Susan Scott's Blog, page 92

Fierce Resource: What is Emotional Intelligence?

This week’s Fierce Resource was published on the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and was written by Dinah Wisenberg Brin.

What Is Emotional Intelligence?, explores the history of EQ and why helping leaders understand their emotional impact, on both themselves and others, directly ties to the success of an organization. The article highlights that when you provide training around building the emotional intelligence of leaders it can increase productivity, customer satisfaction, and employee retention – common HR challenges.

“If there’s any doubt about the bottom-line importance of a high emotional intelligence, just consider the case of a Motorola manufacturing plant, which Friedman cites in his white paper, where 93 percent of employees became more productive after the facility adopted stress-reduction and emotional-intelligence programs. Another factory reduced “lost-time” accidents, boosted productivity and sharply lowered formal grievances after supervisors received training in “emotional competencies.””

To read the full article, click here.

Peer Development: 3 Reasons to Help Other Leaders Be More Effective

Most leaders are not opposed to receiving feedback or learning from others. However time is precious, and with so much to do, continuing to develop yourself and other leaders can be overwhelming.

Many will wait for HR or Leadership Development to bring the training to them; don’t be one of those leaders. Sometimes organizations don’t do a great job at leveraging the amazing talent that is found within their walls. The talent within can be used to develop tools for others. At the end of the day, who knows what you’re going through better than those working alongside you, striving to attain the same goals?

Below are 3 easy ways to start developing other leaders, and in turn, yourself.

#1: Create learning groups. Use this time to share your strengths, to help others in areas they might be struggling, to talk strategy, and to even brainstorm. This collective conversation builds relationships, builds skills, and keeps you relevant to the current issues of other leaders.

#2: Invite different departments to your meetings. Often people don’t do this because they don’t want to bother others who are already tight on time. And if this is your reason just ask yourself: Would you feel that way if the roles were reversed? The answer is probably not. It’s stimulating to see how other teams function, and it works your brain in a different way to think about problems you don’t interact with on a day-to-day basis. For the leader who sent the invite, you gain a valuable perspective that isn’t commonly heard.

#3: Mentor each other more formally. This builds on the first tip and takes it to a more individual level. Many organizations have mentor programs for top-down relationships, but mentorship at a peer level can be incredibly rewarding. If your organization doesn’t offer it in a formal capacity, start one yourself!

How, as a leader, can you help develop other leaders within your organization?

Fierce Tip of the Week: Give the Gift of Conversation

Every year my family has a tradition of watching the original Charlie Brown Christmas Special, and every year I’m in awe of the profoundness found in those 22 minutes.

What makes this time of year so special is that we openly embrace, as a culture, the need to connect in a very authentic and real way. That above all else, our relationship to one another is most important. Charles Shulz’s 1965 holiday cartoon commented on the continuing commercialization of this time of year, and while I can’t say that I don’t partake in the giving of gifts and eating of delicious dinners, the message to stay true to the spirit of the holidays always resonates with me.

If you’re a leader, you may be thinking about what you can get your team. While gift baskets, spirits, and gift cards will be happily received, think about rounding the gift out by giving the gift of your time and having conversations.

Make sure you connect on a deep level with those you lead. Depending on the current state of your relationship, they might not be all joyful conversations, and yet, the essence of this time of year encourages us to lean in and embrace the season by speaking to the heart of what matters.

Fierce Resources: Six Defining Moments from Nelson Mandela’s Life

It’s with a heavy heart that we share this week’s Fierce Resource, which was first published yesterday on the Daily Beast and was written by Nina Strochlic.

Six Defining Moments from Nelson Mandela’s Life remembers this amazing leader who passed away yesterday, December 5th, 2013, at 95 years of age. In the piece, Ms. Strochlic shares 6 amazing videos of Mandela, from his first on-air interview just months before his capture and subsequent 27 year imprisonment to his February 10th, 2010, 20th anniversary release celebration.

“Let the strivings of us all prove Martin Luther King Jr. to have been correct, when he said that humanity can no longer be tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war. Let the efforts of us all prove that he was not a mere dreamer when he spoke of the beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace being more precious than diamonds or silver or gold. Let a new age dawn.”

To see all the videos and read the full article, click here.

Making the Case for Radical Transparency

“Everywhere, people are hungry to connect, to be seen and known as the unique individuals that they are, and this has an immediate and powerful impact on how we design business strategies and market our products and services, and ultimately, on whether our businesses succeed or fail.” – Susan Scott, Fierce Leadership: A Bold Alternative to the Worst “Best” Practices of Business Today

As humans, it’s not uncommon to ask ourselves: What’s in it for me? As a leader, when you have so many decisions and responsibilities on your plate, it’s not crazy to think that you’ll look at your options and make choices that benefit you. However, the mark of an effective leader is not that you ask what’s in it for me. It’s more than that. It’s really a question of, as a leader, what do you hold in high esteem so that what you value is beneficial to others?

I chose this passage from Fierce Leadership, because I believe, to my core, that what we all crave is the recognition of who we are as individuals. We all want the opportunity to connect with others and to feel enough trust to connect back. Highly effective leaders recognize this need and hold it in high esteem.

Two years ago Fierce founder and author, Susan Scott, did a TEDx Talk, in which she makes the case for radical transparency in leadership. I had the pleasure of being at the event and the impact has stayed with me to this day. Transparency is a must in any relationship that is interested in the unique individual.

We have such a fundamental need to know one another and yet that desire get’s lost in doing “business”.

Watch the video and please share your thoughts. I’m curious if you feel the same way.

Susan Scott TEDx Talk

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.

A Thanksgiving Conversation

Two years ago today we posted this blog with great response from people about how they spend their Thanksgivings. We would love to hear about the traditions you have with your family or friends.

Every year at Thanksgiving dinner, my family starts a conversation with the same question. We go around the table and ask: what are you most thankful for?

Everyone is expected to participate and contribute. There is no “pass” to answering the question.

As a young girl in my booster seat, my answers usually involved extreme gratitude for my Barbies, the cranberry sauce, my cat – naturally, all of things that made my world so sweet and fun.

As the years went by, my answers shifted to being thankful for living in the same city as my family, for creating silly memories together, and for sustaining the traditions we have. The answers change over the years…because I do.

Despite these changes, Thanksgiving is greeted with the same, warm question. It would not be Thanksgiving without it. When we have guests, I revel in including them in this exchange of thoughts. What are they most thankful for?

With Thanksgiving arriving tomorrow, I am reflecting on the significance of asking our sacred six word question.  This beautiful ritual my family and I cherish is, in actuality, a very simple conversation.

This conversation allows us to check-in with ourselves and one another. It is a way to share how we’ve grown or changed and how our gratitude has shifted accordingly – from Barbies to creating memories. This conversation connects us.

What question can you ask to connect this year?

Perhaps: what are you most thankful for?

Fierce Tip of the Week: What Does Being Thankful Mean to You?

This week in the United States we celebrate Thanksgiving. In light of the recent typhoon that hit the Philippines and the tornadoes that ripped through Chicago, we are all reminded to be thankful for the air in our lungs and the ones we love.

And…what does it mean to be thankful?

This week, if Thanksgiving is more or less another holiday, I challenge you to take this opportunity to identify your gratitude. Define for yourself how you show the ones you love, those you spend your days working with, and your larger world that you are thankful.

If you define this now, then you can keep the gratitude going rain or shine, holiday or not.

Fierce Resources: Employee Disengagement Is a Disease: Cure It With a Question

This week’s Fierce Resource was first published on the Software Advice website in their New Talent Times section. The article was written by Managing Editor, Erin Osterhaus.

Employee Disengagement Is a Disease: Cure It With a Question is an interview Erin Osterhaus conducts with Ruth Ross, former Senior HR Executive at Wells Fargo, about her recent article in Forbes and the conversations leaders can take to re-engage with their disengaged employees.

“Once you’ve identified these disengaged employees based upon their responses to your “stay conversation” questions—a process Ruth clearly outlines in her Forbes article—what do you do? I caught up with Ruth to see what advice she had for small business owners and managers to revive disengaged workers’ interest in their jobs.”

To read the full article, click here.

Is Leadership a Thankless Job? 3 Ways to Change That

When doing research for this blog, I looked for studies and articles that focused on the importance of telling leaders thank you. Truth is there’s not a lot out there. The dialogue around employee appreciation and the role leaders need to play in recognizing their staff was tremendous; however, when it comes to telling leaders their doing a good job the conversation was nonexistent.

A Fierce Survey conducted last year, that focused on the relationship between leaders and their direct reports showed that, in fact, 80% of respondents reported a positive working relationship with their boss. So if most of us appreciate the job our bosses are doing, the question then becomes: Are we telling them?

Some are, and with employee engagement at an all-time low, my guess is the praise is thin all around. The truth is leadership should not be thankless job. When leaders feel under appreciated the morale, productivity, and engagement of the whole organization suffers. Below are three ways to say thank to your leader for a job well done.

Give a Personal Example

Our organization has a very generous maternity policy, one that I did not appreciate until I became pregnant. Upon returning to work, I made sure I specifically thanked our CEO for her commitment to family. Sharing personal stories or how their leadership has impacted you directly can be a great way to say thank you.

It’s Not About You

I’m uncomfortable with receiving recognition and so I think others are too. Then I don’t give it out as often as I should. Add on top of that the extra anxiety you might feel about saying thank you to your boss – what if I look like a suck up? And all of a sudden a year has gone by and you haven’t told your leader you appreciate them once. The reality is, it’s not about you. It’s about the other person. Make it about them and share something appreciative.

Don’t Wait Tell the Holidays

While it’s great to say thanks during the holidays, it shouldn’t be the only time of the year your boss hears from you. Immediate positive feedback and appreciation is so powerful. It builds emotional capital and encourages a culture of gratitude. It also lets your boss know that you are actually onboard with their direction and leadership, which is very helpful for them to know.  That means when a misstep does occur, it can be talked about openly and the relationship is strong enough to have the conversation.

What stops you from saying thank you to your leaders?