: 5 Tips For Leaders

October 17, 2024/0 Comments/in Communication, Human Skills, Leadership/by Angela MacCabe

Have you ever been in a situation where you needed to have a difficult conversation with a team member? Of course you have – we all have. But what do you do when that happens? What steps should you take before and during the conversation to make it go as smoothly as possible?

Difficult conversations aren’t fun. But leaders must take the time to hone this skill.

Creating a safe environment for all team members means finding a middle ground in the interactions you initiate with each member. A leader has a delicate balance between being friendly and approachable and keeping professional boundaries.

Having a game plan before beginning a difficult conversation is essential. If you’re going to have a meaningful and challenging talk with someone in your company, here are five tips that will help keep the exchange professional and productive.

Establish a clear purpose for the conversation

Leaders need to be clear about why they are having the difficult conversation and what precisely they are looking to achieve. Is an employee doing something wrong? Does an employee require clarification on their role or responsibilities? People will be more engaged if they know the purpose behind the challenging conversation and that it will lead to change or improvement.

By establishing purpose, the tone is set and gives the team member something concrete to focus on instead of feeling blindsided or confused by what’s happening.

Consider the situation from their standpoint

Before entering a difficult conversation, it’s essential to consider the team member’s perspectives. What is it that they are struggling with? What is keeping them up at night? How can you support them in addressing these issues? Asking yourself these questions and approaching the conversation with empathy will help you understand where they are coming from and help you better frame the conversation so that it addresses the primary concerns directly.

Be attentive

During a difficult conversation, it is vital that leaders remain present and actively listen while the team member is speaking – remember, this is about understanding where another person is coming from so that you can better address concerns and work towards a resolution together.

If we are thinking about what we want to say next or interrupt before they can express themselves, we are telling them in simple terms that we do not hear them. Through active listening, we can guide the conversation by asking probing questions like “Where do your challenges lie” or “Tell me more about that” to understand their perspective truly.

By remaining present, you may learn something about them that you didn’t know or see the situation from a different angle. If they see that you’re switched on and engaged with them, they’re more likely to do the same for you.

Determine what will happen next

Regardless of how the conversation went, leaders should always send a follow-up email summarizing the discussion and listing any action items for agreed-upon next steps.

Reiterating what was discussed while it’s still fresh in your and the employee’s mind provides the following:

Documentation of what was said and a reference point that can be revisited in future
Confirmation that both parties were heard – if the summary is sent and the employee sees something that doesn’t align with their takeaways, they have the opportunity for clarification.
Guideline for expected outcomes

Don’t limit your conversations to corrective ones

Emotionally intelligent leaders use their EQ to stay in tune with their employees’ feelings and needs. They understand what motivates them and how they can be most productive. The more you talk to your team, the better you’ll know what they need to succeed.

With an established rapport, leaders can identify areas of struggle before they become performance issues. In addition, when delivering corrective feedback, a positive connection between leader and employee will likely guide feedback to be more positively received.

Why Master Difficult Conversations?

Leaders have to have difficult conversations from time to time, but successful leaders make them a priority. Difficult conversations are never easy, but they’re necessary given the complex environments leaders are immersed in.

Being effective at having difficult conversations isn’t learned overnight. Still, difficult conversation skills can be leveraged by creating a balance of power where both parties feel represented.

Outstanding leadership is all about communication; the better leaders can communicate with their team, the stronger the team will be.

To explore your leadership style further and empower yourself as a leader, check out our Whole Person Leadership Cohort.

Stay Curious!

3 Ways to Develop an Intentional Approach to Leadership

October 17, 2024/0 Comments/in Communication, Human Skills, Leadership/by Angela MacCabe

What is Intentional Leadership?

Good leaders care about the people they lead. They make sure their teams are clear on goals and objectives and that they are empowered and aligned with the organization’s overall direction.

Intentional leadership is effective in the workplace because it empowers teams with the knowledge and tools they need to meet objectives. When everybody is confident in their role and understands their contribution’s impact on the big picture, it sets leaders and teams up for success.

Why is Intentional Leadership important?

Lack of intention in leadership can cause harm to teams and affect confidence and motivation. Without clear direction, teams can become confused and frustrated, which can negatively impact organizational outcomes.

3 Ways to Develop an Intentional Approach to Leadership + Bonus Leadership Self-awareness Checklist(s)

1. Prioritize Personal-development

We’ve all heard the saying: “Leaders are made, not born.” But what does that mean?

Leadership is a skill, not a talent. It’s one thing to have a natural ability to lead, but empowering yourself through continued learning helps leaders guide and inspire others to show up too.

What does it take to be an effective leader? First and foremost, you must be committed to your own personal development. A leader who knows that there is always more to learn and improve upon will be able to help others grow as well.

Personal-development Checklist:

Do you know your leadership style?
Do you understand the different leadership styles and how they can be adopted for different scenarios?
Are you communicating clearly and effectively
Are you a self-aware leader?

2. Build Trust

Leading with intention requires leaders to help their teams discover the answers for themselves. Sometimes as a leader, it’s essential to get out of the way – this may seem hard at first!

You might be worried about losing control over what happens next, but this is where leading with intention comes in: Instead of telling your team what to do, ask them what they think is the best course of action. Encourage them to come up with their own solutions. Don’t make decisions for them—instead, guide them to figure it out independently.

It takes practice to let go of your ideas and suggestions. But when it works, it’s beautiful. Teams feel empowered, which motivates and builds trust because they can see their contributions are valued.

Fostering Trust Checklist:

Acknowledging your shortcomings (I’m human too)
Having your team’s back
Proving space for your team to be heard
Being proactive vs. reactive
Leaving ego at the door when communicating/collaborating
Leading with empathy over judgment

3. Engage and Show Interest

Good leaders know the value of taking an interest in their teams.

Team connection is about more than status reports and delegation. Taking an interest in your team members individually helps you understand their talents, motivations, and goals and can build respect between you and them. Respect is a huge motivator for both parties and can be huge for productivity!

This is especially true for employees who are not just seeking a salary but also fulfillment and job satisfaction.

Fostering Engagement Checklist:

Understanding the needs of your team
Asking questions/staying curious
Carving out time for routine check-in’s with team members
Identify/acknowledging your team members working styles
- Who likes to work fast and requires communication that is direct?
- Who is more methodical and needs time to understand and plan before starting a task.

On the surface intentional leadership seems simple: It’s creating a plan and effectively communicating it to a team of people to execute. However from the leadership lens intentional leadership is much more nuanced than that. It’s actually a layering of hard and soft skills that require training and development, and well…the intention to do so.

Are you interested in developing your skills to become an intentional/human-centric leader? Check out our Whole Person Leadership Cohort info page to learn more.