Susan Scott's Blog, page 124

Honoring Those We Lost on September 11th Through the Power of Conversation

I watched the second plane go into the Twin Tower on a small 10inch television set in a grocery store my senior year of high school. It was already not a routine morning. Where normally I would be fast asleep in bed trying to avoid going to school, I was up early with my best friend Kiera, stocking up on balloons and flowers to surprise our girlfriend Katie for her 18th birthday.

We were just checking out when we heard people screaming. Everyone quickly huddled around the small television monitor located near the front of the store. Kiera and I stood there with our arms full of over-sized balloons and red roses, surrounded by strangers watching the graphic images that played out in front of us. We all knew that this was a game changer.

Sunday will be the ten year anniversary of the September 11th attacks. As the country, the city of New York, and the families who lost loved ones prepare to honor those who lost their lives- I was inspired to pay tribute in my own small way.

As we continue to muddle through the waters of how to deal with a tragedy on this scale, our ability to connect with each other through conversation is a driving reason we've began to heal at all, and will continue to be our saving grace.

We need to keep the momentum of these conversations alive. This weekend, for the next ten years, and beyond.

We can do this by sharing our personal stories about 9/11: where were you, how did you feel?

Ask questions of yourself and others: looking back over the last ten years how has this event changed you? How has the country changed?

Take inventory about how the conversations have shifted over this last decade: How do you relate to what others are saying? Where do you differ?

Utilizing our ability as humans to connect through the power of conversation on a personal, national and global level is an amazing way to honor those who are no longer with us.

For more information about leadership development and training, visit our site (www.fierceinc.com).

One Conversation at a Time: Four Tips Parents Can do to Make this School Year a Success

As we start the beginning of another school year, there is anticipation, excitement and anxieties surrounding the first walk into the classroom. And I am not just talking about how the teacher feels!

For many years I have had conversations with my own children about what they might be feeling and expecting. These conversations got me thinking! What can  we do as parents to help empower our children to make that first day the beginning of the best days to come?

Recently I read a great blog on Edutopia, where teacher Nick Provenzano gives four simple tips to teachers that will help them build relationships with their new students.

It inspired me to share four tips parents can do to make this school year a success. This starts with a conversation.

#1: Talk It Out

Start the school year off with a bang by having conversations with your child about what their expectations and fears are for the year. Allow them the space to put words to these thoughts. This is a great opportunity to let your child know where you fit into the equation, and how you will be there to support them.

#2: Hold them Able

Once your child has verbalized their hopes for the year, hold them able to accomplish these goals. Support them by writing their goals and putting them up where they can see them daily. This will remind them of what they were hoping for when they started the school year. A great gift to your children is setting out blocked time each week to connect and see how they're progressing and what they've accomplished so far.

#3: Connect their Head and their Heart

Engaging with your child not just on an intellectual level but an emotional one helps cement positive behavior. Does your child struggle with a certain subject in school? Take this time early in the school year to have a conversation around setting aside steady one on one time to work with them on it. Knowing they have this time with you can create the emotional connection your child needs to keep his/her interest peaked.

#4: Don't Shy Away From the Rough Stuff

Sometimes your kids tell you stuff that stops you dead in your tracks. Take this chance, with the beginning of a new year, to not deflect these tough conversations. Instead tackle the tough challenge and lean in! Get curious and interrogate their reality. Leveling with them ensures that as you build through out the new school year,  your base is a solid foundation.

For more information about leadership development and training, visit our site (www.fierceinc.com).

New Report: The Multigenerational Advantage: Three Strategies to Leverage the Strengths of Each Generation

We're pleased to share with you a new Fierce, Inc. report that shows that while many companies rush to accommodate the latest generation, forward-thinking organizations are creating work environments with universal appeal. They seek to extend beyond generational tendencies and unlock the potential of every employee, regardless of age.

The Multigenerational Advantage: Three Strategies to Leverage the Strengths of Each Generation now available for complimentary download, explains how companies can get a multigenerational advantage by creating a culture where the different generations truly listen to each other.

This paper will teach you techniques to help your company embrace the unique characteristics and insights of all generations. Discover three practical strategies to bridge generational gaps and encourage open communication.

How many generations are represented in your workplace?  Are they learning from each other?

You can download your complimentary copy of The Multigenerational Advantage: Three Strategies to Leverage the Strengths of Each Generation now.

For more information about leadership development and training, visit our site (www.fierceinc.com).

Social Media, Gen Y and You

There's so much hype lately about Gen Y needing to be careful about what they post on their social media pages. These things, after all, are being looked at by recruiters, by prospective universities even.

I mean, who would hire you if you were dancing on top of a bar during Spring Break in Cancun? Silly question? Take a look at the number of "Boomers" who will be leaving the workforce soon and ask that question again. They will get hired. Trust me.

They will also continue to use social media while they are employed by you. What does that mean?  For you? For your organization? It's time to think about that.

Maybe this new generation gets something we (from the older generations) don't.  They don't think publically talking about the things they've done or are thinking about doing is such a big deal.  Many of them even think "outing" their current employer on their favorite social media site is necessary.

It's just what needs to be done in order to change things.  Maybe this new generation is smarter than we give them credit for.

The challenge will be for the rest of us to stop getting in their way, crimping their style, telling them no, and they can't.  This generation is going to invent things we can't even imagine.

They are going to blow the top off of "corporate spin" and introduce a new type of corporation - one that is radically transparent, intensely humane, brilliantly fun and amazingly fair.

I don't plan to get in their way…I want to learn from them.  Join them.  Friend them.

For more information about leadership development and training, visit our site (www.fierceinc.com).

Fight or Flight? Three Tips for Navigating Uncomfortable Conversations

We are hardwired in moments where we feel intense discomfort to duke it out or run away. The classic fight or flight dynamic. This is not just theoretical. This is fact. This is biology. We all know what it feels like.

Think of a moment where you were instantly triggered by someone's comment – or triggered by someone's desire to discuss something you'd rather not. Did you push back and defend yourself no matter what the cost? Or did you avoid the conversation like the plague? These are usually the two camps in which people pitch their tents.

However, what if we expanded beyond those two options? What if it wasn't just fighting to make it stop… or pretending it wasn't there? What if we leaned into it?

Seth Godin posed a great question that highlights leaning into discomfort earlier this month in his blog. He asked:

"Sometimes, we get close to finding out who we really are, what's the status of our situation, what's holding us back. When one of those conversations is going on, do you lean in, eager for more, or do you back off, afraid of what it will mean?"

Asking this question has become a ritual for me the past few months. I encourage you to try it.

Next time you find yourself triggered, here are three tips to lean into an uncomfortable conversation:

1.    Don't go in armed and armored.

Leave your sword and shield at the door. When you are armed, the other person tends to show up the same way – it's for safety purposes. Decide that what you really want is to be open and learn. This requires putting yourself out there – without protection. Besides, this is a much lighter, weightless way to arrive.

2.    Assess the situation through a camera lens.

When offering your perspective on the other person's actions, don't load it down with qualifiers and assumptions.  Describe the other person's behaviors/examples as if viewing through a video camera – without judgment. Share with the person what you saw/experienced in an impartial way.

For example, instead of saying, "You treated me very rudely at our last meeting. Your actions were not professional. " Try "You raised your voice, pointed your finger, and leaned forward when you were talking with me." See the difference? The first is loaded with judgment and feelings. The second describes the situation. Once you both agree on what occurred, then you can go from there.

3.    Get curious.

Ask a lot of questions and then really listen. Ask questions that you are afraid to know the answer; then give space for the person to respond. That's what this is about. If you are careful with your questions, you are not leaning in.  If you already know the answer, you are not leaning in. Be eager to know that person's truth.

So, the next time you are tempted to put on your boxing gloves or running shoes, take a deep breath. Consider leaning in.

What conversation, right now, can you lean into more?  What's getting in your way?

For more information about leadership development and training, visit our site (www.fierceinc.com).

Effective Delegation=Active Accountability=A Decision Driven Work Place

I am not a math major. However, I like this equation : effective delegation = active accountability = a decision-driven work place.

We are living in indecisive times.  From the government to the stock market, we can't decide if it's right or left, up or down, black or white, and this stalemate process is slowly bleeding into our workplace. 

When did everyone stop wanting to own a decision?

As a leader you are charged with the task of looking at the big picture, and then sharing that vision with those  who you are leading. Delegating responsibility is an integral part of the process, yet delegation is more than just assigning projects.

Effective delegation is about knowing how to have the conversations with your team that are candid and clear, and allow your employees to hold themselves able to accomplish what they've been tasked to do.

At Fierce, we use the analogy of a decision tree to facilitate these conversations. Someone can be delegated responsibilities at four different levels: Root, Trunk, Branch and Leaf.  Each level has a clear and concise definition of what is expected of them for that project and how they interact with you, the leader. This type of clarity allows them to be decisive. It also encourages innovation and collaboration by providing the type of limits that people respond positively to.

You have to be a strong leader to delegate this way. It requires a lot on your own part to communicate to those around you what you expect. It takes time and energy. It will also, over time, yield an environment of accountability that is not paralyzed by fear.

How decisive is your workplace?

For more information about leadership development and training, visit our site (www.fierceinc.com).

How to Talk to Your Boss

As the CEO of a leadership development firm I am often asked this simple yet profound question: "How do I talk to my boss?" I can almost feel the weight of their world as they drop this question in my lap.

It seems many of us have had a run-in with a boss that has left an indelible mark on our psyche ensuring we never forget. Or we've heard the stories – the legends – of those that went in only to never return which, unfortunately, has rendered us less than confident in our own approach.

Here are a few tips to get you off the sidelines and back on your way.

1) Boss? What Boss?

My first suggestion would be to forget that they are "The Boss". Yes, they do sign your paycheck and hold more decision-making power than you, but they aren't the King or Queen of England.

Too often we "dress" ourselves up and put on a persona we believe our boss would admire. Unfortunately, the acting job comes off as terribly inauthentic and blatantly obvious. If you want to build mutual respect, treat yourself with respect and show up as the REAL you.

2) Erase the Devil Horns.

Chances are, your boss is not evil. And, chances are, your boss did not wake up this morning and wonder, "How can I make your life hell?" If they did, explore your legal options or find a new boss. (I'm serious about that, by the way.)

Could they be a little lacking in skill? Perhaps. A tad rough around the edges? Entirely possible. Evil? Highly doubtful. More than likely, you have overlaid your previous experiences onto your new boss and aren't being present to who is in front of you right now. Give your boss the benefit of the doubt that he or she is full of good intentions and do the same for yourself. A vision of a positive outcome usually begets one.

3) Deliver the Truth, Remove the Blame.

A good boss wants to hear the truth. In fact, they crave it. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of employees who parade in, deliver the "corporate nod", and withhold what they really think and feel on a daily basis. Or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, they bombard their boss with a laundry list of complaints to which they've assigned all the blame to (guess who) the boss.

Neither one of these approaches is productive nor particularly admirable. Instead, find the sweet spot in the middle where you present your truth without the "gotcha". Author Edwin Friedman said it best, "In any situation, the person who can most accurately describe reality without laying blame will emerge as the leader, whether designated or not." Sage advice worth following.

What are some tips you have for talking with the boss?

For more information about leadership development and training, visit our site (www.fierceinc.com).

Effective Team Meetings: It's about Collaboration not Consensus

There's a new dirty word in the office, and that word is: meetings. Ask a colleague if they feel your organization is having too many not-to-the-point pow-wows and most likely the answer is a resounding "yes!" Companies are gathering together more and more often, yet less and less work is being accomplished.

What is at the root of these ineffective meetings?

I just finished reading Al Pittampalli's new book "Read This Before Our Next Meeting", published through Seth Godin's Domino Project, it has risen to the #1 most popular book for the Kindle. In the book Mr. Pittampalli gives you "Seven Principles" to successfully run what he calls a "Modern Meeting".

He makes the argument that all these group gatherings are stalling the decision making ability of our companies. That meetings have become just another transactional forum for us to provide information, something emails and memo's could do just fine. He believes the time has come to redefine the purpose of a meeting: to support decisions.

I appreciate Mr.Pittampalli's  idea and I would take it one step further. In my mind, the key to a "Modern Meeting" is to understand that it's about collaboration not consensus while also knowing how to have the conversations that will cement this approach.

At Fierce we look at these conversations like a beach ball. Each team member represents a stripe of color, and a piece of the truth for the company. The leader must know how to draw out the best ideas from all the differing perspectives invited to the table.

This does not happen via osmosis. It happens by learning skills to facilitate a team conversation that encourages collaboration without confusing it for consensus. These conversations ask clear but provoking questions, state the parameters of the discussion, and foster a think tank ideology.

Whether it is a "decision making" meeting or a "brainstorming" meeting, having conversations like these will fuel collaboration by affirming for your colleagues that giving their perspectives is worth the time away from their desks.

Is your company stuck in a consensus rut?

For more information about leadership development and training, visit our site (www.fierceinc.com).

A Key Idea to Adaptive Leadership

Let's be honest, even though change happens year by year, week by week, and day by day - there is no rule book on how one should react. Sometimes before you even know what's shifted the dust has settled and you find yourself in an entirely different place: a "new normal".

How do you continuously adapt as a leader in a world such as this?

You become a ninja.

Leaders who master ninja level status can do back flips, front flips and side bends.

They are agile and quick on their feet.

They fall down.

They get back up.

How do leaders graduate to ninja status?

They don't waste their time and energy trying to figure how to stop the ground from moving.

Effective leaders know the key idea in becoming a ninja is to learn skills so you can adapt to your surroundings, rather than wait for  your surroundings to adapt to you.

As a leader are you at ninja status?

For more information about leadership development and training, visit our site (www.fierceinc.com).

New Report: Six Key Trends That Increase Employee Productivity and Engagement

Were pleased to share a new Fierce, Inc survey report that shows professionals crave effective confrontation, cross-functional alignment and open, honest communication. Fierce surveyed over 1,400 corporate executives, individual contributors and educators across multiple industries including healthcare, manufacturing, retail, and technology.

"Six Key Trends that Increase Employee Productivity and Engagement", now available for complimentary download, uncovers up-to-date insights on how professionals at all levels of an organization view communication within their company and how it impacts work experience, engagement and productivity.

Here are some of the key survey findings:

- Almost all respondents (98%) believe a leader's decision-making process should include input from people impacted by the decision; however, 40% feel leaders and decision makers consistently fail to ask.

- 97% report that exploring other points of view leads to improved decisions, even when someone knows they are right.

- 93% agree or strongly agree that confrontation is critical to a company's success.

- Over 70% believe lack of candor impacts their company's ability to perform optimally.

You can download a complimentary copy of "Six key Trends That Increase Employee Productivity and Engagement" now.

For more information about leadership development and training, visit our site (www.fierceinc.com).