Susan Scott's Blog, page 40

Friday Resource: 3 Tips for Supercharging Small Team Collaboration

This week’s Fierce resource was originally published by Forbes and shares three tips to supercharge small team collaboration and maximize efforts.

Effective collaboration is critical to teams of all sizes, but it becomes especially important for smaller teams that do not have as much time, resources, and bandwidth as others. If your team is not operating at its highest potential, you could be in danger of running low on time or money. Being agile, adaptive, and most importantly, highly collaborative, is what separates high-performing teams from the ones that are just staying afloat.

Per Matt Hunckler, Forbes contributor, and his interviewee, Max Yonder, there are some tips that can lead to better small-team collaboration.

1. Share Before You’re Ready. We have all gone deep down the proverbial rabbit hole only to find out the task at hand did not come to fruition as plans changed. Not only is it disheartening to see loads of research and work become obsolete, it can seriously set back team momentum. Daily standups or check-ins can help eliminate this problem and ensure the entire team is working on the most important tasks.

2. Have Difficult Conversations. We at Fierce do not shy away from having difficult conversations. And a lot of the time, it saves our teams time and money. Although it is always important to respect other team members’ feelings and to have these conversations with grace, they ultimately need to happen. The more difficult or “fierce conversations” you have, the easier it is to have them.

“Direct, honest critique helps your business by ensuring only the best ideas are executed.”

Read the last tip and the rest of the article here.

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Are Your Collaborative Efforts Falling Flat? Here Are 3 Rules for Success

As leaders, we like the idea of collaboration, we just don’t like to actually do it. Especially at the highest levels. We tend to feel the pressure of ‘the buck stops here.’ We’re unwilling to bring others into tough decisions. We confuse collaboration with consensus. We like the allure of thinking our decisions are the best for our organizations.

The list unfortunately goes on and includes lack of trust, not wanting our opinions to be ignored, not wanting to share critical information, not having enough time…we convince ourselves that for all these reasons and more, collaboration may not be the best decision. And there is some support for this thinking. In his book Tipping Sacred Cows: Kick the Bad Work Habits That Masquerade as Virtues, Jake Breeden identifies automatic collaboration as one of these bad work habits. One example he gives is, “there is no greater danger to productivity than the standing committee meeting—a team meeting for the sake of a team, a meeting for the sake of a meeting. Allowing your team to unplug demonstrates your trust in them and your respect for their autonomy.”

So why should we collaborate? From my perspective, I know I make better decisions when others are involved. For all of you Words with Friends aficionados, and I am one of them, I’m reminded frequently of how sub-optimized my decisions are. I’m pretty good at this great pastime, but more than half the time I’m reminded that at least five words are better than the word I chose.

In addition to making better decisions, collaboration creates high levels of energy, engagement, and innovation. It ensures that different perspectives are sought out, acknowledged, and appreciated.

Circling back to Breeden’s book, he doesn’t abandon collaboration altogether but instead encourages the reader to appreciate “the rare productive joy of working alone” while finding ways to “make your collaboration accountable.” So how can we make collaboration one of the most effective tools in our toolbox?

Rule #1: Don’t mistake consensus for collaboration.

Consensus is a watered-down alternative to making a decision without any one person being accountable. Collaboration seeks participation—a sharing of ideas and thoughts—and requires a clear understanding that you still own the decision. To be a collaborative leader, you have to be willing to listen to and consider alternative, often differing perspectives from your own. This requires courage and a willingness to be influenced by information not previously considered by you that can be critical to making the best decision for your organization. And it’s okay to be wrong if it leads you to the best decision.

As I was progressing in my career, I was taught that the buck stopped with me and that my decisions better be the right ones. I soon realized that this was a very lonely place. Especially when I was surrounded by a team of brilliant people who really wanted to help and support me. I learned that asking for ideas and support not only made my decisions better but also enriched the relationships I had with my team. I learned that I still owned the decision and could generously give credit to contributors.

Rule #2: Make your collaboration genuine, or it will backfire.

If you are not willing to accept pushback, pushback will still happen, and it won’t be constructive. It may not happen in front of you and it will show up somewhere. It may show up at the water cooler, it may show up as resentful compliance, and it may show up in the form of a resignation. The most recent two candidates we interviewed at Fierce voiced their primary reason for leaving their previous position: the feeling of not being heard, and the lack of appreciation for their efforts. The illusion of inclusion is always apparent. People will feel undervalued and marginalized.

I once worked with an organization that had pre-meetings to all meetings scheduled with senior executives. This was to ensure that no one voiced an opinion different from a predetermined party line. It seemed to me such a terrible waste of time as the purpose was to shut down original thought. Then the entire entourage went to the ‘real’ meeting for the illusion of inclusion. You can probably imagine the ensuing water cooler conversations and the general diminishing of morale over time.

Rule #3: Seek out UN-usual suspects for input.

Invite the quiet voices and internal processors. Seek out your devil’s advocate—he or she often provides a valuable perspective. Consider new employees, as they often see things that longtime employees don’t see, and they bring with them experiences from other organizations. Also, consider bringing in those who may not know anything about your department/business and are either upstream or downstream from your decision. Fresh eyes can lead to new approaches.

I was once in a Fierce Conversations workshop where people were learning our team model. It was an incredibly diverse group (an army colonel, a manager from a retail organization, an individual contributor from a large IT organization, a salon owner, and a few other people from different backgrounds). They selected to work on an issue presented by the colonel. As part of a robust discussion, the salon owner presented an idea that the colonel had never considered and yet felt that it could easily lead to resolving the issue that he had been working on for months. The colonel left saying that he had learned the power of going outside his usual advisors for new ideas and fresh perspectives.

The buck doesn’t have to stop with you. If your collaborative efforts are falling flat, applying these rules can open up new possibilities, and in turn, lead to the best possible decisions.

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Fierce Tip of the Week: Ask Your Team

“Unity is strength . . . when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.” -Mattie Stepanek

Think about a time that a leader in your organization has made a decision without consulting the people it affected. How was the decision received? Was there resistance?

Most of the time, when there is an issue with a decision, it is because people’s opinions and concerns were not addressed in the first place. People ultimately want to know that their perspectives matter. The engagement piece is more important than the final outcome.

At Fierce, we have a culture committee – composed of cross department members – that is focused on bringing our core values to life. They explore and recommend opportunities from recognition programs to mentorship to coordinating our company-wide fantasy draft team.

Why do we have this group? Because it is critical for our team members to help steer how the company operates.

The conversations matter.

This week’s tip is to ask your team what matters to them when making an important decision. Invite the people you normally wouldn’t.

It may surprise you where it leads…

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Friday Resource: Why Women Entrepreneurs will be the Economic Force to Reckon with in 2017

This week’s Fierce resource was originally published by CNBC and explains why women entrepreneurs will be an economic force to be reckoned with in 2017 and moving forward.

This past Wednesday we celebrated International Women’s Day across the globe and celebrated the ever-growing success of women in business. CNBC’s inaugural Upstart 25 List, featuring promising young start-ups, included 10 women-owned businesses. This only looks to increase as female-owned companies are growing at a rate of five times the national average and increased a whopping 45 percent over the last decade, eclipsing over $1.6 trillion in revenue.

This trend is not exclusive to the United States either, as rates of women’s entrepreneurship have grown 10 percent over the last two years compared to only 5 percent for men across 51 different global economies.

Per Elaine Pofeldt, CNBC, as the gender gap continues to decrease, women can look to other female entrepreneurs for guidance and advice on how to navigate the obstacles of starting a business. One of those biggest obstacles is funding for new businesses which is still much harder for women to attain.

“Crowdfunding has also helped some women gain a toehold as entrepreneurs. Although female entrepreneurs are less likely to use crowdfunding than men, they raise an average of 10.75 percent more money than their male counterparts, according to the GEM report.”

Although challenging obstacles still remain, the future is looking bright for women in business.

Read the entire article here.

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Women Leadership: A Reason, a Caution, and a Bottom Line

On this International Women’s Day, I want to celebrate women all around the world. This day makes me reflect on the strong women leaders in my life who have propelled my career and have forever changed me—for the better. I am so grateful to you. You know who you are.

Based on recent articles that struck me, I want to offer some considerations for propelling women into leadership roles. Let’s start with the current February 2017 stats. According to Catalyst, of the S&P 500 companies, 5.4% of CEOs are women, 9.5% of top earners are women, 19.9% of board seats are women, 25.1% of executive officers are women, and 36.4% of middle management are women. Given that the total employee base is 44.3% women, there is continual opportunity for women to rise to the higher managerial and leadership levels. These numbers have increased significantly in the last few years.

This is a complex topic that shouldn’t be oversimplified, and there are a few things that stand out to me in the subject’s growing body of knowledge. The reason: women leaders make your company more profitable (ahem, that’s good business). The caution: women want fair promotion processes, so you need to ensure yours are. The bottom line: women want competitive pay (actually, everyone does), so stop deflecting it.

First thing’s first—let’s talk about profit. There are multiple studies that show a direct relationship between more women in leadership and more profit. Referenced in a recent Forbes article, Tim Worstall shares this highlight:

Companies with 30% female executives rake in as much as six percentage points more in profits, according to a study, feeding into a global debate over the scarcity of women in decision-making business roles.The conclusion stems from a study of about 22,000 publicly-traded companies in 91 countries ranging from Mexico to Norway and Italy conducted by researchers at The Peterson Institute for International Economics, a Washington, DC-based think tank.

There is a myriad of other reasons to have diversity of thought (with gender and other criteria) in leadership roles or in conversations for that matter. At Fierce, we talk about some other benefits in this whitepaper. But it holds true—companies that have more women senior leaders show more profits.

Secondly, be cautious about how you promote and develop the women on your team and in your organization. Make sure the processes are fair and are talked about. In a Harvard Business Review piece published last month, the authors discuss the role of rejection in corporate promotions and movement. While there is room to develop these hypotheses further, the initial results do have important implications. The article states:

For any company wanting to improve its gender diversity at the senior levels, the most important thing is to avoid the temptation to solely focus on encouraging more women to throw their hat into the ring. That approach misses the mark because it doesn’t address the underlying problem that female executives may feel that the company doesn’t truly believe that they belong in top management. This can be true whether or not the organization is actually contributing to that feeling. In fact, issuing blanket encouragements to women to apply for leadership positions could even backfire if it means the company ends up rejecting more women. Our research suggests this will make those women less likely to apply for similar jobs in the future, compounding the company’s gender problem.

This isn’t meant to be a deterrent from encouraging more women to “lean in” and get involved. However, it is a message to be intentional. You need to have conversations with women about their perception of how the organization and certain leaders perceive and promote women.

Thirdly, use pay as a strategy to keep younger women in your organization. They can’t be your leaders if they don’t have an incentive to stay. In a recent Harvard Business Review article, “Why So Many ThirtySomething Women are Leaving Your Company,” they concluded two things: 1. Women care about pay. 2. Women and men leave organizations for similar reasons. This doesn’t just apply to thirtysomething women. Another misconception debunked in this piece is that women care more about work/life balance or other cultural elements in the organization than pay. That’s just not true. The needed action? Talk with your peers and leaders about compensation philosophy. This should be a cross-gender conversation, because the real question to answer is: how can we keep our most talented people here, regardless of gender?

There are so many ways that we as leaders can help support women leadership. Here are a few tips to promote the women in your life:

1. Have conversations about personal goals. If you would like to support a woman on your team, you absolutely must have the conversation to explore your opinions and hers. What does she want? Is this something she would like to pursue? If not, why? Dig deeper and get curious. What is her perception on the current promotion process?

2. Focus on your promotion and development processes. Take a good look at your processes and actively talk about them. Organizational insight is priceless—allow employees in all levels, positions, and departments to weigh in. The goal is to learn about the perception of promotion in your organization. You can make a better plan once you really understand.

3. Stop with your assumptions. Don’t presume that women want more work/life balance or that they are asking for more flex time. Don’t make any assumptions about how men differ from women on your team. Ask the questions.

4. Offer training and support. For people to get to the next level, regardless of gender, access to resources and support is critical. Make a plan for potential mentorship, training, and/or access to opportunity. At Fierce, we deeply believe in self-directed learning, so have the employee take the steering wheel. As the leader, your job is to support the person, not do it for them.

5. Address compensation issues. As stated in the referenced HBR article, women care about pay, so discuss pay with her. Is she satisfied? What are her expectations? Are they being met? How can you help her navigate that if it isn’t your decision? It needs to be addressed, or you may lose her.

Following through with these tips requires conversation. Commit today to having the types of conversations with women who desire leadership positions. It may change their trajectory, and yours as well.

And please, turn to a woman leader in your life and share your appreciation for her.

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Fierce Tip of the Week: Celebrate a Woman in Your Life

International Women’s Day is March 8th. As a women-owned business, Fierce wants to thank all of the women-owned businesses that make an impact in our community – from Seattle to around the globe. I want to shout out to Women in Real Life and PACE Staffing as some of our women-owned business partners who grow their businesses with brilliance and strength.

In the United States, there continues to be a surge of women-owned businesses. According to the 2016 State of Women-Owned Business Report, there are nearly 11.3 million women-owned enterprises (up from 9.1 million in 2014), employing nearly 9 million workers and generating over $1.6 trillion in revenues. Between 2007 and 2016, the number of women-owned firms grew 45%.

So I ask you: Do you have women entrepreneurs in your life? What have you learned from them?

This week’s tip is to celebrate a woman in your life. Find a time to talk with someone who has been critical to your success. If possible, schedule a lunch date. If not, pick up the phone and spend some dedicated time together.

How will you celebrate?

 

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Friday Resource: Your Employee Appreciation Day Celebration: 4 Tips to Make a Sincere Impact

This week’s Fierce resource was originally published by Forbes and shares four simple tips to make sure this year’s Employee Appreciation Day celebration has a genuine impact.

Humans are hardwired to crave appreciation. Year after year, appreciation is identified as one of the top motivators for employees to go above and beyond. Whether big or small, celebrating achievements feels good and acknowledging these wins can be the difference between employees delivering something that meets expectations or exceeds them.

Appreciation leads to engagement, which results in higher performance. Employees are yearning for this more than pay raises and title changes. That says a lot.

The good thing is, it is not too late to show the love! Start this year at your Employee Appreciation Day. Per Forbes Contributors David Sturt and Todd Nordstrom, a few things to help the celebration turn into an impactful event are:

1. Communicate. A lot of times, catered lunches, breakfasts, or the occasional work happy hour are chalked up as something that the company just does. During these little celebrations, it is important to communicate to employees the reason for the celebration – them. It is a great opportunity to publicly praise a top performer, or give team acknowledgements. Deliver a meaningful message during these little celebrations and let your employees know why they are appreciated.

2. Start something new. One of the reasons that Employee Appreciation Day is overlooked is because it is only one day out of the year. The biggest and most thoughtful celebration can be forgotten if it is repeated only once a year. Use this year’s celebration to start fresh and create more opportunities moving forward in 2017 for mini celebrations to recognize your employees’ efforts.

Read the other two tips and the entire article here.

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Why Trust Requires Transparency (And How to Create Both)

“Earn trust, earn trust, earn trust. Then you can worry about the rest.” –Seth Godin

We often hear about the need for transparency in personal and business relationships via TED Talks, articles, and gurus. But what exactly makes it so important?

Can you recall a time in your personal or professional life when you discovered crucial information that wasn’t disclosed to you when you feel it should’ve been? Was your trust and loyalty for the person or people jeopardized as a result? Most of us have been there at some point.

According to Tolero Solutions, 45% of employees say lack of trust in leadership is the biggest issue impacting their work performance. That’s huge.

Lies and secrets break trust. On the contrary, honesty and transparency build trust. And when trust is created, it leads to a heightened sense of security and better employee performance.

Although timing can be an important factor in revealing truth (for example, during a monthly meeting), issues arise when the decisions we’re making in our daily lives are being made based on what we believe to be true, but then later find out what we’ve been believing all along is false. To put it simply, it leads to feelings of betrayal.

If trust somehow exists without transparency, this so-called trust is nothing more than an illusion because it’s based on what isn’t real. Transparency is a precursor, and it’s an essential ingredient for creating (and maintaining) trust.

When practiced regularly, certain types of transparency will inevitably build relationships and entire cultures of trust. So, what aspects of an organization or individual can lead to greater transparency?

1. Transparent Emotions

Revealing what you really think and feel is necessary for building trust. Clarifying your expectations, expressing your desires, providing and receiving feedback, and being vulnerable when the opportunity arises are all part of being transparent.

Bringing all of who you are to the conversation is at the heart of emotional transparency. At Fierce, we define a fierce conversation as one in which you come out from behind yourself, into the conversation, and make it real. Susan Scott, Fierce Founder and CEO, discussed trust and radical transparency in a podcast interview with TalentGrow: “Trust is built one conversation at a time–it’s also lost one conversation at a time. Trust requires persistent identity, [which] means me showing up as myself completely, consistently, all the time, every day so that I’m not different depending on who I’m with.” Listen to the full podcast here.

2. Transparent Finances

For organizations and those in positions of leadership, financial transparency is essential for creating trust. There are of course legality issues regarding income and what can be shared, but there are other ways to incorporate this type of transparency. Monthly, quarterly, and yearly disclosure regarding spend, profit, and where money is allocated gives employees a clear picture of company financial goals and how their daily efforts are creating financial impact. We practice this here at Fierce with consistent company-wide meetings to review the state of our finances. Nothing is hidden and our financial goals are clear. In turn, we know exactly what we’re working towards and how our efforts are “paying off.”

It’s also important as a leader to be open to questions (and to answering them honestly) when it comes to pay rates, raises, bonuses, and profit sharing.

3. Transparent Intentions

Making intentions transparent involves revealing personal and organizational goals and objectives. Within an organization, values, goals, and mission statements must be clearly communicated and defined. Otherwise, individuals who are part of the larger entity won’t be able to clearly determine whether they are truthfully aligned with the organization’s intentions. On a personal level, it’s important to ask ourselves: what really matters to me? What do I want to give my time, effort, and talent to? We need as much information as we can get to both answer these questions and assure that our choices are aligned with our answers.

Being transparent with intentions also holds us accountable for making our intentions positive. An article from Psychology Today titled “Positive Intentions Build Workplace Trust” affirms this idea: “Intention drives behavior. The intention behind our actions impacts our trust building ability. Positive intentions build trust; negative intentions don’t.”

Share with us: where do you see opportunity to incorporate more transparency in your life?

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Fierce Tip of the Week: Transparency – the Chicken or the Egg?

In leadership, there is a lot of talk about the need for transparency. Transparency builds trusts and loyalty; it makes people feel engaged and breeds accountability. And yet, for many leaders the conundrum becomes when and how much they share.

If you think about it, it becomes a bit like a chicken and egg situation. Which comes first: The information or the trust? As a leader would you share more if you trusted more and, conversely, would others trust you more if they knew more?

This week take a look at your relationships and see if you’re being as transparent as you could or should be.

If not, ask yourself what is missing in your relationships that holds you back from fully sharing.

Do not get caught up in what “should come first.” Have the conversation.

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Friday Resource: How the Best Companies Do Diversity Right

This week’s Fierce resource was originally published by Fortune.com and explains how the best companies are getting diversity and inclusion done the right way.

The benefits of having a diverse and inclusive workforce are no longer a mystery. It can increase revenue, it breeds innovation and encourages people to work harder. Yet, so many companies have muted efforts to grow their programs and reach the positive results that are attainable. Or even worse, they invest the bare minimum into diversity and inclusion for fear of criticism if they don’t and to improve public perception.

These are not the reasons to invest in diversity and inclusion.

When people feel like they are included, they are more willing to approach leaders with new ideas and strategies, or simply feel comfortable enough to have a candid conversation.

“At a time when our national social fabric has frayed, workplaces that are great for all people can play an important role in mending America.” – Ann Nadeau, Chief People Officer at Great Place to Work

Read the entire article here.

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