Think about the business culture you’ve always wanted for your organization—the energy, the purpose, the unwavering alignment toward a common vision. Now, think about how much easier it would be if every team member, from the executive team to the front lines, shared that same drive and commitment. Imagine a workplace where people aren’t just showing up for a job. They fully invest in a shared purpose that pushes your organization forward every day.

This kind of culture doesn’t happen by accident. It requires intentional, visible leadership and a clear, consistent message that speaks louder than words. There are three critical steps senior leaders must take to make this vision a reality:

1. Visibly Model
2. Comprehensively Communicate
3. Intentionally Amplify

Lasting Business Culture Change Starts with Senior Leaders

Our favorite definition of culture comes from marketing guru Seth Godin. Culture is simply “People like us, do things like this.”

But one of the major culture challenges organizations face is that senior leaders might know what activities and habits matter most. But those same leaders struggle to communicate that knowledge and transfer behaviors throughout the organization.

True culture change requires your deliberate action, consistent messaging, and intentional reinforcement at every level. As a senior leader, your commitment to modeling, communicating, and reinforcing the culture sets the tone for lasting change.

1. Visibly Model

What you do matters way more than what you say.

Every decision you make, every action you take, tells your people what’s truly important in the organization. To drive culture change, you must align your actions with the business culture you want to create.

And it’s not just how you act when you’re with your peers. Or how you reason through a decision.

How can the entire organization visibly see you act out the culture you want?

What you do matters way more than what you say.

Here’s a quick gut check: If a new employee, with no training or handbook, watched a film of all your activities for a couple of weeks, how would they describe your culture?

Here are three examples of how you might align your visible actions with your business culture:

Decision-Making Transparency: Making a sound decision isn’t enough to change culture. Everyone needs to understand the reasons for the decision. Be clear about why you make the decisions you do. Explain not only the “what” but the “why” behind strategic choices. This transparency shows your team the values that guide decision-making. And it will help them make similar decisions in the future.

Prioritizing People in Meetings and Conversations: If you want a culture where people feel valued and heard, demonstrate this by giving people your full attention. Put away your phone. Show them that every voice matters by actively listening and encouraging contributions.

Living the Company Values: Identify three behaviors tied to your organization’s core values and commit to visibly demonstrate them each week. For example, if “innovation” is a core value, consider how you can visibly invite new ideas, tolerate a reasonable level of risk in pursuit of innovation, and respond with regard—even when you can’t use an idea.

When your team sees you model the change, they’ll begin to believe in its importance. A cultural shift won’t happen until everyone can see it—and that starts with you.

2. Comprehensively Communicate

Once you’re visibly modeling the desired business culture, the next step is to communicate throughout the organization. This is where a 5 x 5 communication plan is essential. How will you and your managers communicate at least five times, through five different channels?

Your communication strategy should build a culture where everyone:

• Understands the ‘why’ behind the change
• Clearly sees how it relates to their role.

The more you communicate—and the more you empower others to communicate—the more natural the change will feel.

Here are questions to consider as you build your communication strategy:

• How will you connect what you are asking to why it matters – in a way that makes sense to every person in every role?
• How will you ensure that your teams communicate the new business culture habits with fidelity? (How will they cascade communication? And how can you ensure they know how?)
• What are one or two strategic stories you can include in your communication to bring the habits to life? (For example: share a time you struggled with the tension between two values and how you made your decision.)
• How else might you get creative and have fun with communicating your culture, values, and relevant habits? (Check out this list of 101 ways to communicate–even with hybrid and remote teams.)
• How can you engage everyone in the organization to make the culture their own? To ask questions and explore or challenge areas that don’t make sense to them?

3. Intentionally Amplify with Celebration and Accountability

Everyone can see you and your team model the culture. You’ve clearly communicated and engaged everyone to understand what the change looks like in every role.

Now it’s time to build momentum with celebration and accountability.

Celebration and accountability are two sides of the same coin. They both close the loop of an intention. You set out to do something.

When you succeed, celebrate!

When you don’t, follow through with accountability: what can you learn for next time? What needs to change? Is there a way to renew the commitment and follow through now?

Celebration and accountability amplify your business culture. They tell everyone what matters. So don’t leave them to chance. Plan your celebration and accountability strategy from the start.

Celebrate Early Wins and Small Steps

As soon as you see behaviors that reflect the new culture, acknowledge them. Whether it’s a team reaching a milestone or an individual embodying the values, celebrate the moment. Tell these stories. Highlighting these achievements reminds everyone that the change isn’t just words on a wall. Change is real and happening.

Set Clear Expectations for Accountability

Hold yourself and other leaders accountable for embodying the culture. Equip everyone to give feedback—even junior employees should feel empowered to respectfully hold senior leaders accountable. This shows that the new culture applies to everyone, regardless of role.

Continual Reflection and Adjustment

Culture change isn’t a one-time project; it’s an ongoing commitment. Regularly evaluate the progress and adjust as needed. Have a quarterly or semi-annual culture review where you discuss what’s working, what needs adjustment, and what new behaviors need reinforcement.

Celebration and accountability go hand in hand. When you make a big deal out of the behaviors you want to see and create space for accountability, you’re building a self-sustaining culture where people take pride in maintaining the values and behaviors you’ve established.

Want a Blueprint for Your Culture Change?

Sustained business culture change requires intentional effort.

One of our favorite things is to work with senior teams to build your leadership blueprint. Together, you’ll identify the specific habits that will help you model, communicate, and amplify your culture and achieve breakthrough results.

Let us know if you’d like more information.

The post How to Lead Sustainable Business Culture Change: A 3-Step Framework for Success appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

Are you hanging on to a familiar way of doing your work or leading your team because it’s comfortable? If it’s been a year or more since you experienced a significant change for yourself or your team, you might be missing out on great opportunities to build morale, build your career, and enjoy your work. Managing change is critical for your success—too much change, too quickly creates instability. But resisting natural, healthy change will prevent growth and stagnate your team.

Resisting Natural Change

Off the east coast of North Carolina and Virginia, a set of barrier islands known as the Outer Banks stretches over a couple hundred miles, guarding the inner sound from the worst of Atlantic storms. On a recent visit, our brother-in-law Steve, who’s visited these beaches and dunes for decades, took me on a driving tour and pointed out some changes he’s seen over the years.

He pointed across the road at a five-foot rise of sand you could walk across in a few steps. “To climb that dune, you used to have to work at it and scramble on all fours. It was huge.” We drove a little further and earth-moving equipment worked to keep blown sand from obliterating the narrow strip of asphalt road as the wind seemed to fight to reclaim and reshape the island.

Then he showed me the Oregon Inlet where private deep-sea fishing boats enter and leave the sound. “In the early 1800s the inlets all closed up and there weren’t’ any islands at all. It was a straight stretch of sand. Then, in 1846, a hurricane carved out the inlet. These days, sand keeps filling it in, and they have to dredge it out regularly so the fishing boats can get in and out.”

The Outer Banks are a land of change. And it takes an incredible amount of work to prevent that change. And some day, given a big enough storm, the change will probably happen anyway.

The visit reminded me of the mountain west where I grew up. In the mountains, lodgepole pine forests evolved to burn periodically. Quick burns opened the forest floor to new plants, refreshed the soil, helped cones to disperse seeds, and prevented disease or insect infestations. Decades of fire prevention along with climate change, created huge, intense burns and stands of diseased dead trees. Resisting that natural change came at an enormous cost.

Resisting Business Change

You’re certainly familiar with companies like Blockbuster and Kodak who resisted change and faced extinction. It’s easy to shake your head and wonder how those leaders could have let that happen.

But the CrowdStrike bug that crashed Windows PCs, snarled airlines, and interfered with hospitals’ ability to access patient records had a similar cause. Microsoft tried to shift its approach to security two decades ago, but regulators prevented them from doing so.

Why?

Because the software giant had always allowed open access to their computers’ kernel and some companies had built their entire business model on that access. (Access that Apple and Linux have never allowed.)

When Microsoft tried to do what Apple and Linux have done, the companies who relied on kernel access went to regulators who ruled in favor of the status quo, rather than allowing developing technology to address the situation. And that decision created the conditions that allowed the CrowdStrike crash to happen. (For a full analysis, check out Ben Thompson on Stratechery: Crashes and Competition.)

Again, it’s easy to point the finger at regulators who get stuck in time and cling to the way things are.

But intentional change isn’t easy.

Build Your Ability to Lead Change

In our research for Courageous Cultures, 67% of respondents reported that their manager was stuck in “that’s the way we’ve always done it” thinking.

And you don’t have to look very hard to find places you might be stuck. I’ve been guilty of these at times:

• Holding on to a team member that you should promote or give other opportunities outside your team—because you don’t know what you’d do without them.
• Hanging on to team member that you really should move off the team—because then you’d have to find someone new and train them.
• Continuing the stale team-building activity everyone loved five years ago—because it always worked before.
• Refusing to decide—because going one way or the other will take effort.
• Resisting new ideas from team members—because hearing them out might mean you don’t have the answers you thought you did or will require you to act.
• Hoping against all evidence that the recent changes you’ve experienced will “go back to normal” – because acknowledging the change will require energy and effort to explore a new path forward.

But ignoring or resisting these moments of natural change won’t work forever.

The status quo’s comfort and ease are illusions. If you don’t invest in managing change, the changes will happen to you.

That team member will leave. Or they’ll stay and everyone else will leave.

Your credibility suffers. Your career lags. And you’re stuck frantically trying to do what used to work, working harder, with more stress, and missing out on what’s possible.

Two Questions to Find the Flow and Know What’s Next

One of the easiest ways to lean into natural change is to ask yourself this question:

What are you up to?

As a team leader, manager, or executive—what are you getting up to?

• Is there a problem you’re trying to solve?
• Are you helping your team to grow?
• An opportunity to explore?
• Some improvement or process you’re implementing?
• What are you learning?

When you’re up to something, you’re managing change. You can’t help it. You’re moving, flowing, and growing. Once you’re up to something, you can start managing change:

• Challenge yourself and your team to answer strategic or these UGLY questions to uncover possibilities:
• Ask your team for their I.D.E.A.s.
• Consider competing values and priorities.
• Make decisions about what matters most.

When you get up to something, you collaborate with natural change and create the future, rather than have it happen to you.

A second question you can ask yourself to find the flow of natural change is:

What’s happening in my industry?

No matter what kind of work you do, there’s something new to learn. Technology changes. Trends shift. Someone somewhere is innovating. And it’s easier than ever to learn what’s happening.

You might not apply what you learn immediately. Changes in the business environment, shifting tastes, or new AI applications may not affect your work tomorrow (though they could).

But knowing what’s happening and being informed will give you the perspective to be better at your work and be a better leader for your team.

What if My Boss Isn’t Managing Change and Doesn’t Want To?

If you want to get up to something or start learning more about what’s happening in your industry, but you worry that your boss just wants you to “focus on doing what needs to be done,” there are two possibilities:

You need better results.

We’ve worked with many leaders who were eager to get up to something new, but weren’t succeeding at their current work. You’ll be much more influential in selling a new idea or approach if your current work is solid. Master that, then build on your success.

You’re doing well and your manager fears change.

If you can objectively show your success, but your manager still wants you to limit your focus to doing what you’re asked, they might be the one hanging on to what they know.

In this case, keep doing your work well—and get up to something anyhow. You’ll have opportunities—the world needs more thoughtful, innovative problem solvers than ever. “Just shut up and do your work” isn’t a path to the future. What you learn will serve you and your team.

And you don’t need permission to learn.

Your Turn

Managing change is a critical leadership skill. Sticking with what’s familiar feels safe and comfortable, but change is inevitable. You can lean into change and become a more innovative, creative, and adaptable leader by taking initiative to move and actively learning.

How about you? We’d love to know one of your favorite ways for managing change and leaning into the future.

And if you want to help your team or organization drive innovation and improve results:

The post Managing Change: How to Cultivate Forward Thinking Leadership appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

Transitions, reorganizations, layoffs, mergers, acquisitions—they are all part of the business landscape. And while effective leaders will work to limit the number and frequency of these events, they are inevitable as organizations work to stay relevant in a rapidly changing world. Effective employee retention strategies are critical to help your team come through the other side with confidence and enthusiasm for their work.

I Didn’t See This Coming

We were working with Melissa (not her real name), the Vice President of a rapidly growing national firm who called for help because three people had resigned in the past two weeks. And if you’d asked her two weeks before that, she wouldn’t have told you that any of them were flight risks.

As she explained the situation, Melissa’s department was in the middle of a major reorganization resulting from changes in the industry. The reorganization would shift an entire team’s work to an external partner (and several team members were moving over to the partner company.) Some roles would merge, and a few people would be reassigned or given exit packages.

Melissa told us, “I thought we were doing good with our communication, and that everyone understood what was happening. We’ve all been working so hard at our normal jobs plus preparing for the transition. Then these three resignations happened—and we can’t afford to lose anyone else. And they all have important work to do after the transition. I didn’t see this coming.”

Employee Retention Strategies During Reorganizations, Layoffs, and Corporate Chaos

Melissa and her team started the change process well. They had a clear communication plan. The company had retention bonuses in place to help affected team members stay through the finish line, and they clearly defined the process, roles, and timelines. They’d also involved the team in early decision-making.

These are all good practices and we recommend them as you navigate chaotic changes.

And—there are some additional employee retention strategies you can use to help your team move through these changes with confidence.

Invest in Clarity with Cascading Checks for Understanding

The antidote to uncertainty is clarity.

And as much communication as Melissa had done with her team, there was still more to do. We asked Melissa a question that you can ask yourself: “If we were to go ask your department about the plan, the timelines, and their role in the changes, would they give us the same answer you would?”

Melissa said, “I’m pretty confident, yes.”

“Would you bet 1000 dollars on each person affected giving the same answer?”

She thought for a moment and said, “Yes, for my directors. I wouldn’t take that bet for their team members.”

This is a great gut-check to see if your communication is as effective as you hope it would be.

Here, Melissa realized there was an opportunity to work with her directors on more clear and consistent communication. Then, both she and her directors could follow up by talking with frontline team members to check for understanding. To hear the team member describe what was happening in their own words.

Communication doesn’t mean you said it (or sent it). Clear communication means everyone has received and internalized critical messages.

Re-Recruit Your A-Players

There’s no question that even with clear communication, hectic reorganization, downsizing, and other corporate chaos makes everyone nervous, particularly when cuts include strong contributors who happen to be in the wrong seat at the wrong time.

Re-recruit your top talent by connecting and communicating how much you value them. Help them see their future opportunities and how you’ll support their growth and development.

Get Their Hands In the Future

One of the most powerful employee recruitment strategies when you face chaotic and messy change is to get people working on what’s next.

When you have team members who will stay on with the team after the change, get them working on that future. If their hands are deep into a project that builds the future, they can feel that future is real—and includes them. And that helps quell the uncertainty.

As we explored this strategy with Melissa, she recognized the opportunity: “I have many people who could absolutely be working on projects and plans that happen after the transition. We’ve been so focused on what’s happening now that I think I’ve made my team nearsighted.”

Maintain Relationships and Lines of Communication

In times of stressful change, it’s easy to lose track of your normal lines of communication.

In Melissa’s case, she noted that “Everyone’s been so busy. I thought we’d been transparent and clear, but we’re working so hard on our primary work, then to make the transition happen, that our one-on-ones and ongoing communication have taken a back seat.”

When one-on-ones feel the most difficult to maintain, that’s often when you need them the most. Those regular, individual check ins give you a chance to use all these employee retention strategies in a connected, relevant way.

Your Turn

You have to expect some degree of corporate chaos as your company navigates a rapidly changing world. All the planning and thoughtful strategizing you or your leaders do can’t eliminate uncertainty.

Help your team move through the change with confidence by investing in consistent communication to ensure clarity, thorough checks for understanding at every level, by getting everyone working on a horizon beyond the changes, and ensure you and your team maintain one-on-ones to stay connected.

We’d love to hear from you: what are some of your most effective employee retention strategies during times of significant chaos and change?

You might also like:

After the layoff: How to support your team when it just got smaller

The post Employee Retention Strategies When Work Gets Chaotic and Messy appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

Is there anyone more beloved than Santa Claus? Today, the North Pole is a paragon of human-centered leadership and culture. But it wasn’t always that way.

In fact, Santa has a lot to teach us about leadership. You might have a fantastic personal brand and a world-renown altruistic mission, but that doesn’t mean you can ignore your leadership and culture. The North Pole used to be a very different place…

Nearly sixty years ago, the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer television show documented the poor leadership and culture at the North Pole. Santa, Donner, and the head elf had created and took part in a toxic culture of ridicule that led to poor performance.

Donner rejected his son because of his nose. Santa ignored Rudolph’s obvious talent and leaping ability because of the red glow. And the head elf ridicules Hermey’s aspiration to be a dentist.

The North Pole’s leadership and culture at the time was a great example of what we call “trickle-down intimidation.” The leaders take their cues from what happens at the top. Santa’s leadership led to dysfunction at every level. The toxic courage-crushers got so bad that the North Pole lost some of its top next-generation talent as the victims of the abusive leadership looked for opportunities elsewhere.

There’s a lesson for leaders in what happened all those years ago. When people have to use all their courage just to survive harassment, ridicule, or being overlooked for bringing their authentic selves to work, they can’t possibly bring creativity or innovative solutions to their work. They’re too busy surviving.

The North Pole Today: Can Leadership and Culture Change?

In this human-centered leader TV exclusive exposé, Karin Hurt asks hard questions to find out what has changed – and how.

We were so happy to find out Santa’s a fan of Courageous Cultures. In our world of rapid change, a courageous culture is your competitive advantage.

Start by eliminating toxic courage crushers. Then, invest in leadership and culture where leaders consistently show up with curiosity, ask people for their ideas, and build an infrastructure for courage. You’ll be on your way to high performance, high engagement, and teams who consistently share ideas, and solve problems, with leaders who reward contributions from all levels.

By the end of that frosty Christmas Eve, Santa had seen the worth in every member of his team and encouraged Rudolph’s true strength, competence, and talent. Performance soared.

The North Pole leadership team built a culture where Hermey could bring his best self to work and everyone would eventually benefit from the dental care. And if you have a team member whose ultimate passion lies outside of your work, support them. How can you help them learn all they can while contributing now? The message it sends to your team about your loyalty and commitment to them will come back many times over. (Not sure about your people’s goals? Use this Developmental Discussion tool to find out!)

Your Turn

Santa’s leadership is a cautionary tale for every leader. Do you build on your team’s talents, strengths, and competence or do you waste time, energy, and capacity focused on irrelevant “weaknesses”? Have you allowed a caustic culture of shame, blame, or intimidation to take root?

If so, Santa also shows us a positive path forward. Leadership and culture can change – and it begins with you.

Do you have the culture you want? If not, how can you avoid Santa’s leadership problems? How can you focus on the talents your people bring to work? And not obsess about the characteristics they don’t have (that don’t matter)?

How to Read Courageous Cultures With Your Team

If you missed our Courageous Cultures Leadership Book Club event, you can catch the recording here.  And, in the article below, we’ve compiled a long list of supplemental FREE resources to help you encourage courage and get more remarkable ideas from your team.

Leadership Book Club: How to Read Courageous Cultures With Your Team

The post How Did Leadership and Culture Improve on the North Pole? appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

You’re a young leader with responsibility for a small team and you want more responsibility. And there’s nothing more frustrating than being told, “Not now. Give it time. You’re not ready yet.” (And if you manage a young leader, please don’t use those despair-inducing words.)

There are several areas of your leadership and work where you can invest to give yourself the best chance at that bigger responsibility: your knowledge and wisdom, the results you achieve now, relationships you build, and opportunities to speak up.

Knowledge and Wisdom as a Young Leader

We rarely know as much as we think we do. One of your most important tasks as a young leader is to learn everything you can about the business and yourself.

1. Get to Know Your Business

How does your business make money? How does your organization make a difference to your customers, clients, or constituents? As you learn the answers to these questions, focus on how the work your team does makes a difference. What are the vital outcomes? Not just the process you follow or the output you have to produce. Look beyond that—why are you doing what you do? What’s the end goal—the reason for the work?

These questions help you think strategically. You’re not just doing what you’re told—you’re doing what matters most for the business and your customer. The ability to think strategically is one of the most important abilities you’ll need to cultivate if you want more senior levels of responsibility.

2. Ask “Why?” with Respect

There will be times as a young leader where you don’t know how an assignment relates to the big picture. You might be tempted to just ask your manager, “Why do we have to do this?” Hopefully, your manager takes the question the way you mean it and gives you the context. But many people interpret “why” questions as challenging or argumentative. To avoid this unhelpful misunderstanding, try this instead: “I want to ensure we’re fulfilling all the objectives here. Can you help me understand the big picture goal here?”

3. Understand what Matters Around Here—especially for the role you want

You just earned an advanced degree – congratulations. That was a lot of work! But it doesn’t automatically mean you should get a promotion. Unless you’re in a business where that credential automatically comes with more responsibility. Sure, an advanced degree might be a requirement, but it’s not the only thing you need.

We’ve seen many a young leader achieve a degree or other visible certification and immediately seek promotion, only to get frustrated when it doesn’t happen. Often, they hadn’t paid attention to the organizations values and what behaviors and outcomes matter most.

What matters most in your organization? Are there trusted relationships you need to build? A consistent track record of results you need to show? Do you need to demonstrate a particular kind of knowledge or ability? Be sure you know what matters most – and how you can invest in those areas.

4. Ask for What You Want and Listen for What You Need

Are you a young leader who’s concerned about whether or not to let your manager know that you want more responsibility? Assuming that your team is doing well and you’re achieving the results you are responsible for, we would encourage you to ask.

You can use our Development Discussion Planner to prepare for the conversation. Take time to think about your current role and the role you want. Let your manager know you want to have the conversation and give them the planner you completed.

Show up the conversation with genuine curiosity. What do they see or know that you don’t? Are there additional skills or experiences they recommend you gain? Listen carefully and take notes. Then, as you work together, you can both look for opportunities to learn those skills or get the experience.

5. Learn If You Want to Manage

While you may be hungry for a promotion, take an honest look at your management and leadership responsibilities. Do you enjoy them? Do you like helping a team of people achieve more together than you, or they, could do individually? If so, you’ll be able to deal with the challenges that happen with every management and leadership position.

And if you don’t enjoy this work, that’s important to know. If you don’t enjoy leading a team, why would you want to do more of that? It only gets more challenging. If leading and management aren’t for you, there’s no shame in that—and it’s good to know now. Find a role more suited to the work you enjoy.

Results Focus for a Young Leader

To distinguish yourself and be ready for more responsibility, take responsibility for the outcomes that matters most.

6. Be Good at Your Work

One of the most common frustrating conversations with a young leader is when they want a promotion, but they’re not getting results now.

What results are you responsible for? Are you achieving them?

No excuses. If your answer starts, “I would, but…” then please don’t go ask for a promotion. Your first qualification is being good at what you do now.

Focus on your team’s current responsibilities. How can you help your team excel at doing that? If there are problems with vendors, challenges with another department, equipment, or other reasons for subpar performance, how can you solve them?

If you want more responsibility in the future, take responsibility now for the challenges in front of you. The skills you build to solve these problems will help when you face thornier problems.

7. Take Responsibility for Outcomes

One of the best opportunities to distinguish yourself as a young leader is to own the outcomes. You’ve learned why your work matters. Now, look at whether your team’s output is having the desired outcome. If not, how can you help make that happen?

A common problem for young leaders is that they’ll “do the work” or follow the process, but stop there. If “I did what they asked” doesn’t achieve the needed outcomes, you have an opportunity to lead.

You don’t have to solve it all yourself. Include your team. Clarify the goals and have an honest discussion about what it will take to get there. Once again, you’re honing the same leadership skills you’ll at higher levels.

8. Make Mistakes, Once

You should be making some mistakes. You can’t possibly know everything and part of your eventual knowledge you’ll gain from experience. And experience is a fancy word for “hmm, that didn’t work – what can I learn from that?”

There’s nothing wrong with making a mistake if you are trying to do the right thing. The key is to make the mistake only once. Learn from it, incorporate that knowledge, and open the door to the next level of learning.

9. Master Management and Communication Fundamentals

Start with these Six Core Competencies You Can’t Lead Without. Build your muscle memory now and everything gets easier.

Show up to your work with confidence and humility. Focus on results and relationships. Help your team know the habits that lead to success, practice consistent communication, check for understanding, and schedule the finish. These core leadership and management skills will scale with you and prepare you for future roles.

Conversely, if you get more responsibility, but lack these skills, you have farther to fall and less time to learn. Master them now and you’ll have them when you need them.

Relationships Focus for a Young Leader

Investing in relationships inside and outside your organization will help you in many ways.

10. Prioritize Peers

One challenge you can face as a young leader who is hungry for success and promotion is resentment from your peers. In addition to building relationships and supporting their success, be aware of some of the common mistakes that can sabotage your collaboration.

Be aware of unbridled tenacity, over-advocating for your team, and not sharing what you know. Help your peers succeed as you invest in your career and you’ll be there together—or they’ll trust you more when you get that next promotion.

11. Build Your Network

When you invest in more relationships, you’ll have more opportunities, solutions, and wisdom. It’s helpful to build relationships inside and outside your organization.

Internally, look for those sponsors and mentors, but also pay attention to how you and peers can support one another. You can be an encourager to someone who is a technical advisor to you. Or you can be an advocate for someone who challenges your thinking.

12. Practice Constructive Conflict

Building effective relationships at work doesn’t mean you roll over and agree with anything or anyone. Mastering productive conflict will help you be a more effective young leader and qualify you for future roles. Productive conflict are the discussions where you help a group of people improve their thinking, make better decisions, and collaborate.

Here are twelve phrases from our book Powerful Phrases for Dealing with Workplace Conflict (HarperCollins May 2024) that will help you navigate any challenging conversation.

13. Build Leaders on Your Team

The most effective leaders constantly invest in others and build more leaders. One way to be ready for a promotion when it comes is to have someone who can immediately lead your team. Building leaders on your current team makes you more promotable.

14. Get Consistent Feedback

One easy way to distinguish yourself is to ask for, and act on, feedback from your peers, your manager, and your team. You can do this once or twice a year to choose one specific area where you want to grow. Use our Do It Yourself 360 process to have these conversations and get the feedback to help you be your best.

People will notice your follow-through when you build a reputation as someone who seeks, and implements, advice.

Speaking Up as a Young Leader

Whether it’s proposing a new solution to a vexing problem or raising your hand to volunteer, choose yourself and exercise your voice.

15. Share Ideas and Solutions

What are the problems and pain points that keep your manager or their boss up at night? Can you make a meaningful suggestion that has a chance to solve the problem? Or maybe it will spark someone else’s thinking and together you come up with a new answer.

Use our I.D.E.A. Model to vet your ideas and give them the best chance to be heard and get traction. They won’t always choose your idea. But you’ll establish yourself as a critical thinking and someone who cares.

16. Get Good at Accountability

One of the most promotion-worthy skills you can build as a young leader is comfort with accountability conversations. Build on a foundation of character, trustworthiness, and your skill at doing your current work with the ability to give and receive feedback.

Our I.N.S.P.I.R.E. Method is a practical way to navigate your performance feedback conversations.

17. Attend and Speak at Conferences

Conferences are one of the fastest ways to challenge your assumptions, broaden your perspective, and understand your work in a larger context. You’ll meet people with similar challenges, but different solutions. Or different approaches you can use. In addition, conferences give you a chance to build your network and better understand your industry.

Another opportunity conferences give you is to speak. Offer to share what you know. You’ll get experience speaking, presenting, and meet people. And when people start to say nice things about your thoughts and presentation, you can take those back to work and they positively reflect on your organization.

When Positions aren’t Available

If you work in a smaller business, a flat organization, or a large, very stable, slow-growing business, you might be ready for more responsibility, but openings are rare.

In these circumstances, you have a couple of choices. One option, if your team is humming along and able to do its work well without you, is to look for different assignments that expand your skills and understanding. It might not be more responsibility, but a different responsibility. The new challenge can be refreshing and continue your growth.

And, of course, you may need to look outside your current organization if you are ready, but unwilling to wait for an opening to come along. In this case, be sure to secure your next job before quitting this one.

Your Turn

When you’re a young leader who’s hungry for a promotion, take the time to invest in your understanding, focus on results and relationships, and speak up consistently. You’ll establish yourself as a caring, committed, strategic leader. Do these consistently and you’ll be on short lists for new roles.

We’d love to hear from you. What advice do you have for a young leader who’s hungry for success? Or, if you are a young leader, what have you found helpful?

You Might Want to Check Out These:

• How To Get Your Boss to Appreciate and Recognize Your Genius
• How to Not Screw Up Your Brand Even When You’ve Been Screwed Over
• Drive Your Career Success with Ed Evarts (podcast)
• How to Be Less Negative—and Still Be Yourself

The post Fuel Your Career: 17 Critical Skills When You’re a Young Leader Hungry for Success appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

If you’re getting lots of ideas, you’re probably doing a lot of things right when it comes to encouraging workplace innovation —making it safe, asking for input, and responding well. That’s a great start. But how many of these ideas are you implementing? Imagine if you weren’t just getting lots of ideas, but remarkable, practical ones.

In Karin’s just released TEDx talk, she shares why psychological safety is vital, but not enough when it comes to workplace innovation— and a practical technique to help you get better ideas.

Why Psychological Safety x Clarity Leads to Better Workplace Innovation

In our research for Courageous Cultures, 50% of the respondents said they hold back ideas because nothing will happen. If you shoot down too many ideas, people will stop trying.

When you are clear about the kinds of ideas you need, and what would make them remarkable, you’ll get better ideas. The better the ideas, the more you’ll use them. The more ideas you use, the more people will share. Now you have a virtuous cycle of both confidence and innovation. Not to mention more remarkable ideas.

How We Learned the Secret to More Remarkable Ideas

When we first began experimenting with practical approaches to make it feel safer and easier to share ideas, we tried two approaches.

Sometimes, we say, just say bring us ANY practical ideas to improve the organization.

In this scenario, people learned some critical thinking and problem-solving skills, had fun, and got to know one another better. It wasn’t a complete loss. But most of those ideas weren’t implemented. Reinforcing the “nothing ever happens, so why bother” statistic.

With others, we got very specific about what a good idea would accomplish. Leaders identified three or four areas of the organization where they really wanted ideas and were very clear about any constraints the teams needed to consider, and then they applied the tools.

Similar process. Similar time investment. A significant difference in the number of ideas implemented.

A Closer Look at the Intersection of Clarity and Psychological Safety

The Two Dimensions of Innovation

1. Psychological Safety: Cultivating an environment where people feel secure in expressing their thoughts.
2. Strategic Clarity: Directing those thoughts towards meaningful areas for innovation.

The Role of Strategic Clarity in Decision-Making

• Clear Outcomes: Knowing where you want to go makes it easier to decide if an idea will help you get there.
• Focused Engagement: When people know what the objective is, they’ll contribute more effectively.

In the worst-case scenario, when psychological safety and strategic clarity are both low, most ideas will be negligible, and people are unlikely to have, or share them. Frustration is highest in this scene, and people are likely to give up, quiet quit, or leave.

When clarity is high, but psychological safety is low, people will have ideas, but they might be too nervous to share them. You’ll have invisible ideas, along with the frustration that first sparked our original research. This is the challenge that most people deeply committed to psychological safety are working to solve.

When psychological safety is high, but clarity is low, you’ll end up with lots of ideas.   There may be some good ones, but it’s tough to see them. You’ll spend significant time listening (and responding to) ideas, which eats up time from implementing the good ones. You’ve got a pile of unmanageable ideas. This is a challenge that many people deeply committed to psychological safety are faced with.

And, why some leaders shy away from encouraging workplace innovation, “we don’t need more ideas, we have too many already, we just need to execute.”

When strategic clarity and psychological safety are both high, you’re more likely to get remarkable Ideas. When you have more remarkable ideas, there’s less frustration and more usable innovation.

Your turn.

How have you seen better clarity lead to more remarkable ideas?

The post Workplace Innovation: The Secret to Getting Better, Remarkable, Usable Ideas appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

You’re an experienced leader with a track record of success. You’re brilliant at what you do, and you’ve got where you are today because you consistently have the answers. But could this need to have the answers stop you from achieving even more? I’ve had a couple of experiences recently that reminded me of the vast power of vulnerability for a leader’s (and my) growth.

A Selfish Question

Recently, after Karin Hurt’s TEDx Rockville presentation (the video won’t be available for a couple of months), I was talking with Haley Foster, who has coached hundreds of TEDx presenters. As we talked, I posed a leadership and culture question that has confounded me for decades. (I’ll save the question itself for another time.)

As you might expect from Haley, she said, “That would make an excellent talk.”

“I don’t think so,” I shook my head. “I don’t have an answer yet.”

Haley looked at me. Intently. “So what if you don’t have to have an answer? What if you were to share the question with hundreds of smart people who could all work on the answer?”

Her words hung in the air. As much as I’ve sought an answer to this question for many years, I realized the truth in what she said. Avoiding the vulnerability of others’ answers and keeping the question to myself was selfish. If I don’t share my unanswered question, none of us can benefit from potential answers.

Feet Gloves, Vulnerability, and Being Wrong

One more example: in the last two years I’ve fallen in love with trail running. But after a couple of stubbed and broken toes, I’ve been struggling with a pesky problem: blisters.

I’ve tried almost everything (including diaper cream—don’t judge, it works. It’s cheap but messy!)

Several times people suggested toe socks. Yes, the socks that look like gloves for your feet. I hated the idea of individual toes in little toe socks. In fact, they gave me the creeps. But…I’d never tried them.

A couple of weeks ago, I found myself in front of a pair of toe socks at REI. The socks were on sale. And looking at them, I realized that my dislike for them was an assumption, not based on any experience. So, I bought a pair and tried them out. Turns out, they were great!

Does it take vulnerability to admit you’re wrong? That you’ve deprived yourself of a simple solution because of your blind stubbornness?

Yes. But I am glad to tell you I was wrong. I’ve since bought two more pairs to have them in steady rotation.

The Leader’s Paradox: To Lead is to Learn

You’re probably used to having answers and making decisions. And having those answers was a vital part of your early success. But let’s face it – the people you lead, the ones who are on the front lines, will often know more about the nitty-gritty of the work than you. That’s their job, and they’re good at it. Their experience is more recent.

So, the question is, can you learn from them? Can you show up with vulnerability and admit, even if it’s just to yourself, that you might be wrong? More importantly, can you change your mind based on what you learn?

Vulnerability to Embrace Change: The Key to Unlocking Your Full Potential

In a recent podcast conversation with Oscar Trimboli, he defined true listening as “the willingness to have one’s mind changed.” I love that definition so much. There’s so much to learn when we ask a good question and truly listen. (And I strongly recommend this episode with Oscar – you’ll never look at listening the same way again!)

As a leader, you’ve built your career on having answers. But the most transformative leaders aren’t just answer-givers, they’re question-askers. They’re vulnerable enough to learn something new. To be proven wrong.

You may never try toe socks, and that’s okay. But can you admit when you don’t know, or when you’re wrong, and learn from these moments? To show up with the humility and vulnerability to change your mind when faced with new information.

Your Turn

Are you ready to unlock the next level of your leadership potential? Show up with the vulnerability to change your mind and learn something new, even if it means admitting you were wrong.

I’d love to hear from you in the comments (or drop me an email) and let’s celebrate the times you’ve been wrong and learned something new from it. It’s in admitting our mistakes that we learn, grow, and become leaders who truly make a difference.

The post The Hidden Power of Vulnerability: Why Great Leaders Dare to Be Wrong appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

When it comes to building a great corporate culture, one of the most common frustrations we hear from senior leaders and executives is that “We involved everyone. We worked together to define our values. And we talk about them regularly. People seem to appreciate the messaging. And we saw changes at the start, but now it feels like we’ve stagnated. It’s like people tried and then stopped.”

Can you feel their pain? You did a fantastic job thinking about your culture and engaged the entire organization to define the values. Now, almost everyone can recite the values and define them. But the culture hasn’t changed.

What’s going on?

The Invisible Barrier to Great Corporate Culture

Our favorite definition of culture comes from marketing guru Seth Godin. He says culture is simply “People like us, do things like this.”

When people know and embrace your values, but you don’t see those values being lived out the problem is likely one of two invisible conflicts:

1) Conflict between the values themselves

This first type of conflict is very common. Let’s say two of your values are “Quality” and “Speed.” The conflict between the two is obvious. In the absence of other solutions, spend more time on quality and you get slower. Go faster and you likely make more mistakes.

Let’s look at one more common example of a values clash: “work-life balance” and “we do what it takes.” We’ve worked with many organizations with some version of this conflict. People genuinely want a human-centered workplace. And they feel the pressure to beat their competition and please their customer through a strong work ethic.

If you have five values, that creates the potential for ten different values clashes.

2) Conflict between the stated values and leaders’ practiced values

This second type of values conflict cripples your corporate culture and undermines employee confidence. It’s a classic case of saying one thing but doing another. But this conflict isn’t just pure hypocrisy. Often, there are underlying reasons that leaders don’t fully embrace the new value. For example, a manager’s bonus depends on the number of units shipped, regardless of units returned. So the manager undermines that “Quality” value by focusing on volume and pressuring team members who try to go slower and focus on quality.

What Happens When Values Clash

When you don’t address these values conflicts, they will undermine your corporate culture. People feel like they can’t win.

If I do this, I get dinged over here, but if I do that, then I’m in trouble on this one.

These no-win scenarios frustrate people and sap their motivation. Soon, people revert to doing the best they can to make it through. And your credibility suffers as the shiny values are now just words on a wall.

How to Overcome the Values Clash and Build Great Corporate Culture

The solution to both invisible cultural barriers is straightforward: talk about them. When you launch any kind of change, whether new values or a new information system, expect challenges. Call them out. Let everyone know you want to know about them.

Drawing attention to the inevitable conflicts prepares people for them. That employee caught between two values can say, “Oh, this is what they were talking about. Let’s see, what should I do next?” instead of throwing up their hands and walking away in frustration.

Let’s look at the specifics for each kind of values conflict.

1) How to address the clash between values

Acknowledge the Conflicts

Don’t let these values conflicts hide in the corner. Shine a light on them and have conversations about what they mean and what to do when they happen. Keep this conversation going as you move through the values rollout. You can use the next two steps to continue the conversation.

Define Success

If culture is “people like us, do things like this,” then “what do people like us do when there is a conflict between quality and speed?”

What does success look like?

Have these discussions together. Rarely will you find a perfect solution to every values conflict. Working together to talk about the interplay will help everyone understand how to incorporate “quality” and “speed” in their daily work. The discussions about what it means to have a work-life balance and a strong work ethic will reveal new ways of doing your work.

Often, these “how can we” conversations that combine two seemingly opposing values lead to innovations and business process improvements. And you’d never get the innovations without having a discussion about the conflicts.

Tell Stories

One of our favorite ways to help clients roll out their culture change and values initiatives is facilitating senior leader stories about times they faced this values clash – and what they did. These stories bring the conflict alive and help employees picture what it looks like to navigate the values.

These stories also help everyone see that there is no perfect implementation of culture or values. Sometimes you have to make hard choices. Don’t shy away from that truth. Senior leader stories help everyone see what it means to make those choices in their work.

Celebrate Optimal Outcomes

As part of your 5 x 5 Communication Plan, you will probably already have scheduled celebrations of people living out the values. In addition, look for ways to celebrate people who faced a values clash and found an inspiring way through it. Tell their stories and reinforce what success looks like.

2) How to address the clash between the stated values and leaders’ practiced values

Acknowledge the Conflict

Once again, don’t shy away from the fact that these conflicts will happen. You will almost always have people make self-interested decisions that make perfect sense for them, but clash with your values.

The answer is not just to tell everyone “Don’t do that.” People will continue do what makes sense to them. Rather, in calling attention to these potential conflicts, you’re inviting everyone to look for them. “We’re not going to be surprised when they happen – instead, we’re going to look for areas where our structure does align with our values – and fix it.”

Make It Safe to Find Solutions

Recently we were working with a client (Sue) who has a significant need to improve processes and eliminate employee errors that will save the business millions of dollars every year and improve their standing in the industry. But as she tried to identify the improvement opportunities, she couldn’t.

The employees would make a mistake and their immediate manager, feeling performance pressure in a fast-paced business, would berate them for the mistake with the goal of preventing it from happening again.

In that environment, where mistakes were punished, rather than looked at as opportunities, Sue couldn’t have meaningful conversations about how to improve the systems that created the potential for mistakes in the first place.

In the same way, when you first roll out new values or a major corporate culture change, you can make it safe to talk about resistance. Ask your managers about the conflicts they see. If you listen carefully and with appreciation, you’ll learn where your systems and infrastructure undermine your values.

Practice Accountability with Celebration

As you listen and make needed structural changes, it’s time for accountability. There might be a manager or leader who just disagrees with the values or doesn’t want to live by them. That’s okay – it’s better to know and help them find an organization that’s better suited to their values.

You get more of what you celebrate and encourage, so at the same time, be sure to celebrate leaders and managers who bring those conflicts to light, help to solve them, and incorporate the values in their work.

Fixing your systems, helping misaligned leaders to go, and celebrating leaders who address values clashes reinforce your commitment to culture. These visible examples send the message that you really mean it. This isn’t just talk.

Your Turn

When you’re willing to do the work and address values conflicts, people will come with you. We’ve worked with organizations to masterfully navigate these conflicts and the results are inspiring. The annual values awards have more meaning and genuinely reinforce the corporate culture.

We’d love to hear from you: what’s one way you help your team navigate clashes between values?

The post When Values Clash: Overcome an Invisible Barrier to Great Corporate Culture appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

You have a great idea. You’re confident it’s game-changing. Maybe it will reduce a big frustration for your customers, or save you and your co-workers a ton of time. So what do you do when a co-worker won’t listen? How do you get them to take your idea seriously?

Why You Should Try

First, inertia is real. It’s quite possible your team is tired. And even if your idea will make life easier, it still takes energy to consider doing something different. It’s worth trying because you can make life better for everyone, even if you have to overcome inertia to do it. Get the confidence to persevere by connecting to WHY your idea matters and THE IMPACT that it will make.

Second, when your peers are on board, it’s more likely that your manager will take the idea seriously.

In our research for Courageous Cultures, 67% said their manager operates around the notion of “this is the way we’ve always done it.”  And, one of the best ways to get your manager’s attention is to get your co-workers behind it. So rallying your co-workers around your idea is a great place to start. Read more about how to engage others as you share your I.D.E.A.s here).

And, third, advocating for your idea, just might bring you some satisfaction and even joy. When we ask participants in our strategic leadership and team innovation programs about courageous moments where they spoke up and advocated for ideas, the words they use to describe their feelings after are remarkably consistent: “fantastic,” “proud,” “relieved,” “excited”, “accomplished.”

6 Steps to Communicate When a Co-worker Won’t Listen

So here are a few tips to capture attention and strengthen your pitch when a co-worker won’t listen to your idea.

1. Be a great listener yourself

If you want people to listen to your ideas, make it a habit to listen to theirs. If you have a reputation for caring about your peers and supporting them in their efforts, they’re more likely to take you and your idea seriously.

2. Know what matters most to them, and communicate your idea in that context

As you listen, you may find real barriers or needs that you can address as you develop your ideas. When your coworker won’t listen, start with what matters most to them at multiple levels. Sure you want to consider WIIFT (what’s in it for them), and appealing to the higher value goal can be just as compelling.

• I’ve found a workaround that could save us at least 10 hours a week of wasted effort, can I walk you through it?
• Would you be open to hearing my idea to dramatically reduce client frustration?
• I’ve figured out a way to stop our boss from micro-managing us on this project, would you like to hear more?

3. Talk them through the “how” of your idea

When a coworker won’t listen, it’s also because they’re afraid of taking on more work. Showing them that you’ve thought through the idea with tangible actions can help to reduce that feeling of being overwhelmed.

4. Anticipate their objections and concerns, and speak to them directly

Anticipating and speaking to your co-worker’s objections as early as possible in the conversation is a great way to get them to listen.

• If I were you I might be wondering…
• Of course, the trickiest part of implementing this would be ________. I’ve thought about that, and this is how we can overcome it.
• I imagine you have some concerns about how to pull this off. I’ve given a great deal of thought to that (list your concerns and how to overcome them).

5. Ask them to articulate the benefits

It’s human nature. People are more likely to buy into an idea when they feel like they’re involved. Show up curious about their hopes and frustrations for the problem you’re looking to solve.

• Have you experienced this challenge too?
• How much time do you think we waste each week on this problem?
• What do you think would be the benefits of this approach?

6. Articulate your “ask”

One of the biggest ways to get a coworker to listen and engage with your idea is to know your “ask.” What specifically are you asking for them to do? Are you looking for help engaging stakeholders? Do you need help on certain elements of the project, what specifically do you need done?

• So here’s the support I would need from you…
• I’m thinking that if each of us spent (insert required time) this month, we could knock this out.
• My hope is that you will help advocate for this with your manager. I’ve prepared some talk points.
• I’m looking for a few customers to trial this with. Would you be open to that?

When you can connect at a human level, communicate your idea in the context of what matters most to them, talk through logistics, anticipate and address concerns, and know your “ask” you’re considerably more likely to have your co-worker take your idea seriously.

Your turn.

What advice do you have for when a co-worker won’t listen?

9 Mistakes That Sabotage Collaboration and Destroy Trust

The post Co-worker Won’t Listen? How to Get Them to Take Your Idea Seriously appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

My LinkedIn feed and email inbox are filled with news of layoffs and reorganizations causing unexpected career turbulence. And I’ve had more than a few phone calls from really talented human-centered leaders hurting for the team members they’ve had to lose and deeply concerned about those who remain after the layoff.

Leading through a layoff is one of the most unnerving challenges you can face as a manager. There’s the initial shock, the communication, the “I wonder if I’m impacted too” angst, and of course, the really painful decisions involved in selecting who will go.

What’s equally difficult is helping your team recover, establishing a new normal, and figuring out how in the world you’ll get it all done with fewer people.

If you’re going through or recovering from a layoff, first let me say, I’m sorry. I know it’s hard.

Getting Real with Your Own Emotions

You care about the humans on your team (those who are gone and those who remain); perhaps you’ve also watched some peers go too. You might have some survivor guilt. Or, it could be you are worried about how to sustain momentum with a reduced staff. And, of course, there’s the matter of rebuilding morale.

Not to mention, we’re already fragile right now. The chaos of the last two years is draining and many of us are running low on resiliency reserves.

I’ve been there. There was one dark point in my career when I received a call once a quarter for two years, giving me my Reduction in Force (RIF) numbers. By the end of that run of layoff after layoff, I had half the team I once had serving my growing customer base. And, I had lost some of my best managers-– many of who had become close friends. We managed to sustain momentum, but it wasn’t easy.

I recently ran into one of the managers (Alyssa) who worked on my team at that time at an event I was keynoting. After the hugs, and the catching up, she looked deep into my eyes and said, “That period was really, really hard, wasn’t it?  I learned so much about being a leader during that time.”

Me too, Alyssa. Me too.

And, I can only imagine dealing with a layoff on the tails of a pandemic, with a war raging, and all the other unrest that’s making it hard to sleep.

How to Lead Well After a Layoff or Downsizing

Much of what I learned from employee engagement came from that time. You’ve got to be extra connected and extra-human-centered during and after a layoff.

Depending on how the downsizing was handled you might have some stupidity-recovery work to do. If you’re still neck deep in downsizing, read my article, 5 Mistakes to Avoid During a Restructure, to avoid these sadly all-too-frequent mistakes.

If you’ve moved on to the rebuilding stage, here are a few tips that can help.

1. Be as human and connected as possible (gather in person, or at least turn your cameras on)

Your team will need extra time and space to process their feelings. And, will likely be extra sensitive to THE WAY things are being communicated as well as what is being said. I can’t tell you how many complaints I get about managers who are perceived as “hiding behind email” during difficult times.

2. Help your team process their feelings

“It’s not personal,” is about the worst thing you can say. Of course, this is personal. Losing your job is stressful under any circumstance. And it’s likely people on your team have good friends caught up in this process on top of some other traumatic stress they’re dealing with.  Go slow. Be a listener. Give people the time and space to process what’s happening.

3. Get support (outside of your team)

I know it’s hard. It’s tempting to vent to your team as you stare at the mountain of work to do with fewer people to do it. Seek out some trusted advisors and do your layoff venting behind closed doors. Your team needs to feel confident that you’ve got a path forward. Blaming others or cursing the universe only makes it worse.

It’s okay to let people know you’re sad too because you care about the people who are laid off as well as those that are staying. But, resist the urge of going overboard by using your team to process your deep emotions, and find other support to do that (e.g. a mentor or a trusted peer).

4. Support your team members in their job search

Do whatever you can to help your downsized team members land well. It’s the human, decent thing to do for the impacted employees, and it will go a long way in building trust and loyalty with those who remain after the layoff. Even once they’ve left your company there are plenty of ways you can help with networking and other support.

Nothing feels better than helping a great employee caught up in a bad twist of fate land well.

5. Let your remaining high-performers know how valued they are

There’s no question, downsizing makes everyone a bit twitchy, particularly when cuts involve strong contributors who just happened to be in the wrong chair when the music stopped. Be sure your “A” players know how much you value them and help them see the broader opportunities that are available to them, beyond their current role. Help them develop and expand their competencies to make them invaluable as the company evolves.

6. Work to eliminate and streamline work

Before you assume “Nothing we’re doing is unnecessary,” get your team together and ask (and then don’t let them tell you that “nothing can go” either). Look under every rock for time spent on seldom reviewed reports or redundant processes. You can’t do the same work with fewer people for long without burnout or sacrificing quality. Get serious about what can go.

Our Own The U.G.L.Y. process is an easy way to facilitate this conversation after a layoff.

For example, you may invite your team to consider, “With regard to maintaining our results and customer experience with fewer people on our team…

• U- What are we Underestimating
• G- What’s got to Go
• L-Where are we Losing
• Y- Where are we missing the Yes

If you want more information on using the Own the U.G.L.Y. Process or to get other tools to help your team think critically during this challenging time, you can download our FREE I.D.E.A. Incubator Guide. 

Help your team focus on what’s most important and support them to say “no” as needed so they can focus on what matters most.

7. Fail Strategically– know which balls can drop (and which can’t)

If you can’t find enough work to eliminate, know that some balls are likely to drop (or at least be picked up on the second bounce). Don’t pretend that every goal is equally important, help your team to prioritize. Be sure they know that if they have to screw up something, which of their goals is less critical?

8. Look for help outside of your immediate team

You’re probably thinking, “Karin, now you’re really talking nonsense, if we’re pressed, so is everyone else after this painful layoff!” I’m sure they are. But I also know that in every organization, there is always redundant work going on. Instead of viewing other teams as the competition, or keeping staff at arm’s distance to get them out of your hair, look for opportunities to partner.

Could you pool functions and create a shared services group? Could you lend resources back and forth during peak times? Have the confidence to know it can be done, and the humility to ask for help.

Downsizing is never easy. I also know that of all the times I thought we’d been cut too far to survive, we somehow did, and in many cases thrived. Leadership is often about restoring hope and doing what feels impossible.

Your turn.

What advice do you have for helping your team recover after a layoff or downsizing?

The post After the layoff: How to support your team when it just got smaller appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.