Episode 10 - Motivation - What's the Point?

TRANSCRIPT

Motivation - what’s the point? And how do we motivate people as leaders? This week I outline the four factors most important for motivating people at work, and focus in on practical ideas to increase a sense of purpose.

I’ll let you in on a little secret - the truth is that, as leaders, we can’t motivate anyone to do anything - well, not directly anyway. But we can create the conditions that are likely to motivate people. In fact, I would argue that, as leaders, the majority of our impact is about setting up an environment where people are motivated about what the organisation is trying to achieve. 

Leadership is about achieving results through people, and we do that through aligned motivation. It’s about aligning the things that motivate our people with the results the organisation needs to achieve. Here’s the good news - if our people are turning up to work, they are motivated. It just might be that their motivation isn’t currently aligned with we are trying to deliver. 

Motivation matters, because it’s through motivation that we produce results. Motivation isn’t just about us as leaders and the organisation - it also matters because it provides meaningful and satisfying work for the people we lead. 

Think about the times when you have been most motivated in your work - what was it about the organisation, your job and your leader that led to that?

Research into motivation has come a long way over the past few decades, and four factors emerge as particularly important when it comes to motivating people at work.

1. Purpose is the first factor - people are motivated when they know the purpose of their job, and how it aligns with the purpose of the organisation.

2. Development is the second factor - people are motivated when they feel competent at what they’re doing, and can build the capabilities that matter to them over time.

3. Connection is the third factor - people are motivated when they have a sense of belonging - that this is this a place where they can help others, and where others help them.

4. Autonomy is the fourth factor - people are motivated when they have freedom over their work - how they do what they do. We talked about this in an earlier podcast about control and health.

Today we’re going to focus on purpose - answering that question “what’s the point of my job and working here?” It’s a great place to start as, without a shared purpose, we don’t have a hope of achieving results through our people.

Researchers describe three levels of purpose that can be achieved through our work, each leading to an even greater level of motivation and engagement (Steger, M. F., Dik, B. J., & Duffy, R. D. (2012). Measuring meaningful work: The Work and Meaning Inventory (WAMI). Journal of Career Assessment, 20, 322–337).

1. At the first level, my work feels meaningful and has an identifiable point and purpose in an organisation. At this level I’m clear about my job and what I need to achieve, and also how this fits into the broader purpose of the organisation.

2. At the second level, my work is in harmony with and helps provide meaning in my personal life. At this level my work becomes more than just a job - it’s something that I use to define who I am not just at work, but also in my personal life outside of work - I see the two as far more integrated.

3. At the third and final level, my work provides the opportunity to benefit others or some greater good. At this level I feel my work has a broader contribution beyond the organisation and into society. This is where not for profit organisations are able to engage people so well, even if they can’t match the salaries offered elsewhere. But every organisation has the potential to make a positive contribution to society.

Here are three ways you can build this sense of purpose for your people:

1. The first is the humble job description. Now I know these are boring but, stick with me, they’re also really important. It amazes me the number if times I’ve come across people who, as their first task at a new organisation, have been asked to write their own job description. That’s basically like saying “We’ve hired you, but we have no idea why”. The trap we sometimes fall into is trying to detail all the individual tasks and processes we think are required. But a job description isn’t about how to do the job. And a job description doesn’t need to be fixed - it should be a living document that grows with the individual over time. But, at a minimum, people need to be clear about the purpose of their role and what they are accountable to deliver.

2. The second is about having a clear and robust goal setting and review process. This allows the individual to put some further detail around what they’re going to deliver, with the ability to link this to strategic goals. There are some great systems around that help people to set and track goals - PeopleGoal is one I’ve used which also helps automate the performance review process. You can find it at www.peoplegoal.com

3. The third suggestion is to share the impact your organisation is having on society. Stories are really powerful here. How have people in your organisation made a real impact on the world we live in? What excites you as a leader about the impact your organisation is having?

I believe these three approaches to building purpose can make a huge difference to an individual’s motivation at work. In addition, it provides a greater chance of aligning the individual’s motivation with the needs of the organisation. And it also allows you as the leader to set clear expectations for the person to work towards. 

Again, the four main things that motivate and allow people to succeed at work are purpose, development, connections and autonomy. Over the next few weeks we will continue to explore motivation in each of these four areas, with practical ideas about what we can do as leaders to engage our people in the objectives of the organisation. Next week we will be looking at development, and why helping people to build their resume actually reduces turnover. I look forward to seeing you then.

Episode 9 - Why Following Your Passion Isn't Enough

This week we’re looking at passion and purpose - and why telling someone to ‘follow their passion’ is lousy advice.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to episode nine of the Leadership Today podcast. Each week we provide practical advice to address some of today’s biggest leadership challenges. 

This week we’re looking at passion and purpose - and why telling someone to ‘follow their passion’ is lousy advice.

“Follow your passion” is often shared as a mantra for happiness and success in life. That if we can only uncover that unique passion, we will suddenly and effortlessly unlock boundless opportunities in the world. It’s an attractive antidote to the modern dysfunctional workplace - the 9 to 5 (if you’re lucky) grind of a desk job adding to the already overflowing coffers of a soul-less corporation. You can almost picture the person at their desk as the quote comes across their Instagram feed, staring out their window and whispering to themselves - “There has to be more to life than this”. And they’re probably right, but is “following your passion” the best approach.

Perhaps, like me, you can trace many of your passions back to early childhood. My love of science - fuelled (literally) through an often explosive 1970’s chemistry set (that would never be allowed to hit the shelves today), building electronics sets, growing countless crystal gardens, and bashing out computer programs on a trusty Tandy TRS-80. My love of business - labelling everything I owned as “AB Inc” (as if my 8 year old self was some kind of multinational conglomerate), combining life savers and tic tac lollies together to create a value-added product for profit, and running a pretty successful lawn mowing business to fund my early years at university. And my interest in people, reading whatever I could about what made people tic and working on school holiday programs with kids. When you combine those three passions, organisational psychology - applying the science of people in business - looks like a pretty obvious career choice. Lucky I followed my passion.

But that simplified story overlooks the necessary hardships, challenges and setbacks that ultimately helped me to be successful and fulfilled. There were the countless times when I wanted to give up - to pack it in when it all became too hard. Following my passion led me to management consulting - an amazing learning experience and proving ground where I was constantly stretched. It was here that I learnt to manage staff, to grow a business, to put together a plan and bring it to life through people, to collaborate on global teams to make a difference to leaders all over the world. But ultimately, while working for management consulting firms was aligned with my passion, there was something missing. I ended up stressed, overweight and pretty unhappy. Why was that?

A research team*, including the wonderful Carol Dweck, recently looked at “finding your passion” versus “developing your passion”. If you haven’t read Carol’s book “Mindset - Changing the way you think to fulfil your potential”, stop what you’re doing and go and purchase it now. The book outlines the value of having a growth mindset - where we see our abilities, skills and intelligence as things we can develop and improve over time. This is contrasted with a fixed mindset, where people succeed due to talent and giftedness - so if something is hard, you just give up because it clearly wasn’t meant to be. There’s a fair amount of mis-information about growth mindset - it’s not to say our potential is unlimited. Rather, Carol’s work suggests that we often don’t test our potential, preferring to play it safe and stick with what we know.  

The researchers contrasted those with a fixed mindset view around passion, with those who had a growth mindset view of passion. Those with a fixed mindset view saw passions and interests as pre-formed and as something you discover in yourself. In contrast, a growth mindset view suggests that we build our passions and interests over time through experimentation and engaging in new activities. The research found that those with a fixed view tended to have less interest in areas outside their current experience - they didn’t want to explore new things. The fixed mindset group also underestimated difficulties associated with following their passions, and they failed to stick at new interests when they became difficult. In their own words, the researchers concluded that encouraging people to find their passion “may lead them to put all their eggs in one basket but then to drop that basket when it becomes difficult to carry”. 

And I believe that’s where purpose comes in. Again, we shouldn’t see our purpose in life as something that is fixed - it’s more like a strategic plan for our life that we regularly review and update. For me that meant starting my own business seven years ago which is now focused on enabling thousands of leaders to achieve results through people. That wasn’t the purpose seven years ago, or even two years ago - I’ve reviewed, added to and subtracted from that purpose a number of times on the journey. I’ve discovered new things I’m passionate about along the way, learnt lots of new skills, made plenty of mistakes, and achieved far more than I could have hoped for. 

So let’s agree to ditch the “follow your passion” approach. Here’s a potential replacement - Work hard to discover and improve at things you can be passionate about, within the context of a guiding purpose that you regularly review. Admittedly, that’s much harder to frame as an inspirational quote. It also sounds harder to do. “Working hard” doesn’t sound like a lot of fun. But it’s in the hard work that we learn, and it’s in the hard work that we find success, provided that hard work is aligned with our purpose. Maybe “keep discovering new things you’re passionate about” is better.

I encourage you to think about your purpose this week. Why are you doing what you’re doing? When’s the last time you challenged yourself to try something outside your current interests? Are there passions you’ve had in the past that you’ve neglected? Are there new passions emerging that require time and effort to develop?

As always, if you’ve found this podcast helpful, remember to share it with others. Taking a couple of minutes to subscribe and rate on iTunes helps others to find the podcast. And - good news - we’ve finally cracked it onto Spotify - so check us out there as well. 

*Implicit Theories of Interest: Finding Your Passion or Developing It? Paul A. O’Keefe, Carol S. Dweck, Gregory M. Walton

http://gregorywalton-stanford.weebly.com/uploads/4/9/4/4/49448111/okeefedweckwalton_2018.pdf

Episode 8 - Lighten Up! How Humour Fuels Innovation

Do we all need to lighten up? Research shows that the use of humour by leaders can have positive impacts on innovation and other factors. 

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to episode eight of the Leadership Today podcast. Each week we provide practical advice to address some of today’s biggest leadership challenges. 

This week we’re looking at the use of humour by leaders, and the positive impact it can have on innovation and other factors. As organisations are increasingly needing to become more innovative, research suggests that humour may provide part of the answer.

But first, a story. I walked into the boardroom and took a seat at the table. As I looked around, I could tell the small group gathered were under significant pressure about decisions that needed to be made. They looked exhausted, and stared absently at their devices and notepads. We started with the usual introductions when, suddenly and without warning, I felt something heavy glance off my shoulder and crash to the floor. As I turned in my chair, I could see a large framed picture had worked loose from the wall and fallen to the floor - fortunately just missing me. As the person next to me turned the picture over to move it out of the way, I couldn’t help but notice that it was actually a framed award the organisation had received. And not just any award - it was a second place award for safety. “Well” I said - “I can see why you came second”. Fortunately the group found that to be funny. People visibly relaxed. Frowns were replaced with smiles. The meeting that could have just added to their stress, instead led to some genuinely innovative ways forward.

What does science tells us about what just happened? On one level science helps us to understand that the award fell to the ground due to a combination of gravitational force, insufficient anchoring on the wall and, as the award would suggest, a second-rate focus on safety. But, more importantly, science also tells us that humour and innovation are linked. Researchers recently found that where a leader uses humour more often, the people they lead are more innovative. The paper also has a great summary of other research about the use of humour by leaders - A. Pundt (2015) The Relationship Between Humorous Leadership and Innovative Behavior. Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 30, No. 8., pp. 878-893.

As organisations face greater change, innovation is more important than ever. And organisations are increasingly distributing this need for innovation more broadly. So how can humour help to meet these challenges?

Here are five ways in which humour helps leaders and their teams:

1. Humour often rests on an unusual twist or surprise combination of thoughts, and research suggests that, as a result, humour encourages people to combine ideas in new ways. Humour helps to establish a culture where it’s okay to discuss unusual ideas.

2. Researchers also found that sharing humorous comments during meetings helps to keep idea generation going, even when the humour is seemingly unrelated to the topic being discussed.

3. Stress is the enemy of creativity, which is why we often have our best ideas in low stress settings rather than at our desk. Humour helps to lighten the mood and reduces negative stress.

4. Humour helps build relationships between leaders and their team, and between team members. Often humour will involve sharing a personal story - something that happened to the individual, or something related to the interests of the person. Humour helps people to get to know you better as a whole person.

5. Research also indicates that humour helps to build what is known as ‘psychological safety’ - an environment where it’s okay to put out new ideas, and where mistakes are encouraged as a way to learn and improve.

As leaders, we can use humour as a way to connect with people, to reduce stress, and to encourage creative thinking. And these aren’t just a ‘nice to have’ - they’re increasingly core business, as innovation and collaboration become more central features of the modern workplace.

Here are three tips for leaders that want to incorporate more humour into their workplace and the way they lead:

1. Positive - always use humour to build others and the organisation up - avoid using humour as a way of providing negative feedback, or criticising an individual or the organisation

2. Purposeful - think about what you’re trying to achieve through the use of humour - what is it saying about you as a leader

3. Personal - perhaps you don’t think you have any humour in you, but we all have funny things that happen to us - use humour to give people a greater insight into you and your life

This week I encourage you to explore the use of humour in your approach to leadership. Perhaps it’s asking people to start meetings with a joke, or spending more time with individuals in your team hearing about their week and sharing some of the funny things that have happened to you. Give it a try, make it natural, and let me know how you go.

Episode 7 - Influencing Tactics

This week we look at research into the most (and least) effective influencing tactics used by leaders. We explore how we can combine approaches to enhance the way we influence others.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to episode seven of the Leadership Today podcast. Each week we provide practical advice to address some of today’s biggest leadership challenges.

This week we’re looking at influencing. Leadership is all about achieving results through people, and we’re often asked to achieve results through people we don’t directly manage. Therefore influence is central to our effectiveness as leaders.

There are lots of popular ideas about what makes someone influential. It could be someone’s charisma or style for example. But surely it’s more than just personal qualities.

For a psychologist like me, that’s a cue to go to the research, and one of my favourite studies on influencing was undertaken in the early 90’s by Gary Yukl and Bruce Tracey. Together they pioneered our understanding of what they called influencing tactics - the approaches that people choose to take when attempting to influence others. (Consequences of Influence Tactics Used With Subordinates, Peers, and the Boss. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1992, Vol 77, No 4, 525-535).

They determined how influential someone was in an interesting way - it wasn’t just about whether people committed to an action or approach - it was also about how they rated the effectiveness of the person doing the influencing. In that way, influence was not just about short-term compliance, but also about longer-term appraisals of the individual doing the influencing.

Let’s start with the three tactics that they found were least effective, namely pressure, coalition and legitimating.

Pressure is about using demands, threats or persistent reminders in an attempt to influence someone. Perhaps not surprisingly, this approach was amongst the worst, actually leading to reduced commitment to the task, and negative ratings of the individual. It turns out that people don’t like being forced to do something. Now, we know this intellectually, but it’s amazing how frequently people use pressure as an influencing approach. By way of example, I have three sons at home, and I can assure you, pressure is an influencing tactic I default to with them far more often than I’d like to admit.

The researchers found the coalition tactic, where I gather up others to try to influence you, is also negative as an approach. The old ‘lots of people agree with me’ argument might make someone feel more powerful, but it doesn’t help them to influence others - at best, it’s neutral.

Another approach - legitimating - sounds on the surface like a good influencing tactic. It’s where I point out the rules and policies that support a particular course of action, or why my role means you should listen to me. However this tactic also failed to influence others towards action, and also led to lower ratings of effectiveness.

Why are these three approaches so ineffective? The study indicates it’s because they all focus on behavioural compliance without changing attitudes. Sure - I’ll do what you’re asking of me while you’re standing there, but as soon as you walk away I’ll go back to my original position.

Leaders who rely on pressure, position and rules better be prepared to micromanage every task, because their approach to influencing requires them to micromanage every task.

So what approaches are the most effective?

Yukl and Tracey found that inspirational appeal was a particularly positive influencing tactic. This is where my request is tied to your values, ideals and aspirations, or where it builds your confidence that you can make a contribution. Making an inspirational appeal helps create meaning and purpose for those you lead. Rather than trying to build behavioural compliance, inspirational appeal acts on someone’s attitudes, and that means it works while you’re not there - the person is self-motivated to take action.

But effective influencing isn’t just about a compelling speech. Yukl and Tracey found rational persuasion was also very effective as an influencing tactic. As the name suggests, rational persuasion uses logical arguments and facts to persuade others. It provides the evidence many people need to be comfortable with a particular approach.

They also found that consultation was an effective tactic when influencing others. Consultation involves others in the initial decision making and implementation. By gathering and responding to ideas, people have far more of a vested interest in the change and implementation.

Again, the three most effective influencing tactics all involved the internalisation of favourable attitudes. Whether it’s inspirational appeal, rational persuasion or consultation, something is passed from the leader to the other person which means they want to make a change, rather than the leader having to stand around all day telling people what to do.

So some questions for you now. Of the three most effective influencing tactics, which do you tend to default to? Is it inspirational appeal, rational persuasion or consultation? In my experience, many people default to rational persuasion - a reliance on the facts and data to persuade others - and that’s fine.

But it’s worth practicing the other approaches to increase your influence. Perhaps you might include a story, or some additional data, or involve others more in idea generation - these can all help to increase your influence.

You can also combine these three approaches. Let’s use an example of a company where a number of people have recently had injuries while lifting. It turns out that these injuries all involved the person lifting something that wasn’t directly in front of them - they were twisting their body while lifting.

A legitimating tactic would be to make yet another new rule - no twisting while you lift. But the research on influencing would suggest most people won’t follow this rule because it isn’t internalised. People may not understand the reason for the rule, or why it matters to them.

A better approach would be to use all three effective influencing tactics. As the leader, you could start by sharing the importance of having a workplace where everyone can go home at the end of each day safe, and perhaps even healthier than when they arrived. You could also share the data about the type of injuries that are occurring. Then you could involve people in identifying the kinds of activities where the injuries are most likely to occur, and in brainstorming ways of reducing these risks. Yukl and Tracey’s research indicates this approach will have a much greater chance of success.

This week, think about the way you influence. Watch the way others in the workplace influence. And if there’s someone who is particularly influential, spend some time observing how they influence others.

Next week we are looking at the use of humour as a leader, and some fascinating research about how humour can build innovation. I hope to see you then.

Episode 6 - Assertiveness! (if that's okay with you...)

This week we’re looking at assertiveness - what it is and how we can build it in ourselves and in others.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to episode six of the Leadership Today podcast. Each week we provide practical advice to address some of today’s biggest leadership challenges. This week we’re looking at assertiveness - what it is and how we can build it in ourselves and in others.

Assertiveness is one of those areas that people often receive feedback about - “you need to become more assertive” someone helpfully tells you. However people often don't know what to do with that feedback.  What would it mean for me to be more assertive, and how do I build my assertiveness?

We often assume that being more assertive is just about being more confident, or sticking up for ourselves, or being a bit more pushy. But the key to developing assertiveness often lies in more deeply understanding the other person’s perspective. This can seem a little counterintuitive though - isn’t investing more time into understanding the other person’s perspective making us less assertive?

Well another way of thinking about assertiveness is to consider what a truly assertive conversation would look like. It wouldn’t necessarily be aggressive, or pushy, or one sided. In fact, an assertive conversation would be one where both people have their perspectives on the table, and are then actively engaged in taking things forward. 

Assertiveness isn’t about me winning and you losing - it’s about both of us understanding where the other person is coming from, and then working together on a way forward.

To help illustrate, I’d like you to picture a horizontal line. At the left end of the line is a position we could describe as ‘passive’ - where I approach the conversation 100% interested in your perspective, and 0% interested in sharing my own perspective. In the passive position, the balance of interests is completely weighted towards the other person.

At the right end of the line is a position we’ll call ‘aggressive’ - that’s where I approach the conversation with 0% interest in your perspective, and 100% invested in sharing my own perspective. In the aggressive position I’m not even listening to you, and the balance of interests is completely weighted towards my own needs. 

It’s important to recognise that neither of these positions is assertive - passive is not assertive, and aggressive is not assertive. What’s needed is a balance in the interests and needs between the two or more parties involved.

Assertiveness is about ensuring my needs and interests are 100% on the table, and that your needs and interests are also 100% on the table. It’s only in this balance that assertiveness is achieved. Now that doesn’t necessarily mean that we will agree with each other, but that’s not what assertiveness is about. Assertiveness is ensuring we’re clear on everyone’s positions and we can tackle differences as a shared problem.

Here’s an example. 

I’ve setup a regular meeting with my team that happens on the first Tuesday of every month at 2pm. I’ve set this meeting up as a priority, emphasising the importance of keeping it at the same time, and not shifting it. People can dial into the meeting, but the meeting time is going to stay at the same time every time, at least through to the end of this quarter. Things have been going well for the first couple of months, with attendance and engagement at the meetings improved. People are appreciating the meeting being kept as a priority.

Then, in the lead up to the fourth meeting, I notice that a fundraising afternoon tea has been proposed for the first Tuesday of next month at, well you guessed it, 2pm. 

In this example, a passive approach would be to cancel or reschedule my own meeting - to put my own interests at 0%, and the interests of the person organising the afternoon tea at 100%. In contrast, an aggressive approach would be to tell my team members that they’re not even allowed to attend the afternoon tea, and still hold my meeting at the same time. I’m sure you’ll agree that neither of those approaches sounds optimal.

An assertive approach would involve meeting with the person responsible for scheduling the afternoon tea. I could initially point out the clash in times, but then spend the first part of the conversation finding out more about the fundraiser and what they’re hoping to achieve. I could then share my vision for the regular meetings I’m having with my team. 

Now, in a perfect world, the other person might shift their fundraiser to another time, and I might be able to help promote the event with my team - that would be a win win. But we don’t live in a perfect world. Perhaps the person has already ordered catering for that time, or prepared flyers to hand out. Remember, assertiveness isn’t about always getting our way - it’s about getting all the information out from both perspectives. If the clash can’t be resolved, I may still choose to move the meeting time for this month. But at least I have been assertive. 

However the situation plays out, we all walk away understanding each others’ perspectives.

I hope that discussion about assertiveness was helpful. If you’re normally more towards the passive end of the line, this week you might make an additional effort to have your needs and interests tabled. And if you’re normally at the aggressive end of the line, you might want to spend more time trying to understand the other person’s perspective and how your interests may actually be aligned.

In next week's episode of the podcast we're going to be talking influencing. And if you are enjoying the podcast, remember to recommend it to your friends as well - I really appreciate it.

Episode 5 - Feedback is a Gift

Research shows that leaders typically avoid giving feedback, particularly the further away performance is from expectations. This week we look at a feedback structure that focuses on behaviour and the impact we have on others. 

TRANSCRIPT

Hello and welcome to episode five of the Leadership Today podcast.  Each week we provide practical advice to address some of today’s biggest leadership challenges. And this week’s leadership challenge is a doozie - it’s feedback.

I’m sure you’ve heard the expression - feedback is a gift. But, let’s be honest - not every gift we give is fantastic. In my family we have a Christmas tradition which is a variation of the Kris Kringle - the difference being that there’s a $5 limit on each gift and the aim is to be as entertaining as possible - we call it the Krap Kringle (both with Ks obviously). Sure, everyone gets a gift, but most people don’t keep them for very long.

And research indicates that leaders avoid giving these gifts at work - they avoid providing feedback, and that lack of feedback actually gets worse as an individual’s performance drops off. In other words, the further your performance is away from expectations, the less likely you are to receive feedback. 

So what drives this? Well, leaders are often afraid to provide feedback - they are worried about how it will be received. But bad news doesn’t improve with age.

Typically the issue continues to build up, and there’s often a clumsy confrontation which makes everyone feel worse. 

Of course, feedback doesn’t just have to be negative. However, in the busy-ness of life we tend to also miss the opportunities to provide encouraging feedback.

In contrast, if you have ever worked in an organisation with a high-feedback culture, you’ll instantly recognise how beneficial it was to your development. At a consulting firm where I was a leader, we made a habit after every client meeting of providing feedback - taking time to talk about what went well and what could be improved for next time. At first that felt pretty confronting and awkward. People would often just say that the meeting was ‘good’ or ‘fine’. But as trust was built, the appetite for real feedback increased. In fact, aspects of my behaviour that were completely blind to me were shared - both undiscovered strengths, and often simple changes I could make to improve my impact. 

I spend much of my time now facilitating leadership programs, and this is a particularly rich feedback environment - feedback from the co-facilitator, from the clients and participants on the program as well. Sometimes that feedback can seem a little harsh. Sometimes the gift is particularly wrapped all that well. But that doesn’t mean it’s not the right gift. In fact that constant feedback has improved me a great deal and toughened me up.

So here are a few key principles to keep in mind when it comes to feedback:

1. Make it a habit - and do it close to the time - that’s where my earlier example of providing feedback straight after meetings was great - it build the habit and it was immediately after the event

2. Keep it balanced - look for the good as well as improvement - it’s all developmental feedback

3. Start by sharing your intent - if people are afraid or concerned they can’t listen - let them know that you’re on their side - are you really trying to help them, or are you wanting to hurt them? Setting that up as a habit really helps to ensure you’re doing this from the right intent

4. Stick to behaviour - it’s like watching a video tape back - what did you actually see, and what was the impact on you and on others

5. Check in later to confirm understanding - ask them to restate what their takeaway was from the feedback that you provided

William Gentry shares a really helpful feedback format in his book called “Be the Boss Everyone Wants to Work For” - I’ve provided a link to the book in the episode notes. www.amazon.com.au/Be-Boss-Everyone-Wants-Work-ebook/dp/B01E4KC0V8

The approach is called SBI, named after the three components of the feedback approach he outlines.

S stands for Situation - and in that stage you want to describe the exact moment the feedback relates to, being as specific as possible 

B is for Behaviour - what you actually observed - and again that’s like you’re watching a video of the event back and describing it

I is for Impact - this is describing the impact on you, and it can also be the impact on others if you observe that

So let’s apply that - I’d like you to compare these two versions of the same feedback:

The first version is this - “During meetings lately you have being really rude.” - so that feedback is not particularly helpful.

Now let’s compare that with using the SBI format - “(S) Yesterday at the marketing meeting when Jane started presenting, (B) you leaned back on your chair, sighed, and started to use your phone. (I) I felt disappointed that you appeared disengaged from Jane’s presentation”.

And then you want to allow the person to respond. Maybe they weren’t being rude. Or maybe they received a text that lead to their response. There are a whole host of reasons for why they may have behaved the way they did. But none of these reasons change the impact on you and on others, and that’s the important thing. You’re not trying to guess at what drove their behaviour - you’re just providing an insight into the impact they are having on others.

The SBI approach works equally well for positive feedback. For example:

• Situation - During the interaction you just had with that customer who came in with a problem

• Behaviour - I noticed how you smiled and offered a number of helpful suggestions

• Impact - the customer ended up smiling and shaking your hand, and I was really impressed.

This week I encourage you to practise feedback. Use the SBI model or similar. Try to catch people doing good things, and provide the positive feedback straight away. 

Also, ask people for feedback on you, and be specific. If you just say “can you give me feedback”, most people will say “you’re doing fine”. But if you say “can you give me feedback on how confident I’m appearing in presentations”, you’ll receive much richer feedback.

Next week we’ll be talking about assertiveness - what it is, and how we can build it in ourselves and others. I look forward to speaking with you then.

Episode 4 - Monthly 1 on 1 Meetings that Work

In this episode we explore monthly 1 on 1 meetings that work - where both the leader and their direct report turn up prepared to discuss performance, priorities, support, and development.

Performance
What is the person currently doing well?
What do you think the person needs to work on?

Priorities
What are the current priorities for this person?
What goals need to be added, removed or updated?

Manager Support
What’s getting in the way at work? 
How might this be addressed by the manager or direct report?

Training and Development
How is the development plan progressing?
What training and development experiences or programs might be beneficial?

Other
Anything else to discuss?

Action Items
Review action items from previous month
Add any new action items for the manager or direct report

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to episode four of the Leadership Today podcast. Each week we provide practical advice to address some of today’s biggest leadership challenges. This week we’re looking at monthly 1 on 1 meetings that actually work.

It’s no secret - People hate performance reviews. They are one of those 'must do' activities that both managers and team members tend to dislike.

To counteract this, we often focus on the performance appraisal process and content. Making sure we look not just at results ('what' people achieve), but also 'how' the person approaches their work and interacts with customers and colleagues. We might try to gather feedback from multiple sources. We might even try to balance discussions about the year past with time to think about the year ahead. But we still tend to run into some pitfalls:

1. The appraisal becomes a high stakes 'event' which tends to add pressure on both the manager and team member

2. The manager and team member haven't had a chance to build a strong relationship, which tends to reduce the quality of feedback and the likelihood of acceptance

3. There's a lack of focus and unclear goals around the job - by the time we discover this during the annual appraisal it's too late to do anything about the year that has gone by

4. It becomes a one-way conversation with too much pressure placed on one person - who is typically the manager - to drive the process

5. Feedback isn't balanced - we either focus way too much on the positives or way too much on constructive/corrective feedback

It’s probably not surprising then that a number of high profile organisations have decided to ditch the performance review altogether. In most cases they’ve actually replaced that with more regular performance conversations, which I think is a great way to go.

You see, I think the answer is actually pretty simple. It's about having 1:1 meeting structures that make performance discussions a more frequent occurrence, and that address the issues and pitfalls that I highlighted earlier. 

I recommend scheduling monthly 1-1 meetings in calendars and ensuring they take priority over the other day-to-day issues that might come up.

The following structure for 1:1 meetings is what I've found to work with people and teams that I've managed. You might want to vary this structure, but hopefully it will provide some ideas for you to think about.

The first topic is around performance. And I have the individual prepare for that, along with myself as well as their manager. Get them to think about what they’re currently doing well, and also what they need to work on. With both people bringing that information together it’s a great opportunity to clarify performance - what’s going well, what needs to change.

The second topic is around priorities. Talking about the current priorities for the person and any goals that might need to be changed or updated. Sometimes the team member might highlight a priority the manager isn't aware of. Sometimes the manager might be able to clarify a priority that the team member isn't placing enough emphasis on. 

Another topic of conversation in those 1:1 meetings is manager support. Looking at those frustrations and the things that are getting in the way at work, and what you might be able to do as the manager to fix those or help. 

The next area is around training and development. This is a great chance to check in with the development plan - see how that’s progressing - and also think about training and development experiences or programs that might be coming up in the coming months that could be beneficial. 

I include a topic called ‘other’. Just covering anything else the person might want to discuss. And that will bring up some interesting things - maybe around work life balance, or perhaps some things that other organisations are doing. It’s good to include that to cover any other areas that might need to be discussed.

And finally action items - an opportunity to review action items from the previous month, and add any new action items for the manager and team member. 

I recommend capturing notes from each meeting to share with team members. As these notes grow through the year, they become a major input into that final performance appraisal discussion. By doing this, the annual performance appraisal becomes little more than a confirmation of what had been discussed through the year. Any areas that weren't clear had already been discussed. You will find it reduces the pressure on you and your team members. It helps you to explore career and development opportunities on a more frequent basis.

I’ve included an outline of those monthly 1-1 meetings at the leadership.today website. If you’ve found this episode helpful, remember to share it with others and to rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts. Next week we’re going to be looking at an approach to transform the way you provide feedback to others. I look forward to catching up with you then.

Episode 3 - Control and your Health

Demanding jobs can actually be a good thing for us, provided we have a sense of freedom and control. Without this control, the negative health effects are dramatic. This podcast includes two ideas for improving control.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to episode three of the Leadership Today podcast. Each week we provide practical advice to address some of today’s biggest leadership challenges. This week we’re looking at control and your health - how having demanding jobs can actually be a good thing, provided we have a sense of freedom and control.

Autonomy is recognised as one of the core motivators people have in the workplace. With greater freedom and control over the way we perform our work comes higher levels of motivation and commitment. Recent research suggests that greater job control also improves our health and reduces our likelihood of dying over a seven year period. Autonomy isn't just motivating - it might just save your life. 

We've traditionally seen stress as a killer - that high job demands have a negative impact on our health. But this research shows that this isn't always the case. In fact, job demands can sometimes help improve our health, provided we retain a sense of control over our work.

Researchers* used a Wisconsin longitudinal study to track people over a seven year period to explore the relationships between job factors and health. They looked at the impact of job demands (including workload and time pressure) and control (the freedom an individual feels they can exert over their job) on health outcomes.

For jobs where people had low control, the research showed that high job demands did indeed negatively impact health outcomes. In fact, the odds of dying over the seven year period increased by 15%. For those who did make it through the seven years, this combination led to an increase in body mass index. In short, a demanding job where you feel little control is bad for your health.

Interestingly, for jobs where people had high control, high job demands were linked to a 34% decrease in the odds of dying over the same period when compared to low demand jobs. Higher job demands actually had positive health outcomes provided people had control over their work.

These findings are similar to my own research. I looked at people who rated their job demands as high. Those who felt their job provided freedom and autonomy of how they achieve results experienced 20% lower negative stress, and 52% higher engagement than those who lacked such freedom. 

What does this all mean for leaders? Here are two ideas. 

1. Seek out and provide autonomy: We know that autonomy motivates - people love having freedom and control over their work. Seek out more freedom in your own work. Negotiate greater flexibility and build your sense of control over the work you perform. If you're a leader, provide your team with more freedom. Give them opportunities to vary the way they perform their work. Manage them around the results they produce rather than how they produce results.

2. Challenge yourself and others: Seek out greater accountability. Once you have control, it's important to ensure you are stretched and challenged. As a leader, provide your team with greater accountability alongside the greater authority you've granted. Discuss the goals people have, and vary the work to capitalise on what motivates your people.

Autonomy and challenge aren't just good for business - they're good for our health too!

*Worked to Death: The Relationships of Job Demands and Job Control with Mortality

Erik Gonzalez-Mulé, Bethany Cockburn 2016 Personnel Psychology
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/peps.12206/full

Episode 2 - Your Best Ideas

Where do you come up with your best ideas? I bet it's not at your desk. In this episode we explore the conditions that lead to our best ideas, and how we can increase the chances of us coming up with even more great ideas in the future.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to episode two of the Leadership Today podcast. Each week we provide practical advice to address some of today’s biggest leadership challenges. This week we’re looking at a question I love posing to people in leadership workshops: namely “Where do you come up with your best ideas?"

Of the many hundreds of responses I've heard, not one person has ever said "at my desk". In fact, most people tell me they have come up with their best ideas when they're not at work.

People often say their best ideas come when they're "in the shower", "going for a walk", "taking a lunch break", "drifting off to sleep", and "on holidays". What do all of these activities have in common? They're all low-stress activities with few distractions. When people come up with their best ideas they're typically in a relaxed state, not stressing about coming up with an answer or distracted by other work that requires high levels of focus. They're free to think in a different way - free to explore new ideas and approaches.

The 19th century German chemist Friedrich August Kekulé (Keh Coolie) pioneered our understanding of the chemical structure of benzene. He had been working with benzene for years, but the way the structure formed eluded him. Later in his life he recounted having a day dream where he pictured carbon atoms dancing, then forming into snakes that bit each other's tails, forming a ring. He woke from that day dream with the answer that had occupied him for so many years - the carbon atoms in benzene form a ring. Would he have come up with this solution with more time in the lab or at his desk? Maybe, or maybe not. But what a great example of how a relaxed mind can produce amazing insights where 'hard work' had failed.

Chronic stress largely destroys our ability to develop genuinely new and creative ideas. The very stress hormones that are great for focusing our minds on the 'emergency' at hand reduce our ability to take a broader perspective beyond the immediate. We end up suffering from tunnel vision.

As leaders, our emotional state is contagious. If we're constantly stressed and fire-fighting through our day, it's likely that our teams are doing exactly the same. We end up cursed to repeat the patterns of activity and thought that we've already established, missing opportunities for continuous improvement and breakthrough thinking.

This isn't to say that stress is a bad thing. In fact, stress plays a very important role in stretching us beyond our comfort zones and focusing our attention. But if these moments of stress aren't balanced by moments of recovery and relaxation, we're likely to see negative impacts - not just on the way we think, but also on our health. Chronic stress is a killer, but the combination of stress and recovery is the key to long-term effectiveness.

Here are some thoughts to help you to work more effectively and come up with new ideas:

• Build some down-time into your schedule: Make sure you take annual leave and opportunities to work from home. Start work a little later every so often, or finish earlier. Change up your routine. Take a longer lunch break and go for a walk.

• Use a notepad or the notes app on your phone to capture new ideas or thoughts: Given these ideas will come up when we least expect them, it's worth planning ahead to capture them.

• Work in 90 minute cycles followed by 10/15 minute breaks to exercise, refuel and rehydrate: Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz describe this in their book "The Power of Full Engagement". Start your day with the most important work, and take frequent breaks. This will help to keep you focused, energised and far more productive. And the best bet is that you end your day with the energy needed to be successful outside work.

• Encourage your team to do the same: As a leader, share these ideas with your team. Encourage them to experiment with their routine and day. Maybe a mid-afternoon gym session works for a team member - great! Maybe working in one hour cycles followed by a 10 minute walk works - brilliant! It requires you as the leader to get over our typical obsession with 'presenteeism' where we measure performance by the hours spent at work, to a more healthy focus on productivity.

So where do you have your best ideas? I’d love to hear from you.

As for next week’s episode - Do you want to decrease your risk of dying  in the next 7 years by 34%? I’ll be looking at the research showing a dramatic relationship between control at work and our health.

Episode 1 - Leadership Habits

Much of our leadership behaviour is driven by habits. In this episode we explore helpful and harmful leadership habits, as well as how to identify existing habits and build new ones.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to episode one of the Leadership Today podcast. Each week I provide practical advice to address some of today’s biggest leadership challenges.

Today we’re going to explore leadership habits - the routines and disciplines we all have that either help or hinder our leadership impact.

The good news is that leadership is a set of skills and behaviours that we can all learn and develop. Leadership is what we do every day that helps us to achieve results through people. And psychology has taught us a lot about how to change our behaviours and to develop new skills.

So first, a question - Did you brush your teeth this morning? Well of course you did. In fact you’re extremely confident that you brushed your teeth this morning. But you may not remember doing it. 

So did you actually choose to brush your teeth this morning? That’s an interesting question. Clearly, given you did brush your teeth, you must have decided on some level to do it. But it most likely wasn’t a conscious decision. 

It’s not like you walked into the bathroom this morning and said “hmmm - brushing my teeth - do I really want to do that today? Can I spare the two minutes? Is it the best use of my time?”.

You didn’t need to consciously choose to brush your teeth this morning because it is a healthy and positive habit for you. In fact, a positive habit like this frees up some conscious attention for you to think about other priorities.

However it wasn’t always a habit - in fact, it probably took someone years to convince you to brush your teeth daily.

Habits take effort to form, but once they are formed they also take effort to change. Recent research demonstrated that people took between 20 to over 250 days to build a new habit - in fact some people even left the experiment after a year having not built a habit.

Chances are that, like me and everyone else on this planet, you also have some unhealthy and negative habits. 

I recently met someone on a leadership program who let me know that she was struggling with anxiety. It was effecting her work and her overall wellbeing, and she was clearly keen to address the issue. The next morning of the program I couldn’t help but notice as the same person walked in carrying a large, double-shot coffee and an equally large can of Red Bull - it was part of her morning ritual and routine. And it was also a negative habit. Taking close to the daily recommended amount of caffeine in one hit would induce anxiety in most people. She just didn’t connect the non-conscious habit of purchasing the same drinks every morning, with the anxiety those drinks helped to produce half an hour later. Building her awareness of that connection helped her to challenge and change that habit. But it took feedback to highlight the habit.

In the same way, we can have healthy and unhealthy leadership habits that we can identify through feedback and by paying attention to how we’re spending our time.

Some Unhealthy leadership habits that I’ve seen, include:

• Starting the day responding emails - performing those kinds of tasks that require little attention at the point when we have the most focus and energy

• Another one is not taking breaks, or eating lunch at our desk - staying glued to our desks as our attention and productivity decline

• The second shift is another unhealthy leadership habit - going home to eat dinner after a long day, then firing up the laptop for another few hours of work every night - it impacts negatively on our productivity and just wears us out

You could look at replacing unhealthy habits with healthy leadership habits, like:

• Setting aside an hour each day, uninterrupted, to get one key thing done

• Or it might be going outside for a quick walk every 90 minutes to refresh and re-energise and to rebuild our focus

• You might want to leave mindless work like emails and meetings to that mid-afternoon slump we all go through around 2pm

• Or getting into the habit of just saying ‘thank you’ when someone pays you a compliment - it makes them feel better, and it makes you feel better as well

The key to building new habits is to experiment. Try something new out - if it doesn’t work, don’t just revert back but try something else new.

You will also want to measure your results. Rate your productivity, focus, happiness - whatever you can track that can give you a sense of the impact of the new habit, and encourage you to keep going. 

This week - can I encourage you to become aware of your habits. You might want to set an alarm each hour - something that will prompt you to look back over that previous 60 minutes and diarise how you’re spending your time.

And when you’ve identified habits you want to change, or new habits you want to develop - Involve others. Their feedback and encouragement will make all the difference.

I trust you’ve found this episode on leadership habits helpful. I look forward to hearing how you go, and to sharing another leadership today podcast with you next week.