David Dye's Blog, page 53

Expand Your Influence and Impact: REACH with Becky Robinson

Whether you want more influence and to make a bigger difference within your organization or the world beyond, Weaving Influence CEO and author Becky Robinson gives you the roadmap. Too many think it’s a question of numbers—the more people you can get in front of, the better. But true reach is about expanding your audience while making a meaningful and enduring difference that has a lasting impact. In this episode, Robinson shares an incredibly refreshing and human-centered approach to achieving more REACH. If you want more influence and impact her approach will serve you both online and in person.

REACH: Build Your Influence and Impact

:35 – Leadership without Losing Your Soul is the #13 leadership podcast in the world. Thanks for your support and sharing the show with leaders in your life.

4:36 – How Becky started her leadership journey helping guide others to success

6:24 – The two most valuable leadership lessons Becky learned from the 150 books and authors she’s promoted through Weaving Influence.

9:40 – The equation for influence and impact is REACH (expanding your audience plus lasting impact)

12:51 – You have a choice to expand your influence and impact by sharing your ideas online

17:24 – How you can share ideas and repurpose content from within your organization

18:52 – Why it’s important to know and follow your organization’s rules around posting online (and how you can make the most of the opportunity)

22:05 – The Four Commitments that will build your REACH for greater influence and impact: value, consistency, longevity, and generosity

26:40 – How you can figure out the unique value you bring to your leadership and the world. What’s your voice? Where do people respond?

28:52 – The most unique aspect you have to share with the world and why its valuable

30:06 – Why consistency is such a critical component to increasing your influence

32:00 – Two places to start when you want to share your leadership and perspective online

34:05 – Why it’s critical to start small – with a sustainable practice that you can maintain over time

37:20 – Find the way of sharing your ideas that works for you. There are so many to choose from.

41:16 – Why successful influence isn’t about being famous for everyone -the value of being “famous for a few.”

48:13 – How leaders can help ensure historically marginalized voices to be heard – and why it matters.

Connect with BeckyWebsiteLinkedInFacebookTwitterInstagramGet the Book

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Leadership Support: How Do I Get More Executive Attention?

To get better executive leadership support, ask for what you need.

You have lots of great reasons to want better leadership support for your team.

An executive visit can really help provide strategic context and reinforce important priorities. A regular cadence of executive exposure opens doors for your high-potential employees. And of course, if your executive is closer to the day-to-day challenges you face, they’re better positioned to share, solicit and respond to ideas and remove roadblocks.

But what do you do if your senior leader is not showing up as often or as supportive as you would like? How do you ask for the leadership support you need without looking needy?

This “Asking for a Friend” question came in through our Let’s Grow Leaders Learning Lab during one of our recent leadership programs.

“I’m finding that my part of the company (team and peers) isn’t getting enough executive-level attention. Is it appropriate to ask for this senior leadership support directly? How do you recommend handling a situation like this? I don’t want to escalate a problem, just to ask for the creativity and support that seems to boost results for other teams by sending a signal about priorities. #Asking for a Friend”

3 Ways to Get Better Executive Leadership Support

If you’re looking for more executive leadership support, ask for what you need, be easy to help, and follow-through.

1. Ask for exactly what you need.

Just like you, your executive leader is doing the very best they can. And, they’ve got more to accomplish in any given day than they could ever pull off.

So, saying something like “I wish you were around more,” is probably not going to get you the support you are looking for.

Start by being really clear about what you need in terms of leadership support.

For example:

I could really use your leadership support in reinforcing how important this strategic initiative is to the business. Can you please come and share your thoughts as part of my 5×5 communication plan?The team has been working so hard, can you please come and thank them and tell them the impact their hard work has made?My team has some fantastic ideas about ______ that I think you should hear.We’ve really been having a hard time building the strategic partnership we need with this (supplier, client, department). Could you come to our next meeting and reinforce how important they are to us?I have an “A player” who I think might be looking around at other options. Can you help reinforce how valuable she is and give her some additional perspective on her long-term career options here?”My team and I are having a strategic planning meeting, and I would love for you to join us for the last hour for us to share where we landed and see what insights you may have.”2. Be easy to help.

Assume that that executive you are looking to engage has a lot on their heart and mind. The easier you are to help, the more helpful their leadership support is likely to be.

For example:

Here’s how I’ve been communicating this key initiative and why it matters.Here’s a list of five people I would love for you to talk with while you are here (and here’s a briefing on what they’ve been doing and why it’s so important).The reason I’ve asked my team for ideas about this is _____.As you prepare for this meeting with this new supplier, here’s a list of who will be in the meeting and a bit about their background with our company.Where we’re really hitting a roadblock with this client is _______. I would love to hear your ideas and perspectives on what we might do next.Devon has been looking around at other options. Here’s why he’s a rock star and where I see his future potential.We’re going to be working on this MIT (most important thing) in our strategy session. I’d love for you to come up with your ideas on that.3. Follow through.

In my corporate executive roles, I was always impressed with when my team followed up my leadership support, by recapping the next steps. . Executives are human too 😉 Just like you, they care about making an impact.

For example:

Our visit really made an impact. People seem to really get that this is really important now. Thanks for sharing that story.Thanks for recognizing John, he was really grateful for the conversation and is working on that challenge you gave him. He’d love to follow up with you in the next few weeks to share his ideas.That meeting with our strategic supplier worked so well. Thank you. Here’s what they’ve committed to as a result.Wow, your insights on our strategy were really helpful. As a result, we’ve made the following changes:My team loved having you here because _________. We have an  End of Year Meeting in December, do you think you could come back again then so we can share what we’ve accomplished?

Being an advocate for your team often means drawing in the leadership support you need. If you want more leadership support, ask for what you need, be easy to help, and follow through. Your team gets the recognition they deserve, you show up as an organized rock star who cares deeply about your team, and you get the support you need.

Related Articles:
Communicating With Executives When Your World is On Fire

Executive Presence is a Virtual World: What Matters Now

Presenting to Executives: How to Have More Confidence

Share Your Ideas: Practical Ways to Ensure Your Voice is Heard

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The New Way to Support Career Development with Julie Winkle Giulioni

How do you support your employees’ career development when promotions aren’t immediately available – or they’re not interested in a promotion? There are so many other ways that employees what to grow. In this episode, Julie Winkle Giulioni helps you navigate the many ways you can support career development – and how it will make leadership and management more enjoyable for you.

New Ways to Support Career Development – a Multidimensional Approach

1:15 – Julie’s background and motivation for helping leaders navigate challenges associated with career development

7:55 – The two reasons why people development is so important for every leader

9:09 – How to reconcile your to-do list with the vital work of supporting your people’s career development

12:05 – Why your support for career development directly affects your results, outcomes, and bottom line

13:37 – The two career development questions that challenge managers at every level – and why a different approach makes all the difference

16:32 – The 8 dimensions of career development and why the traditional “climb” approach isn’t the most meaningful

20:55 – Why some people seek leadership roles and how to discern if it’s a healthy role for them or their team

21:59 – How to think about the career development challenges of status and money that drive people to unhealthy decisions

26:03 – How to open the door to more meaningful development conversations with your team

32:01 – When you have a team member where contribution motivates their growth, how you can practically support them

37:08 – The leadership power of helping people recognize their progress

38:46 – Why contentment is a meaningful motivation and how to support people looking for this in their work and professional growth

44:00 – How traditional career development stressed managers and why, when you support career development in several dimensions, you’ll enjoy your work and leadership even more

Connect with Julie

Website

LinkedIn

Twitter

Get the Book

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Check for Understanding: A Leadership Communication Best Practice (Video)

Save Days, Weeks, Even Months of Lost Time
with a Quick Check for UnderstandingWhat is a Check for Understanding?

All communication involves a send and a receive. A check for understanding is a simple confirmation that the message you intended to send is what the receiver heard.

In other words, is your team picking up what you’re putting down?

You ask your team to repeat back what they heard you say in a friendly, non-confrontational way. When you check for understanding, you are taking ownership for the effectiveness of your communication.

For example, “Thanks so much for your time today. I just want to ensure we’re all on the same page for what we’re each going to do next, what’s are the three follow-up items we agreed to?”

Or…

“We covered a lot today. I just want to be sure my communication was clear so you can explain this new strategy to your teams. Who can recap WHY we’re changing direction here?”

Why is a Check for Understanding a Powerful Leadership Communication Best Practice?

Of all the leadership communication techniques we share in our leadership programs, the check for understanding always rises to the top as one of the easiest to do, while having the fastest impact. It’s why we include it as one of the 6 leadership competencies you can’t lead without in all of our foundational programs.

Why? Because we always make sense to ourselves (if we haven’t been drinking 😉 But it’s surprising how often the meaning of a message can get lost in translation.  When you can check for understanding, you ensure that everyone is on the same page.

Not Just For Leaders

The check for understanding is not just for leaders. Communication is a team sport. We encourage the leaders we work with to teach this technique to everyone on their team and empower them to use it.  It’s even more powerful when everyone in the organization uses this as a common language and technique. It creates clarity and saves A LOT of time.

How to Check for Understanding

There are two ways to check for understanding: actions and emotions.

Check for Understanding #1:

The action-focused check for understanding ensures a mutually shared understanding of the activity. It looks like this:

“Let’s do a quick check for understanding—what are we doing after lunch?” “Yes—we’re all taking out the trash.” “And why are we taking it out?” “No, it’s not because we’ve done anything wrong—it’s because we’ve got another group in here after us and it’s going to smell awful if we leave it in the trash—and that’s what we’d want them to do for us.”

Check for Understanding #2:

I learned the importance of this technique from one of my favorite bosses early in my career, Ray Davidson. 

I was such an enthusiastic gung-ho leader I would end my meetings with such a flurry of gratitude and excitement that it made it really hard for anyone to challenge me or express their concerns. “Oh my gosh, thanks so much everyone this project is going to be fantastic. I’m so excited. Let’s go do it!!!!

He taught me that I could build greater psychological safety if I calmly checked in with what people were really feeling.

The emotion-focused check for understanding gives your team a chance to process what’s happening and surfaces any issues that might arise. It looks like this:

Leader: “Great meeting. I’m super excited about this strategy. Before we end, I’d like to ask, how is everyone feeling?”

Team member 1: “Well, I’m excited about it too, but I’m also worried about how we will do this considering our other priorities?”

Team member 2: “I’m feeling overwhelmed. These are wonderful ideas and I really want to do them, but I don’t know where to begin.”

Once you know these issues exist, you can help your team move through them, adjust expectations, or remove roadblocks.

Your turn.

What are some of your favorite leadership communication best practices?

 

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How to Manage a Friend at Work

When you manage a friend at work start with clarity and keep communication open.

Your first leadership role can be challenging when you manage a friend and people who, until yesterday, were your colleagues. When you understand the cause of these challenges, you can take the lead and create a positive experience for yourself and your friends.

Lead Before You’re PromotedClarify ExpectationsIdentify What Role You’re Playing Right NowBe Clear, Not PerfectApologize As NeededWeed Your GardenBuild a New Peer Group

My first chance to manage a friend didn’t go well. Joe stomped into the meeting room, slammed the door shut, and yelled at me, “How could you let this happen?”

He had just been fired by the company president.

I snapped back, “Me?? I’m not the one who didn’t show up and let the team down over and over again!”

He was angry, but I was frustrated and felt betrayed too. I’d put my credibility on the line to help him, but in the end, he’d gotten himself fired.

What made it worse: for the last year, we’d been friends.

That all changed when I was given the responsibility to lead the team.

Problems When Managing Friends

When we ask a group of new leaders about their biggest problems, this is always one of the most common.

It’s one of the most difficult challenges for most emerging leaders. We’ve even watched experienced leaders stumble when asked to address or lead a team of their peers.

In fact, it’s a Shakespearian dilemma: Prince Hal faces this challenge when he ascends to the throne and becomes King Henry V. His old drinking pals feel ignored and betrayed.

There were several problems that kept me from being an effective leader for my friend. You will likely encounter the same problems when you manage a friend.

1) Your desire to be liked and accepted

Positional leadership, even when you are an outstanding human-centered leader, means taking responsibility for decisions that not everyone agrees with. It means holding people accountable and it means that the group who you naturally want to like and accept you won’t always feel that way.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting other people to think well of you and have a desire to belong – it’s a very normal, human, and healthy value so long as it doesn’t consume you.

However, when you choose to lead, it will come into conflict with other values.

2) Your loyalty to the team and the mission

This is one of those “ANDs” that is so important–your friends may feel you’ve abandoned them, but you haven’t. You’ve added an important loyalty: to the organization, your team, and the mission.

Learning to balance both takes some work, but to your friends who don’t understand this tension, it can feel like betrayal.

3) Inconsistent behavior

In Shakespeare’s Henry IV and V, Prince Hal partied with the best of them–he drank with the renowned lush, Falstaff, and nothing about his behavior said “leader.” Then he took the throne and treated his friends as if they were beneath his notice. He ignored them, tried to act “noble,” and insulted them.

The problem was inconsistent behavior. The Prince wasn’t a leader when he hung out with friends. Once he became King and tried to act kingly, his friends were understandably hurt.

4) Unclear expectations

Conflicting and unclear expectations are the most common problem when you manage a friend. When you move from a peer role to a positional leadership role, some of your team may expect to get a “pass” on poor behavior, others may expect favors or special treatment, and YOU may be expecting your friends to work especially hard because of your friendship.

All of this leads to massive disappointment when you do hold team members accountable, you won’t do favors that would hurt the team, and your friends don’t show any special effort.

5) The fact that not everyone can handle it

Some people are able to manage the tension between friendship and supervisor. In my experience, however, it is the exception, not the rule.

It takes a great deal of maturity for both people to be able to do this.

How to Manage a Friend at Work: Seven Ways to Lead

My experience didn’t have to end the way it did. Early in my career, I didn’t know about the problem I’ve just described. The good news is that a few Winning Well leadership practices can help you manage the transition from peer to positional leader:

1. Lead from where you are, before you’re promoted.

Leading from where you are, without a formal title, will often lead to you being asked to fill titled leadership positions.

It also helps to ease the transition. If your friends all know you as someone who:

Sets an examplePractices healthy friendship (where you hold one another accountable)Empowers others, andAlready balances the mission with your role on the team,

then you won’t surprise them with radically different behavior when you change positions.

However, as a team member, if you are constantly critical of other people and your supervisor, it will be difficult for you to lead friends when you have a formal leadership role.

2. Clarify expectations – yours and theirs.

This is the essential step in the transition to lead friends. Have a direct and honest conversation about the transition and your mutual expectations. In this conversation discuss these topics:

Commitments to your team and to the organizationYour management expectationsYour leadership valuesOrganizational mandates.
Also:Ask your friends to be honest about their concerns or expectations of you.Discern if there are areas where they feel you are being unjust.Be realistic about the times you will have to make decisions that are in the team’s best interest even if it conflicts with what you personally would like.

You want to prevent surprises. Your team needs to know where you are coming from. Don’t let it be a ‘gotcha!’ moment later on.

3. Clearly identify which role you’re playing.

This is difficult for some people because it takes a greater level of maturity in your thinking and relationships, but is very helpful for avoiding misunderstandings when you manage a friend.

When you’re talking with a friend, clearly identify the role you’re in. Are you speaking as a friend or as their team leader?

For example: “As a friend, I am so sorry. That stinks! How can I help?”

“As the team leader, I can give you tomorrow to take care of your problem, and then we will need you back.”

4. Be clear, not perfect.

Be very clear about expectations, goals, and desired behaviors. You will never be perfect; so don’t try to act as if you are.

Your friends and former colleagues all know the ‘real’ you, so don’t suddenly try to act as if you’re perfect in ways they know you’re not. It’s fake and your leadership credibility will suffer.

It’s okay to be you. Take responsibility, be as clear as you can, and then:

5. Apologize as needed.

Leaders often struggle to apologize, but it’s even more pronounced when a former team member is leading the team. Don’t let your insecurity and desire to be liked keep you from owning your junk, apologizing, and moving on.

6. Weed your garden when needed.

Sometimes it just won’t work. For example:

A former friend continued to take advantage of our relationship and, despite my best efforts to clarify expectations and help him correct the behavior, nothing changed. I had to be clear about the situation: “I want the best for you and I know this is difficult, but if nothing changes this will affect your employment.” He eventually took advantage of a second friend and supervisor and got fired.

You can’t control another person. Your job is to be the best leader you can be and give everyone on the team every opportunity to succeed. When someone isn’t interested in their own success, care enough to move them off your team.

7. Build a new peer group.

Develop relationships with other leaders, find mentors, and get coaching. There is nothing like a group of people who understand the challenges you experience and can share meaningful wisdom.

You can’t get this from your team. Over time, I built my own personal Board of Directors–people outside the company who I could learn from, confide in, and be accountable to.

Your Turn – Manage a friend at work?

It can be hugely rewarding to lead colleagues and manage a friend, but it’s your responsibility as a leader to set clear expectations and act fairly. Even experienced leaders can benefit from reviewing their relationships to make sure they are healthy.

How do you maintain healthy relationships with your direct reports or your own leaders?

What other suggestions do you have for how to lead your peers? 

See Also:

7 Mistakes that Frustrate Your Co-Workers and Damage Your Brand

How to Be a More Courageous Manager

 

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Being a Human-Centered Leader When You’re Stressed or Anxious

Many leaders find that it’s easier to be a human-centered leader when everything is going well. When you’re stressed or anxious, it’s easy to snap at your team, lose your temper and undermine the culture that you’ve worked so hard to build.

Getting stressed out or anxious from time to time is unavoidable, but you can lead through these challenging times to build a stronger and more productive team. In this episode, you get 5 steps to use when the stress or anxiety at work starts to impact your ability to be a human-centered leader.

Being a Human-Centered Leader When You’re Stressed or Anxious

05:26
The first step is to recognize what’s happening when you feel overly stressed or anxious.

07:02
The second thing you want to do is take a moment to remember your why and get yourself back to the purpose.

08:00
Once you’ve regained focus of the why the third thing to do is reassess what’s happening and what your resources are.

08:08
Now you’ve acknowledged that you’re feeling stressed or anxious. You’re connected back to your purpose. You’re probably feeling a little more grounded. Now you’re ready to start with productive action.

08:15
Productive action is where it’s time to take a hard look at the facts. Reassess as you list the facts of the situation, examine them, make sure they’re objective that they’re an observable reality and not just interpretation or fear.

09:36
Then, reconnect with your team. Give them the facts about what’s happening and what’s at stake and the information they need to understand the issue. As clearly as you can describe what a successful solution will look like here. You don’t need to suffer or muscle through the problem on your own.

 

Read more on how to lead when you’re stressed out here.

 

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Better Problem Solving: How to Solve the Right Problems (Video)

To Get Better a Problem Solving, Learn to Solve the Right Problems

Better problem solving starts with reframing the problem.  Karin Hurt talks with Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg, author of What’s Your Problem in this edition of Asking for a Friend.

1:11 Source of inspiration: meeting people who are also into idea exploration was wildly invigorating

Reframing Problems

2:22 To get better at problem solving, start with reframing the problem.
Are you solving the right problem?
We are trained to think only in two components: analyzing the problem and applying a solution.
Add a third component: framing – decided what the REAL problem is (i.e. is the elevator too slow, or are people frustrated by waiting?)It’s not “What’s the real problem?” but “Is this the right problem to solve?”

Solving Problems

5:47 The process of solving the right problems
Create a team habit of asking “What’s the problem? Is this the problem to solve?”
If you come up with too many problems, remember that you don’t have to be super-systematic for every problem.
Notice the things that are unusual and surprising.
Keep the momentum going.
Divide and conquer (i.e. assign to two of the team members.)
Get into the habit of reframing in just a few minutes, to avoid becoming paralyzed by analysis.
Look for the bright spots. We tend to focus on the negative.

Strategies

12:13 Strategies to solve the right problems.
Look outside the frame.
Rethink the goal.
Look for the bright spots.
Look in the mirror.
Take their perspective.

Looking in the Mirror

13:08 Looking in the mirror
What are you doing that contributes to the problem?
Manage the guest list of who is in the discussion.

Considerations

14:44 Visuals
Problems we are good at solving vs. problems we really have.
Period of time we are focused on vs. something that happened earlier.
Original goal statement vs higher-level goal
Your unique problem vs the large group of people with the same problem

Final Thoughts

22:21 Last bits of wisdom
Make people understand what you are doing.
People are used to trying to find solutions quickly.

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How to Build Trust More Quickly With New Employees

Build Trust with New Employees By Answering These 4 Questions

Whether you’re replacing talent because of the great resignation, or your team is growing fast because of your remarkable success, you know how vital it is to build trust quickly. Until there’s real trust, everything is harder and slower. And, who has time for that?

As David Horsager of the Trust Institute, reminds us, “Trust is always the leading indicator, everything else follows.”(If you missed Karin’s Asking for a Friend Interview with David you can do watch that here. )

And, we know it’s not easy. Each week, we talk with team leaders challenged with building trust in their fast-growing, remote teams:

“You know, it’s a bit wild. There are people on my team who’ve worked here for two years, and we’ve yet to be in the same room. I pride myself on the deep connections I have with my team, I just wish I could take my new team members out for a beer. It’s so much easier when we can spend time in a non-work setting. It’s so hard to connect this way.”“I’m stretched so thin, I want the team to count on me, but I’m concerned I’m not as reliable or responsive as I used to be.”“Our direction is changing so quickly, even folks we onboarded three months ago are doing different jobs than they signed up for. I worry I’m losing credibility.”“How can I convince new employees that I have their best interest at heart when they hardly know me? This stuff takes time. And I don’t have a lot of time right now.”Answer These 4 Questions to Build Better Trust

The research on trust is remarkably consistent around what matters most when building trust with team members.

Of course, competence matters, people need to know you know what you’re doing.

Reliability makes a huge difference. People trust people who do what they say.

When it comes to building trust, human connection has always been a huge differentiator– and it matters even more during times of uncertainty and change.

And finally, people want to know that your motives are good, that you care deeply about them and are investing in their growth.

So, if you’re looking to build trust with new employees quickly, start by asking yourself these four questions.

1. Are you competent and credible (do you know what you’re doing)?

Of course, there are a lot of different ways you can show up competent and credible, and it doesn’t necessarily mean being the go-to technical expert.

Start by providing a clear vision of success and direction for how to accomplish what matters most.Build a strong operating cadence to make that happen.

It may very well be that you have less technical expertise than your new team member. If that’s the case, you can gain credibility by acknowledging their strengths and showing your leadership competence in organizing everyone’s talents to achieve something remarkable.

One great way to gain a reputation as a trusted leader is to build a highly credible team.

2. Are you reliable and consistent (can your team count on you to do what you say you will)?

When employees first join a new team, they’re paying close attention to how things really go around here.

You can go a long way in building trust quickly, by consistently doing what you say you will.

When you say your staff meeting starts at nine, you build trust, when it starts at 9, not at ten after because you got a call from your boss.

If you scheduled a virtual one-on-one for Tuesday afternoons, do your best not to cancel it.

If you say accountability matters, but you let the slackers slide, you immediately lose trust that’s hard to regain.

3. Are you connecting at a human level (do people know who you are, and do you know them)?

Yes, it’s more challenging on a remote team, but the effort to really get to know each member of your team at a human level will go a long way in accelerating trust. The best way to build trust on a team is one person at a time.

These compassionate conversation starters can help. And remember to be both interested and interesting. Human connection goes both ways.

4. Do you truly care about your people (or are you out for yourself)?

One of our favorite trust models is Charles Green’s Trust Equation because it highlights the impact of “self-orientation” on trust so clearly (image credit sketchplanations).

You can be credible, reliable and have established a real human connection with your new employees, but if they think you’re out for yourself, you don’t have a fighting chance of building genuine trust.

In our research on psychological safety and trust, we found one big mistake managers make in this regard is not giving employees credit for their work.

56% said they withhold ideas that would improve the business because they don’t think they’ll get credit. That’s a trust issue that will impact your team effectiveness fast.

It’s likely some of these components of trust come more easily to you than others. We offer these questions to help you think more broadly about how to build deeper trust with new employees.

We would love to hear from you. What would you add?

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Leading a More Resourceful Team

During times of stress and change, when you most need a resourceful team, it’s easy to clampdown, insist on the old ways of doing things, and slow your team down. In our research on innovation and psychological safety, 67% of employees said their manager operates around the notion of “this is the way we’ve always done it.” It’s tough for teams to be quick and clever in those circumstances. Like other skills, resourcefulness needs to be taught and nurtured. In this episode, you’ll get some ways to cultivate a more resourceful team.

A More Resourceful Team

0:27 – Do your friends a favor and share this show with them (and we’d love it if you would leave a rating on your favorite service as well 🙂

1:57 – If you want a more resourceful team, you’ll have to be intentional and develop that trait.

2:30 – Avoid sabotaging your team’s resourcefulness.

4:37 – Tap into your team’s hidden talents, abilities, interests, and passions. These are opportunities for resourcefulness that don’t require extra energy or learning.

5:26 – The power of asking “how can we?”

7:14 – How starting small and piloting new ideas can help develop a more resourceful team.

8:17 – One strategy to make it easier for your team to get scrappy and innovate by looking at what already exists.

9:29 – A listener’s question about developing your team’s sense of urgency without coming across as pushy.

12:41 – Be the leader you’d want your boss to be.

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How Do I Help My Team Make the Most of Failure? (Video)

Be More Wrong: How to Grow From Failure

As a leader, how should you encourage your team to take risks and make the most of mistakes and failure?

In this Asking For a Friend episode, Karin welcomes Colin Hunter, author of Be More Wrong, to discuss the journey of failure and growth.

How to Grow From Failure (Highlights)Source of Strength

1:19 Colin shares about his father’s passing and how celebrating his life was actually a source of strength for him, and refers to the experience of failure that has helped reshape his life. He is inspired to “use my screw-ups to help others.”

On Being More Wrong

3:38 What should we be more wrong about?
It’s very personal.
Use your failure to “fail forward” toward a purpose or philosophy.
Hold onto your True North.

Practical Approaches For Failing Forward

4:32 How do you fail forward?
Becoming “anti-fragile” and more resilient
Experimenting with new practices (i.e. with exercise, meditation, gratitude)
Suggesting employees write a letter about their accomplishments each year, and what they found difficult, and what stretched them

7:55 How do you encourage risk-taking while also being firm about where mistakes can’t happen?
Invite clients into your failures and your “learn fast” experiences.
Give clients permission to be “refreshingly direct.”
Let your participants know you are trying something new. It becomes a shared experience.
Provide assurance that the level of risk you are taking is appropriate for the situation.
Pilot programs before committing long term.

10:50 As a leader, how do you “be more wrong” when your manager responds poorly to you having a failure or making mistakes?
Take responsibility for your own role – do you own it or rent it?
Have systems in place to be effective
Involve your manager in the decision-making and being an advisor
Invite them to be a mentor/coach for you.

Staying Resilient

13:13 How do you stay resilient and nimble when you discover you were right in the beginning but it evolved to be wrong?
Have a network that grounds you.
Take responsibility.
Be aware of complacency.
Keep systems working well so a failure doesn’t tank your whole business.

15:45 What are some very practical tips for managers?
Get buy-in for the overall journey.
Get them to report back on what they are hearing and seeing.
Live your life with your team in a series of experiments.
Rotate who leads meetings.
Use the language of “experimenting.”
Utilize feedback loops. Get people in the right roles and encourage them to experiment. Feedback consists of “I like” “I wish” and “I wonder.”
Remember to celebrate, especially the small wins.
Make your client the hero.

Mindset and Moodset

19:26 What is the difference between mindset and mood-set?
What mood are you setting with your team?
Mindset is about experimenting, but mood-set provides confidence and conviction.
Be agile with your attitude to keep the connections strong.

20:57 What do you do with ideas that don’t work and mistakes that are made?
Create playgrounds for practice and role-plays.
Work on your networks consistently, not just when you are looking for a job.
Play with different platforms

Final Advice on Failing Forward and Being More Wrong

26:32 Addition bits of wisdom.
Being more wrong is a journey.
Life is a series of small experiments.
Leave your ego and expertise at the door.
Collaboration, compassion, listening, coaching.

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