Susan Scott's Blog, page 61

Fierce Resource: How Google and Others Help Employees Burn Off Stress in Unique Ways

This week’s Fierce resource was originally published on Fast Company and explores how leading companies combat workplace stress.Countless studies show that stress not only affects our mood and general outlook on life, it can also adversely affect our health. According to the Behavioral Science and Policy Association, overwhelming work-related demands up the odds of having an illness by 35% and long work hours have shown to increase mortality by nearly 20%.No one wants to live their life in a constant state of unhappiness. Yet, when we search for ways to eliminate our stress, we are typically offered the useless advice we have heard time and time again. “Focus on the positive.” “Eliminate the stress in your life.”Let’s be honest, these options are either impossible or are completely intangible. In How Google and Others Help Employees Burn Off Stress in Unique Ways, companies are adopting unconventional approaches to help employees better manage their stress.Are you working to remove stress from you team or are you adding to it?“While venting about the boss or job has long been reserved for hushed cubicle whispers or happy-hour rants outside the office, Appster, which has around 380 employees across offices in the U.S., Australia, and India, put in place what McDonald refers to as a “weekly vent report,” an online board where employees can post complaints and concerns anonymously and publicly.”Read the article.

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A Note to Retailers: 3 Tips to Make Black Friday Better for Your Employees and Customers

Black Friday is approaching us. For some, this day may create pure joy with visions of scoring the perfect holiday gift…for half the price. For others, the stress of angry, aggressive customers can overwhelm you.As a retailer, it is critical for you to take care of both your employees and customers on this significant shopping day. With the increased appeal to sit on couches (or at desks) and shop online, it is up to you to make the effort of driving or walking to your store worthwhile. Yes, more than ever you need to earn patronage. And for employees, make them proud to work for you and truly show up. There are many companies they can choose to work for.Here at Fierce, we work with many global retailers who intertwine the fierce principles and ideas to customer service and their store environment. Here are three tips to make Black Friday merrier for us all:Inspire your employees to be their authentic selves.

Don’t mandate that your employees put on their “customer face” on Black Friday. It is artificial and people see right through it. Ask your employees to show up as themselves and truly connect. Talk about the products that they love. Your employees will appreciate it, and you will reap the benefits of more loyal customers.

Empower your employees to take personal responsibility for the day.

Troubleshoot scenarios as a team. This means preparing to go “off script” and responding to the real needs of the customer. At the end of the day, managers can’t be everywhere at all times, especially on days like Black Friday. Encourage your managers to delegate to high performing employees who can make critical decisions when time is of the essence. In the end, delegation is not just about giving tasks – it is about allowing employees to serve the customers.

When employees know they are supported by management and the organization, they are more likely to go above and beyond for your customers. They also are more likely to take responsibility for mistakes made by the organization. (Extra bonus for you!)

Stop generalizing your customers.

In the age of big data, it really is unacceptable. And your customers are on top of it. Market research suggests that more than ever customers want their needs and desires understood. However, as Susan states in Fierce Leadership, “Many organizations view exchanges with their customers or stakeholders as merely transactional, to be completed as quickly as possible.” On Black Friday are you creating a transaction or an experience?

It is your job to give your customers and employees the opportunity to truly engage with your brand. Think this through. If your loyalty program only consists of customers getting the credit card with your company’s logo on it, you aren’t offering more than a series of transactions. Customers demand more. Use next week to ask questions and really learn.

What other tips have you heard or used to help alleviate stress on Black Friday?

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Fierce Tip of the Week: Squash the Stress

You are starting a week that is historically full of high expectations. With Thanksgiving looming in the United States, many businesses are pushing hard for deliverables. This often creates overtime and extra hours. So if you look at your employees, I ask: Do you say you want them to take time off and then email them with expectations? Or do you withhold and create white space for them to produce and exceed expectations? Are you doing it for them, or do you do it for yourself as a leader?These are serious questions. We commonly hear from clients that there are never enough hours, never enough resources, and that there is definitely not enough recognition for what they do. This is a reality for many. So what do we do?I encourage everyone to keep this in mind. Just stay aware. This week’s tip is to squash the stress. Find ways to turn deliverables and expectations into a positive force. It means you are doing important work. It means you influence and matter.And for coping on an individual level, can you go to the gym or yoga? Have lunch with an old friend or colleague? This is the time to really schedule space to breathe, to reflect, and to visualize the finish line.And as a leader, how can you help to dissipate tension that is building? One no-brainer way is to take your team to lunch. Or perhaps have one-on-one conversations that focus on appreciation.You don’t have to have all the answers. You just have to ask. And then, yes, truly listen.

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Fierce Resource: The One Quality A Leader Should Never Lack

This week’s Fierce resource was originally published on Fortune and explores the most important lesson a former Navy SEAL has learned in his career.As a leadership development company, we constantly get asked what the secret formula to great leadership is. If a simple answer actually existed, there is no telling what we could accomplish. We might even find the solution for lasting world peace. But the truth is there aren’t any shortcuts.Great leaders spend years developing their business acumen and interpersonal skills. Above all else, they are extremely self-aware. In The One Quality a Leader Should Never Lack, a former Navy Seal states it perfectly: “Leadership is about continuously assessing how you are performing and always striving to create the most value for both your clients and your team.”So I ask: Are you removing chaos from your team or adding to it?“Knowing who you are as a person and as a leader enables you to extract the best performance out of yourself. Your negative behaviors are almost certainly impacting your team. If you’re not aware of them or have no plan to address them, you’re holding back your team and limiting its potential — a big cost to your bottom line in today’s increasingly competitive business world.”Read the article.

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Three Tips to Connect Your Team with Purpose

I have always admired the rituals and connection that people in the United States military share. I had a unique experience as a child, because my father was in the military and my birthday is Veterans Day (and no, that wasn’t planned). That means most birthdays I spent at Veterans Day ceremonies and taking pictures with fighter jets and submarines. Despite those glitzy elements, hearing the Veterans’ stories was my favorite part. Every time I asked Veterans about their service, despite the hardships and sacrifices, their eyes often lit up. They would tell stories about their purpose, and their comrades, and their experiences. I’ve reflected a lot on that over the years – especially going into the human capital/people strategy field.So I have to ask: How many of your employees’ eyes would light up talking about being on your team? Are your employees connected to the purpose? Are they emotionally moved by what you stand for? Do they feel connected with each other?We all crave connection – whether we admit it or not. For many, we get this outside of the office. We ride Harleys, or religiously follow an NFL team, or compete in Ironman Triathlons. In all three of those outlets, I have seen full-grown men and women cry. Cried from disappointment, cried from joy, and were deeply moved by their chosen tribes. They talk about their purpose, and the group, and what they learn.More than ever we want to feel moved in our workplace. This isn’t Kumbaya or spiritual circle kind of stuff. In fact, research shows that job seekers increasingly care about their connection to the purpose and impact of their organization. A 2015 Deloitte survey found that six in ten millennials shared that a “sense of purpose is part of the reason they chose their current employer.” Yes, in this current “war for talent”, it has everything to do with your bottom line.This Veterans Day, I encourage you to better your team’s connection with its purpose. Here are three simple places to start:Hold one-on-one’s with your team members. Create a curious space where you ask how connected your team members feel to the purpose of the job and the team. Don’t get defensive. Ask them about their ideas. What would make them feel more connected? Is there something that needs to be talked about that is getting in the way? Where can they contribute?Write a Stump Speech with your team. The questions are in this blog. The Stump Speech is a great exercise to take your team through. It sets groundwork for the future by exploring internal and external requirements. It is simple and to the point. Once completed, you can go back to the document and discuss as a team what has changed over time.Find your own connection with the purpose. It is so important to tap into your own connection. When people question misalignment with your team’s purpose, they will pay close attention to how you react. Susan Scott, Fierce Founder, says, “There is no trivial comment as a leader.” And I would add, there is no trivial reaction. People are watching, and they will spot integrity outages from miles away. That’s where your internal job comes in. Are you where you need to be?

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Fierce Tip of the Week: Don’t Hesitate – Become Fiercely Dedicated Now

When people first hear the word fierce, there are varying reactions. Some think that fierce means scary. Others think brutal or harsh. For some, they think of Beyoncé…as in “Sasha Fierce”.To help explain what we mean in our workshop, we ask: What do you think about the word fierce when someone is fiercely dedicated to you? When I first facilitated that question with a group, I loved the “ah ha’s” in the room. Let’s be honest. We all crave having and being associated with fierce dedication. It infers depth and devotion. Those two things can be hard to come by in this ever-changing, moving world.So I ask: What are you fiercely dedicated to? Your partner? Your parents? A cause?Can you say that you are fiercely dedicated to your work? I hope so. You deserve to love what you do.Whenever I think about dedication, I think about Steve Jobs from Apple. During a Fortune interview almost ten years ago, he said “We don’t get a chance to do that many things, and everyone should be really excellent. Because this is our life. Life is brief, and then you die, you know? And we’ve all chosen to do this with our lives. So it better be damn good. It better be worth it.”This week’s tip is to become more dedicated in an area of your life that matters most to you. Set specific goals for the rest of 2015. Decide whether you will spend more time, resources, or mental energy towards it.Where do you want to show fierce dedication?

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Fierce Resource: Be Your Own Best Advocate

This week’s Fierce resource was originally published on Harvard Business Review and explores why it is so difficult for people to negotiate on their own behalf.As a leader in your organization, you spend countless hours negotiating contracts with clients, wrangling outside vendors, and advocating for your department. But when was the last time you capitalized on an opportunity for yourself?Advocating for your own needs is just as important as closing a big deal. It not only drives career fulfillment, but also has the potential to spark positive organizational change.Regardless of how strongly we feel about an opportunity, negotiating on our own behalf feels much less comfortable than negotiating on behalf of an organization. Be Your Own Best Advocate recommends building a strategy for everyday negotiations that focuses on four steps: recognize, prepare, initiate, and navigate.How do you recognize negotiation opportunities?“The issue should be important to you, but your desired outcome should not only benefit you personally but also benefit your organization, as a result of your increased productivity and commitment and new cultural norms that allow colleagues to achieve the same. The decision to negotiate should be made with a sense of the end in mind.”Read the article.

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Advice to Young Women

We’re a women-owned business. And proud of it. As part of our work, we focus on developing, training, and investing in young women and girls around the world through corporations, non-profits, and education systems.When we look at issues for young women today, bullying comes to the top of the list. We are not neutral about how to solve for this. We believe that children and young adults need to learn the skills to navigate their lives – with advocates and adversaries to their success.So what does our staff want to share with young women today? Fellow Fierceling, Ashley Wolf, has interviewed some of our staff about advice they have for young women, and two major themes arose.Speak Your Truth. At Fierce, speaking your truth is about being authentic. With media and many other influences pushing against them, it is especially important for young women today to learn to be comfortable in their own skin. This starts with important conversations with yourself.We aren’t just talking any conversations – you need to make them fierce. In fact, the definition of a Fierce Conversation is one in which you come out from behind yourself into the conversation and make it real. Whenever you notice yourself being less real, take a moment and ask yourself why. When you recognize why you do certain things, it is easier to make changes. Empower Change. If it is to be, it is up to me is a core concept in our Fierce Accountability work. It is about taking a responsible approach to make needed changes. When it comes to bullying or other issues, it can feel extremely dangerous to do anything about it. And yet, change requires your actions.Don’t make excuses or point fingers to create change. You are capable of making the changes needed – whether it is acting differently yourself or having a critical conversation.Start by giving your child room to discover their own voice. The next time your child comes to you with a problem, don’t jump to solving it for them. Encourage them to explore all aspects of the issue and let them come up with their own course of action. Then help them put their plan into motion. What advice do you have for young women?

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Fierce Tip of the Week: The Revolution Starts with Your Vote

Today, we have more outlets than ever to express our individual perspectives and needs. From Facebook to Twitter to Yelp to Consumer Reports, you can share a review, an opinion, or vent about almost everything. Many of us use those tools every day. And yet, as citizens of the United States, we don’t participate in some of the outlets to give our own country feedback and thoughts. I am guilty of this, too. One way we can do this is by voting.Tomorrow is Election Day in the United States. It is a day to make some choices and give feedback. And yet, statistically speaking, a large percentage of us won’t be participating.At a recent meeting, I was talking with some people about this. What I heard most clearly was that people don’t feel connected to some of the larger purposes, and in turn, they are disengaged citizens. This rang bells in my head. Loud ones. Because this is what we talk with CEOs, VPs, and Directors about all of the time in organizations from small to large, from private to public, from non-profit to Fortune 100. The story sounds like: People are not engaged. We have a bi-annual survey and mechanisms to get their feedback. And yet, it is not enough. What do we do? How do we make lasting, necessary change?Just like revolutionizing our workplaces, there is similar work to be done with our government. There is more dialogue required by individuals, by everyone. And we can’t just look to our government officials. Like I mentioned in Stop Your Excuses, You are the Culture, as seducing as pointing the finger can be at times, when you are unhappy with our government, make sure you throw some of that blame your way. You are responsible too.Given that, this week’s tip is to participate and vote. And then challenge yourself with the question: What else can I do to give feedback? How can I better engage in conversations with others about issues most important to me? How can I help?

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Fierce Resource: The Best Tools for Improving Employee Engagement

This week’s Fierce resource was originally published on Tech.Co and explores techniques aimed at boosting employee enthusiasm.Employee engagement isn’t just this “touchy-feely” abstract concept it seems to be, it’s also about an organization’s productivity level. A Gallup study found that the annual cost of lost production in the United States is over $450 billion.If you want to earn back some of that lost revenue, you have to find a way to inspire and engage your team. The Best Tools for Improving Employee Engagement recommends creating a sense of unity by adopting a culture of constant communication. When employees feel like there are kept in the loop, they build a sense of accountability and are willing to go the extra mile.How transparent is you organization?“While some workers function better independently, having constant communication between the managers, the employees, and between colleagues will create a sense of unity. It also makes employees feel like there are others ready to help them if needed, eliminating frustration and bringing passion back into projects, which will inherently make employees more engaged in the day-to-day tasks they’re given.”Read the article.

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