Colin D. Ellis's Blog, page 12

Gossip, the curable malaise

Talking negatively about another human behind their back is a malaise suffered by most organisational cultures. Often, it’s not a reflection of the leaders themselves - unless they are openly guilty of it - it's a symptom of a deeper issue within the workforce: fear.

Fear of confrontation. Fear of rejection. Fear of being wrong. These fears manifest in ‘offline’ conversations that erode trust faster than any reorganisation ever could.

When people choose to hold conversations behind the backs of others over candid feedback, they're signalling that the psychological safety required for high performance simply doesn't exist. And make no mistake, this behaviour is contagious, I’ve seen it many times. One negative conversation leads to another until toxicity becomes the unwritten culture of your organisation.

What's particularly destructive is how this behaviour undermines the very collaboration needed to succeed. Teams fracture into factions, information becomes currency rather than a shared resource, and energy that should be directed toward customers or outcomes gets wasted on internal politics.

Leaders often miss these dynamics because they happen in shadows. They're measuring engagement scores while failing to observe the subtle micro-experiences that truly define its culture.

However, the malaise that gossip spreads is curable, through the provision of communication skills training and by deliberately (not just talking about) creating spaces for courageous conversations. Leaders could role model this and address issues, not identities and reward those brave enough to speak directly, even when it's uncomfortable.

I’ve long said that cultural transformation isn't about superficial acts such as free lunches or beanbags. It's about building human interactions built on respect and transparency and by ridding itself of the behaviours destined to hold them back. And everyone has a role to play in this.

The next time you're tempted to discuss a colleague with another rather than directly, ask yourself: ‘Am I contributing to the culture I would love to be part of?’ Because culture isn't what we say we value, it's what we choose to do and tolerate in our everyday actions.

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10 brutal truths of going solo

In a recent documentary series on his life Richard Branson said, ‘What people don’t realise with businesses that start from scratch is the very, very thin dividing line between success and failure.’

When I got passed over for a C-suite job in 2014 and decided - having never thought about it before - to work for myself, I’m not sure I realised this. That’s not to say that I thought I’d be instantly successful but I was naïve about the real work involved.

Everyone that I spoke to about self-employment pretty much said the same things; ‘You are your own boss, it’s brilliant’; ‘You’ll never look back’; ‘I have a freedom I never thought I’d have’; ‘I’ll be able to retire much earlier than if I’d stayed in a job’.

We’d only been in Australia (having moved from New Zealand), for 9 months, so I had no network to speak of outside of the people I knew where I worked. Also, all we had in our bank account was enough to cover 3 months rent. We had no money, no assets and two young children to feed, clothe and settle. The concept of success therefore, became getting one client to pay the bills and it took a while to get there.

Very few of the self-employed people I met in the early days talked about the struggles of becoming self-sufficient, so I thought I’d capture and share 10 brutal truths that I’ve experienced over the last 10 years.

It’s tough on your personal life - there’s a selfishness to giving up a safe, secure job to pursue a passion, even if it’s a really strong one that you are convinced will be (eventually!) successful. Constant communication is required and you may lose some friends who don’t understand along the way

You lose lots of sleep - you stress over every little detail and there’s just no way to switch it off. A healthy routine helps, but once you have engaged your brain on an idea or a particular source of anxiety it’s impossible to turn it off. It’s your business and you need to make it work

You have to do many other jobs other than your chosen one - maybe you want to be a consultant, speaker, facilitator, it doesn’t matter, you still have to master these things as well - Bookkeeper; Web Designer; Content Editor and producer; Social Media Manager; Marketing Manager and Salesperson

You have to offer something unique - it’s not enough to say that you do something different, you have to demonstrate it, over time. This is especially true if you’re challenging existing service offerings

People don’t respond to emails/calls - there’s a tendency to think that just because you offer something that can provide value to future clients, that they’d want to talk to you or meet you. 99% don’t. They are time poor and often deal with 100s of approaches. You’re reliant on a forward-thinking manager to look outside of traditional offerings, but this is rare

Doing ‘nothing’ costs money - Coffees, lunches, utilities, co-working spaces, creating content are not 'delivery' but all cost time and money. You live in hope that one thing will lead to the work you want to do

You must continually evolve - Stand still and you become irrelevant to your market. No-one wants to buy something that doesn't meet the future needs of their business

It’s hard not to compare yourself to others - When others get work you can do, you ask yourself "why didn't I get that work?" As they say, comparison is the thief of joy

Some organisations simply don’t want to change - you might have a brilliant offering that can truly transform work and the lives of those within it, however, no matter how much evidence you have, some people don’t want what you offer and that’s hard to understand

It’s a lonely business - You don't miss corporate structures, but sometimes you want to be on the team photo, at the team event or meeting for Thursday drinks

Once you gain traction, you get into a rhythm and have complete agency. Time becomes your own, business development gets easier and you start to really enjoy the process. Your clients treat you as one of the team because of the value that you have added and only at that point do you understand what people were talking about before you got started.

Self-employment isn’t for everyone, but if you understand what you are getting yourself into and devote yourself to the value that it can offer to others, it’s a decision you’ll never regret.

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The culture cost of judgement

55 vs. 5 😂

‘Do you always dress like that?’

The new CEO of an engineering company that I worked for about 15 years ago asked me that question when I met him for the first time. What I wanted to do was take the attached photo out and say ‘Yes I have. Forever.’ 

Instead, I almost apologetically said, ‘it’s just my thing.’ 

It is. I’ve always taken an interest in style and I like to shop. It doesn't affect my work performance, just my self-esteem. Some people like to watch reality TV shows, some like to restore cars. We’re all different. Yet, at that moment in time, I felt judged.

To cut a long story short, I (obviously) didn’t change the way that I dressed and after running a full-day session with the leadership team the CEO said to me ‘That was great. I guess I was wrong about you.’ He’d made an assessment of my personality, work ethic and (likely) performance, based on the fact that I wore a shirt and tie.

The sad fact is, that we've all done it. Formed an opinion about someone within seconds of meeting them. Made assumptions about their capability based on appearance or communication style. Decided their worth before they've had a chance to demonstrate it.

Human judgement is as natural as breathing, but in our workplaces, it's a silent culture killer.

I was working with a leadership team recently who complained about a particular individual's approach to meetings. "He's too quiet," they said. "Doesn't contribute enough." 

When I spoke with him privately, I discovered a thoughtful introvert who processed information differently. His insights were brilliant, just not delivered in the rapid-fire, passionate manner the team expected.

This rush to judgement robs us of potential. It creates invisible barriers between talented people and stifles the psychological safety needed for productivity and creativity to flourish.

The truth is, we're all just humans trying our best. Behind every quirk, every personality, every communication style, every personal choice lies an incomplete person with experiences that have shaped them.

Next time you catch yourself making snap judgements, pause. Ask what might be happening beneath the surface. Consider what strengths might be hidden behind what you initially perceive as weaknesses. Try to understand that person in the way that you constantly try to understand yourself.

Great workplace cultures start with seeing people as they are, not as we assume them to be. When we suspend judgement, we create space for meaningful connection. Remember: Everyone you work with is fighting battles you know nothing about. Choose curiosity over judgement, and remove the barriers that inhibit your chances at building a truly great culture.

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Intelligent Adaptation

Whenever I start work with a new company they often refer to my other clients and say things such as ‘We’d like a culture like Cisco or Red Bull’ or ‘Give us some insights into Atlassian’s or Microsoft’s culture’ and I have empathy for the request. 

After all, it’s very easy to look over the fence and see what others have in respect of how culture contributes to sales, profits, engagement, staff retention or attraction and covet it.

Yet, culture isn’t something that can be copied. These organisations - and the many other great ones that I have worked with - have evolved their culture over years and built it upon emotionally intelligent leadership, strong strategic foundations and brand awareness.

They have taken the time to educate their managers such that each people leader has autonomy over the way that they develop their subcultures and its rituals, traits, and language; and they look for intelligent ways to connect these together.

Rather than copy what others do, instead I encourage intelligent adaptation. By that I mean, find out what others are doing. Look everywhere for inspiration and don’t be restricted by your own industry. 

For example what are the top 10 engineering, FMCG, retail, technology or pharmaceutical companies doing to engage their staff and then ask yourself the following questions:

Would that work for us?

How will tangibly improve the way we work?

Is it a reflection of our values?

How do we need to adapt it, before we adopt it?

Is it important that we do it now?

Just because it works elsewhere doesn’t mean that it will work for you. There are many failed implementations of Spotify’s Agile model around the world, in organisations that didn’t ask themselves these questions.

Culture can’t be copied, however, intelligently adapting good ideas can be a great way to leverage the experience of others, to enhance the way you work.

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Dressing for the job

Enclothed cognition is a psychological phenomenon where the clothing you wear influences your cognitive processes and psychological states. This concept suggests that what you wear can affect your mental processes, perception, performance and behaviour in ways that align with the symbolic meaning of that clothing.

For example:

Wearing a lab coat might improve attention to detail and careful thinking (when people associate it with scientific work)

Wearing formal business attire might enhance feelings of authority and abstract thinking

Wearing workout clothes might increase motivation to exercise

Wearing pyjamas - whilst comfortable - might prepare the brain for bed!

The effect occurs when two conditions are met:

The clothing has symbolic meaning to the wearer i.e. ‘I associate this piece of clothing with doing this activity’ (gym kit being a good example of this)

The person physically wears the clothing (simply looking at it isn't enough!)

This phenomenon was demonstrated in a 2012 study by Hajo Adam and Adam Galinsky, where participants wearing a doctor's lab coat showed increased attention and care compared to those wearing identical coats described as "painter's coats".

In a workplace culture context, this principle can be leveraged to help you adopt appropriate mindsets for different roles or tasks - what's sometimes called "dressing for the job" or creating intentional dress codes that support desired behaviours and mental states.

That’s not to say that you need to wear a power suit to be authoritative in your role or have a rack of clothes on hand for each task (however much some of you may enjoy that!) However, a little thought into what you wear may go a long way to preparing your brain for the task that needs to be done.

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The 12 skills every employee should have

I’ve learned lots across my almost 40 years of work. Not just from structured training programs, but also from mentors, managers I’ve enjoyed working for and managers that I haven’t!

I recently started work on a Management Mastery program with a client. We are co-,designing an experiential learning program (i.e. one that people will enjoy doing and tell people about!) and we started the process by listing all of the skills that we believed people needed in order to be successful at work.

This is the list that we came up with. We started and ended with what we considered to be the most important. 

The ability to build relationships is critical to the success of any team or organisation, so this has to be first and whilst I know that it’s counterintuitive to save the most important piece of learning until last, we want this to be the thing that remain uppermost in people’s mind when they ‘get to work’.

How to build respectful, empathetic relationships 

How to communicate to be understood

How to listen to understand

How to give feedback so that it’s welcomed

How to set expectations to encourage commitment

How to have courageous conversations

How to build a team that knows how to get the job done (together)

How to prioritise what’s important

How to navigate change and bounce back from adversity

How to think critically and solve problems

How to use technology productively

How to look after your mental and physical health

The great news is - and the results organisations get from my programs are testament to this - It’s possible to learn all of these things, regardless of age, role or the industry you work in. 

Recently, I witnessed how a team transformed from dysfunctional to high-performing simply by focusing on these core capabilities. The senior leader of the department had mastered the art of giving feedback that people actually welcomed, and it changed everything about how they worked together.

All that’s required is a growth mindset from leaders and managers, a commitment of time and money, a willingness to try (and possibly fail) and a way of measuring how you’re doing. The rest is up to the individual.

Imagine how different your working life could be if there was an investment in these 12 skills. Which ones do you have and which are you missing? And more importantly, what impact would mastering the missing ones have on your team's performance?

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If you’re interested in working with me to transform the skills of your managers and subsequently the culture of your organisation, drop me an email at colin@colindellis.com. You can read the reviews of the programs and the difference they make at www.colindellis.com/workshops 

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How to address email ghosting

Email Ghosting is a modern problem for corporate employees. It’s easy to blame the tool used to deliver the message that will never get read, however, there are five root causes as to why people ghost each other on email:

People don’t understand how to use email - I know, it seems ridiculous, however, organisations don’t sit people down at their induction and say ‘this is the tool we use for email, this is how we use it, this is the functionality available to you and these are the rules’. Instead existing cultural norms are adhered to and the problem of email use worsens leading to…

People get emails that are of no interest - copying people in unnecessarily is the worst culprit here (although see point 4) however there is a real lack of empathy when it comes to email. This is often compounded by a lack of psychological safety in the organisation that leads people to use email to cover their backs. But mainly, people aren’t thinking about who needs to see an email, leading to a scattergun approach where everyone gets copied in. This is because…

There’s no agreement on how to communicate - teams don’t sit down at the start of the year and agree ‘this communication will be done by email, this will be done verbally, whilst this is a Teams message’ etc. This communication planning is key in ensuring that people’s attention isn’t overwhelmed with the wrong kind of communication. This is made worse by the fact that…

Some people are disorganised or like to micromanage - it would be remiss not to include this. Some people are just really bad at managing their time and consequently have inboxes full of messages that they will never get around to. Whilst some managers insist on being copied into everything. These people often blame others for sending emails that they asked to be copied in to or are unable to use the filters the tool provides (see point 1)! Which is also an example of the fact that…

Some people are rude - this is last on the list as I want to believe the best in people, yet I know for a fact, that there are some people who will routinely ignore communications that they’ve been asked to respond to for no other reason than their behaviour and/or communication skills are poor. You know who these people are, they just don’t see it themselves.

As with all bad cultural habits, if enough people want to change it, you can do, in a relatively short space of time. One team (of 150 people) that I worked with reduced the number of emails sent by a third in just one month, so if they can do it, you can do it too. You can do it in your team today if you make it a priority. Which one of the root causes will you tackle first?

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What if we taught team-building at school?

Rainhill High School Football Team in the mid-1980s (L-R Back - Roscoe, Douse, Gore, Desmond, Plant, Collings, Quinn; Front - May (c), Fearnyough, Stinson, Wilson, Frost, Ellis)

I recorded a podcast with Dominic Price last week and he asked me when my interest in team culture first began. As a child growing up in the Liverpool area, it has a lot to do with sports and this is the picture that always comes to mind.

It is one of the best school football teams that I played for when at Rainhill High School. 

Yet despite being part of a great team, I never really learned - until much later on - how to create one myself. In my opinion it’s a missed opportunity to help young people to transition into work.

I know you can make an argument for many things to be taught at schools that aren’t currently - empathy, dealing with complexity etc. - however, for 99% of young adults leaving school for work, ‘how to build a team’ remains a mystery until they see adults get it right or screw it up enough times to learn themselves.

As well as all of the usual things such as strong leadership ‘on the pitch’, good communication, individuals playing to their strengths and so on, this particular team also had four other attributes that I wished I'd have known more about when transitioning to work in the mid-1980s. And these are still often overlooked when organisations are looking to build great team cultures today:

😊 Emotionally intelligent leadership - the teachers (nattily dressed in mid-80s attire here) were really good human beings. They knew how to motivate a group of people trying to do their best, rarely, if ever, lost control of their emotions and went to great lengths to keep players involved who weren’t regulars every week. They made playing fun

🎯 Practice and dedication - we worked hard in training, not because we were told to do so, but because we didn’t want to let each other down. We knew we had good individual attributes (although we didn’t have any ‘stars’ per se), but we wanted to ensure that complacency didn’t set in, so we would work hard to ensure it wouldn’t

🏂 Willingness to take risks - aligned to the first attribute, we were encouraged to try different things. Obviously, not at times when it would invite unnecessary risk, but when we saw an opportunity, then we went for it. There was no blame from teammates or teachers, just encouragement that it might work out next time

🏆 Celebrate success - and when we won, we celebrated together. All of the differences that we may have had during the day in the classroom were put to one side, and we enjoyed the moment of success. The teachers took a back seat and let us take all the credit, then we would use that as fuel for our next challenge.

It took me 10 years to learn these things and I often think, 'how different would our workplace cultures be today, if we taught team building at school?'

What else would you include?

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Purpose is about integrity

When an organisation declares its purpose, it’s making a public promise that it stands for something that its leaders must be willing to keep. Once it does, the integrity clock starts ticking.

Traditionally, organisations didn’t declare their purpose. Their senior leaders often had a good idea of what it was, outside of profit and or service - it was just never articulated in a way that created a level of public and employee expectation. Yet times have changed.

Recent research will tell you that younger employees are definitely interested in what you stand for. For them, a purpose builds trust, guides decision-making and helps to attract aligned talent. 

That said, it’s still not imperative that you have one. However, if you have to, you had better demonstrate it.

Otherwise, it’s not worth the webpage it’s written on, and employees, stakeholders and the public will rightly demand answers.

Standing for something isn’t about trying to create a false impression to win hearts, minds (and business). It’s a hill that leaders are prepared to die on to demonstrate that they have integrity.

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The power of 'we'

Team goals create shared purpose, accountability and commitment. When we collaborate towards common objectives and agree on how we’ll work together to achieve them, we leverage diverse strengths and perspectives that individual efforts simply cannot match.

Team success breeds organisational resilience and generates the vibrant culture all organisations crave. Individual glory might feel good momentarily, but team achievement creates a lasting impact and genuine fulfilment for all involved.

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