You know exactly WHAT your team needs to have a remarkable new year, now it’s time to focus on HOW. How do you identify the habits that will make the biggest difference? In today’s Asking for a Friend, I share an EASY, and CREATIVE development exercise we’ve been using with teams worldwide– to build the habits most critical to their success.

This exercise works great in one-on-one coaching, mentoring, or career development conversations. 

It begins by inviting your team to reflect on one habit or behavior that would make a significant difference in their work.  Or, in accomplishing a specific MIT (Most Important Thing) priority. This should be a vital habit, that feels challenging to do well.

Our SynergyStack™ System makes it easy to identify key habits, with forty-eight proven habits to choose from (and a few bonus cards to add your own).

This employee development activity works great for one-on-one or team development conversations in your next team meeting.

How to Coach Your Team on the Team on the Habits that Matter Most

Learn More About the SynergyStack™ Team Development System

The SynergyStack™ System is a revolutionary team development system that fosters collaboration and ignites team performance.

If you’re tired of light team-building activities that don’t create lasting change, the SynergyStack™ gives you the framework for more meaningful conversations. Team-building that sticks.

Unleash Productivity

The SynergyStack™ System catalyzes sustained team productivity and personal excellence. Build robust habits that lead to breakthrough results and happier teams.

Less Stress, Better Teamwork

Create a space where teamwork beats tension. SynergyStack team development and team-building activities turn stress into progress by agreeing to a well-defined framework for everyone to work together smoothly and peacefully.

Collaborate with Confidence

 Communication is the bedrock of successful teamwork. The SynergyStack™ System equips everyone with the language and insight to contribute meaningfully, ensuring that ideas flow and collaboration is seamless.

A Multiverse of Applications

 Whether you’re an executive steering a start-up, an HR leader committed to building a great culture, or a trainer looking for proven, easy-to-use team development activities, the Synergy Stack is your versatile partner. Its diverse applications adapt to your needs, delivering impactful outcomes fast with precision.

Quickly See Real Change

This isn’t just a fun team-building tool. The SynergyStack™ System creates a new way of working together—real change. Bring the SynergyStack™ System into your team’s routine and watch how fast things improve—how your team gets things done, communicates, and reaches new heights.

We also offer SnergySprint Team Retreats and SynergyStack™ Facilitator Certification.  We’d love to discuss the best ways to use the dozens of employee development activities and extensive resource center. Contact us here to learn more. 

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That’s why I was delighted to read Dr. Sydney Finklestein’s Harvard Business Review article, The Best Leaders are Great Teachers. I immediately got a copy of Dr. Finklestein’s book, Super Bosses, and invited him on Asking For a Friend to talk about how to grow leaders as teachers.

How Do We Grow Leaders as Teachers (highlights and excerpts)

1:40 Source of inspiration

Going back to simple lessons about life such as moving slower. Taking time to really talk with people. Taking a breath.

3:00 What is a “Superboss”?

A Superboss is a leader who creates other leaders.
They have a track record of generating and regenerating talent.
And most importantly, a Superboss is a teacher.

3:54 Three categories of Superbosses

Iconoclast
Creative people who create a following because of their deep talent.
They are leader teachers because they create an environment of interaction and collaboration.

Glorious Bastard
They really want to win. AND, they know they need to surround themselves with superstar talent to make that happen.

If working for a glorious bastard, you have to be all in. The payoff can be big though tough. The career acceleration can be extreme.

Nurturer
This is what most of us think about when we think of a leader as a teacher. This is the leader who really cares about you – who wants you to get better.

8:15 How does a Superboss unleash constant creativity in their team?

1. Model creativity and innovation
2. Allow people to fail for the right reasons
3. Create a culture of experimentation

10:30 Discussing clarity and curiosity (innovation) using quotes from Sydney’s book

“Employees cannot innovate in meaningful ways unless they have a frame in which to work – and the Superbosses’ fundamental vision provides that grounding.”

Superbosses are uncompromisingly open. Uncompromising about the vision, but open to ideas within that vision.

“When Superbosses hire employees they implicitly invite them to buy into their vision and become part of the revolution. But they also invite them to buy into the mindset of openness and innovation that made that vision possible in the first place.”

They have an entrepreneurial mindset, always on the lookout for great, untapped talent. They notice underlying skill sets in people no matter the job they currently have.

16:40 Leaders as teachers – How can I be a leader/teacher?

A hallmark of a Superboss is to be a teacher.
This happens in an organic manner, often informally.
They are willing to go the extra step.
They continue to learn themselves.

Superbosses teach professionalism, points of craft, and life lessons which include elements such as:

How you carry yourself
How you communicate, sell, prepare for meetings
Grounding in integrity and ethics
Mindset of innovation
Continuous learning (which provides you more to teach.)

21:48 Practical Techniques for Leaders as Teachers

1. Customize how you work with people on your team. Recognize differences and adapt your approach accordingly.
2. Create opportunities for learning. (This requires delegation.) Find what each member of the team can excel at.

25:47 What if being a Superboss doesn’t come naturally?

The follow-up book, The Superboss Playbook, has exercises that can help develop these skills.
Anyone can learn. You have to want to. Have a mindset of giving people guidelines and see what they come up with. Superbosses tend to be 50/50 introvert/extravert.

28:30 Final thoughts about Leaders as Teachers

We only get one shot at being a leader. Why wouldn’t we want to be the best we can be?

Your turn. What’s your best practice for being a leader teacher?

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Holding great career development discussions is one of the great joys of being a human-centered leader. And, many managers we work with will avoid them because they just don’t know where to start. Like a great one-on-one, these conversations go a long way in building trust and employee engagement. It’s a great way to actively demonstrate that you truly care about your team member, beyond their immediate contribution to your team.

We’ve been using this career development discussion template with managers around the world in our leadership development programs. These managers tell us it leads to deeper, more meaningful conversations. And serves as an important guide in building career development plans.

Use this career development template to help your team members think more deeply about their career development goals and key actions. It works best if you give it to them in advance and ask them to bring it with them to ground your development discussion.

You can download the PDF here.

Tips for Making This Conversation Easier

1. Invite your employee to come truly prepared (that’s why this career development template works so well).
2. Ask them how they felt about completing the template. What thoughts and emotions came up for them?
3. Start with their current role. How can they take their performance to the next level?
4. Then, ask them to consider future roles. This is a great time to help them expand their thinking and consider how their skills might translate into other roles in your organization.

Use this Career Development Discussion Template to help your employees prepare

Ask your employee to reflect on both their current and desired future roles and answer the following questions outlined in the career development template.

What strengths would you like to leverage and grow?

Leveraging strengths is a great way to start the discussion. How can you test and build upon these strengths across a variety of contexts? Once the discussion moves to action planning, think about ways you can pair up your team members to help one another.

In what strategic relationships would you like to invest?

Often the most important work to get ready for the next level or a strategic lateral move involves building more influential relationships. Encourage your employees to think about where they need to invest in relationships for their current role, as well as future roles. Who can help champion, sponsor, prepare for, and give them a taste of their desired future?

What challenges are you looking to overcome?

This is an important calibration point. You want to know if they know what’s holding them back. Much better to start with their perspective before adding yours.

What skills would you like to learn or improve?

Our training clients often tell us that they are often surprised by the answer to this question. Giving your employee some time to think about this in advance will lead to a meatier list.

What support do you need?

Ask your employee to come with a specific “ask.” This helps overcome the two most frequent answers to this question, “I don’t know” and “I haven’t thought about it.”

Wait, What if They Don’t Want a Promotion?

One of the biggest questions managers ask when completing this tool with their teams, is “what if someone is content in their current role?” What if there is no “future role.”

Future roles don’t necessarily mean promotions. There are many dimensions of career growth. If this is a big concern for you, you won’t want to miss this very special episode of Asking for a Friend, where I talk with Julie Winkle Giulioni.

Her book, Promotions are So Yesterday, pairs remarkably well with this career development tool.

Your turn. What questions would you add?

And if work without human-centered practical leadership training is getting a bit too edgy for your liking – or your strategies just aren’t working like you need them to – visit our Live (online or hybrid) Leadership Training page to learn how to build and sustain company-wide change.

Our clients tell us it’s exactly these types of super practical leadership tools that bring the LASTING VALUE to their trainings. At Let’s Grow Leaders we are all about easy-to-implement, 100% relevant leadership tools.

See Also:

How to Get Employees Jazzed About Their Professional Development (Fast Company)

How to Succeed in a Promotion I’m Scared Of?

The post How to Prepare for a Better Career Development Discussion appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

You want to develop your people but sometimes there’s just not enough time. In this article, we share a quick method of giving people the development they need most. And, how to hold deeper development conversations when you just don’t have enough time– an Asking For a Friend interview with Julie Winkle Giulioni.

Katrina paced back and forth as she described her problems with customer service and employee retention. “I can’t improve either one, but I don’t have time to develop people.”

“I know I should, but it’s a constant crisis. We’re backed up, missing deadlines left and right, and any time I take for development conversations is costing me on our KPIs.”

Ticking Away

You’ll never have enough time. It’s a fact of life – you can’t do everything. I’ve never met a manager who has extra time. It will never happen. The number of things you could do today will always exceed the time you have available to do them.

Mistaken Thinking

Even so, developing people tops the list of your leadership responsibilities. When leaders claim they don’t have time to develop people, it usually means they’ve misunderstood their responsibility. Here are common errors in thinking:

• I’ve got to take care of the customer now so I can’t take care of the employee.

These aren’t mutually exclusive. Take care of the customer with your team member – not instead of your team member. Investing in your people will help them take care of future situations without your direct help, giving you more time.

• HR can handle staff development.

This is a common mistake. Your Human Resource team can support you and your team, make training available, and coordinate grow opportunities, but as a leader, you are the only one who can help your people to grow right now, where they are. There’s no substitute for your leadership and you can’t outsource your team’s growth to someone who isn’t a direct part of their journey.

• Developing people takes too long.

Many well-intentioned leaders make this mistake. You might feel like you need an hour to have a deep coaching conversation, but you don’t. You may want to take a couple of non-existent hours to put your thoughts together in a rousing motivational speech that will fuel your team’s performance.

But that’s not how the real world works.

Winning teams aren’t built by a stirring halftime speech; they’re built one micro-engagement at a time.

One Secret to Developing People When You Don’t Have Time

It’s true. Your time is limited. So you’ve got to be laser-focused and make the most of every opportunity. It’s amazing what you can achieve in 30 seconds or less when you’re prepared. This is the secret of micro-engagement – consistent short development wins every time.

Start by knowing what your people need. Use the Confidence-Competence Model to identify who needs encouragement, coaching, more challenge, or training. Don’t waste your time or their attention encouraging someone who needs a challenge or coaching someone who needs encouragement.

click image to download the confidence-competence model

Once you know what they need, be on the lookout for a chance to share it. Keep it short, keep it focused – that’s the magic of micro-engagement.

When time is tight, encouraging and challenging competent employees are often the first behaviors managers abandon. You get more of what you encourage and celebrate, so take the time to do it. You always have 10 seconds to look someone in the eyes and tell them they did well.

Encouragement:

“You had fantastic empathy and patience with that customer. I know it’s not easy when we’re this busy, and you did a great job. Well done.”

“I appreciate the dissenting perspectives you shared – that keeps us thinking and makes sure we don’t make dumb mistakes.”

Challenge:

“You did a masterful job bringing that project in on time. Would you be willing to start our next team meeting with a five-minute overview of how you did it? Some of the newer team members could really benefit from your wisdom.”

Coaching:

“I noticed that you didn’t follow the client’s request on the design specification. What’s going on there?” Assuming it’s not a justified reason: “Okay, rework it to spec and bring it to me by four this afternoon, please.”

Training:

“Can I show you a faster way to find that information and solve that problem?”

How to Hold Deeper Development Conversations When You Don’t Have the Time

Your Turn

Effective development conversations happen in the work, not apart from it. Don’t wait for the next retreat, offsite, or performance review to give your people the development feedback they desperately need. Help them grow through the daily interaction you already have.

You don’t have time not to.

Please leave us a comment and share how your favorite way to invest in your people when time is tight.

See Also:

9 Creative Ways to Develop Your Managers

Developing Leaders of Tomorrow

The post How to Develop People When You Don’t Have Time appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

Why Internal Internships are So Effective

Have you ever been an intern? Have you ever hired an intern?

There are many reasons to hire an intern. Sure some see it as a shortcut to cheap labor or to appease HR.

But if you’ve ever been part of a great internship program–on either side of the desk– you know that it can be a fantastic job preview–an extensive 2-way interview process. It’s an opportunity to try before you buy.

Internships give interns the opportunity to ask:

• Does this work align with my passion and purpose?
• Are these my people?
• Can I see myself doing this every day?

Of course, employers are asking similar questions:

• Does this kid have potential?
• What unique contributions would they bring to our company?
• Do they fit in?

Watching my MBA students in the great internship dance is fascinating. You can learn a lot about workplace culture and how to attract and retain millennial talent over a “How’s your internship going?” cup of coffee. (Even more over a beer.)

This observation is why I was so intrigued when I bumped into this best practice while I was doing some Winning Well consulting.

The senior leadership team had sent me to this location to understand what was going so right and to help them spread it to their other locations. The list of Winning Well best practices was healthy, but this one struck me most.  And it’s going in our next book.

The Power of Internal Internships

The strong culture was keeping people there, but there was also a bit of stagnation. Employees were getting comfortable in their roles and were afraid a lateral move would impact their performance rating or earning potential if they were not successful.

So the manager built an Internal Internship program. Employees could raise their hand to intern in another role for two weeks. They would receive some training, shadow, take on some tasks, and finally “try on” the job. No commitment. No risk. No guarantees.

If after two weeks, everyone loves it, they are encouraged to apply for the next open position.  If they tried it and hated it, at least they knew without a lot of sunk costs or time on either end.

Benefits of Internal Internship

• Exponentially more discussion around career pathing, even for those who didn’t decide to intern.
• Frank career path conversations: “No, you cannot do an internship with that attendance record. Let’s get that cleaned up first.”
• A broader understanding of the big picture. “Oh, that’s why they do it that way.”
• Increased collaboration across departments, with more folks having walked a mile in the other guy’s shoes.
• Improved morale and retention. More people seeing a future–not just a job, but a career.

When I asked the manager about the ROI, she was all in. The value of getting the right people in the right seats, and performing well, far surpassed the additional time and effort her team spent on the program.

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Watching the excitement in his eyes, I know it’s not laziness. He’s convinced. The sad part comes when the reaction is not as he hoped. He begins “selling” to inspire excitement. As leaders it’s tempting to take such an approach to employee development. We offer the development that comes naturally.

“People with great gifts are easy to find, but symmetrical and balanced ones never.”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Development is most meaningful when we leverage our unique gifts with the areas the employee is looking to develop. We won’t be able to fulfill their entire developmental wishlist. That’s okay. Great leaders are developmental matchmakers.

Just the Right Gifts – An Exercise

An easy exercise helps match your gifts with your employee’s needs:

• Step 1 – Consider your best leadership gifts. What are you in the best position to give this team member? Write them in the left hand column.
• Step 2 – What’s on your team member’s developmental wish list? What do they want (or need) to work on most?
• Step 3 – Identify where your strengths and their needs best align.

Interpreting The Results

• Green a direct match you can coach (e.g. you’re great at speaking, they want to be a better speaker).
• Yellow a nice synergy to partner> (e.g. your a good listener, they want to be a better speaker). Share how you use effective listening in speech preparation, delivery, and in Q&A)
• Red, areas to look for additional support. They’ve got a need that you’re not in the best position to support. Work together to brainstorm and identify co-workers, mentors, or coaches who can help.

Call for Submissions: December Frontline Festival, is all about Gifts (widely interpreted).

Submissions due December 13th, post goes live December 20th.

People with great gifts are easy to find, but symmetrical and balanced ones never.

Graphic by Joy & Tom Guthrie, Vizwerx

The post Finding The Perfect Gifts For Your Team: A Development Exercise appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

“But, I Already Know How To Swim”

This summer my son, Sebastian, refused to take swimming lessons. Why? Because he “already knows how to swim.” Well, technically, I suppose that’s true. And if he were to fall off a dock, I’d want him to believe it.  Leadership development is a balancing act of inspiring confidence, uncovering opportunities, and giving leaders practical tools and approaches to help them grow.

60 Reasons Leaders Stop Learning

Leaders stop learning when they…

LISTENING

1. Stop listening (#1 by a landslide)

2. Stop doing something with what they hear

3. Have closed minds

4. Allow talking to become more important than listening

PURPOSE

5. No longer connect with the purpose (#2 answer)

6. Forget WHY they are doing

7. Become complacent

8. Think they’ve accomplished their goal

EGO

9. Get distracted by their own desires or success

10. Have their own agenda

11. Let ego get in the way

12. Think they have all the answers

13. Have only “past tense” conversations with themselves

14. Have seen it all before

15. Are not vulnerable

16. Create an appearance of being omniscient

17. Are insecure

18. Assume they’ve learned everything there is to learn

19. Stop focusing outward

20. Believe they’re the accomplishment

PASSION

21. Lose their passion

22. Lose their flow

23. Become complacent

24. No longer love what they do

25. Lost sight of their dreams and goals

26. Don’t feel energized and inspired

27. Lose their passion to motivate and influence others

28. Feel irrelevant

29. Stop caring

30. Lose interest

31. Become disengaged

FAILURE

32. Are afraid to fail

33. Seldom fail

34, Stop failing

35. Success becomes more important than growth (my personal favorite)

36. Are afraid to develop new skills

37. Are afraid to take risks

38. Stop believing in their ability to grow

STRESS

39. Are stressed

40.Are marginalized

41. Are exhausted

42. Are comfortable

QUESTIONS

43. Stop being inquisitive

44. Stop asking “dumb” questions

45. No longer encourage feedback and ideas

CHALLENGE

46. Fail to connect the dots between where they are and where they want to be

47. Stop challenging themselves and their team

48. Can’t measure progress

CHANGE

49. Stop being creative in their leadership approach

50. Become resistant to change

51. Assume they’ve learned everything there is to learn

52, Aren’t open to possibility

EMPOWERMENT

53. Are disempowered

54.Tasks become more important than people

55. Believe success comes from control

TEAMWORK

56. Stop believing in teamwork

57. Stop developing their team

YOUR TURN

Your turn. Leaders stop learning when__________.

58.

59.

60.

What would you add? What are the biggest reasons leaders stop learning?

How to Overcome Complacency in the Workplace

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Stupid work includes…

• reinforcing policies without thinking
• making decisions that lose customers
• generating reports no one uses
• focusing on trivial matters when the sky is falling around them
• _______ I’ll stop here to let you fill in the blank.
•  If you find that cathartic here’s a few more blanks___________, ___________.

Bottom line, If it feels stupid it probably is.

Forest Gump said “stupid is as stupid does.” But I know the truth. Stupid is as stupid leads.

Why Do People Do Stupid Work?

• fear
• politics
• uncertainty
• overload
• indecision
• it’s not their job
• they don’t want to step on anyone’s toes
• it’s always been done that way
• they think I want it done that way
• their boss thinks I want it done that way
• their boss’s boss’s boss, thinks my boss wants it done that way.

And so the stupidity continues.

Lead for S.M.A.R.T.

Encourage your team to think beyond their silos, understand the big picture, and question the status quo. Help them to make S.M.A.R.T. choices.

Speak up

If something feels stupid, it probably is. Say something.

get More information

Ask questions. Understand the context. Reach across silos.

accept Accountability

Own the problem. Work to find a solution.

Reprioritize

Determine what’s important. Do that first.

and Try another approach.

Consider alternatives, ask for ideas, try something new.

The post Why Smart People Do Stupid Work appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

Empowerment is your middle name.

Results are strong.

The team is happy.

And then.

Someone makes a really bad decision.

The consequences are big.

Your boss is not happy.

How could YOU let that happen?

Why weren’t YOU more involved?
And you begin to wonder about the person who made the poor choice.

• Why did he make such a bad decision?
• Didn’t he understand the potential consequences?
• Why didn’t he ask for help?
• Why was I not informed sooner

It might be hard but stop, and think well before reacting.

If you are not careful, the next bad decision may be your own.

How you react now, matters. Everyone is watching your next move. Do you really believe in empowerment?

The decision you make next will have long-term implications on trust and the relationship with your entire team. People are talking, texting and instant messaging count on it.

3 Steps to Responding Well to a Bad Decision

1. Temper and Reflect

• Have I carefully considered my approach to empowerment– Who to empower with what decisions and why?
• Have I clearly communicated the big picture and long-term goals?
• Have I taught effective decision-making?
• Have I explained the importance of my involvement in certain kinds of decisions?
• Am I approachable and available to support?
• Have I been teaching enough about the political landscape and how to include and inform stakeholders?
• … what would you add?

2. Take Accountability

• Own the mistake, never blame
• Roll up your sleeves and be involved in the fix
• Involve the employee in the solution
• Coach in private
• Carefully consider the answers to the questions above, what do you need to adjust?
• Communicate any changes without linking back to a specific employee’s mistake
• … what would you add?

3. Teach

• Ask questions for self-discovery
• Share a story of when you screwed up and what you learned
• Reassure the employee that this can be fixed most things can, even when they look grim
• … what would you add?

The post Empowerment Run Amok: How One Bad Decision Leads To Another appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.