In a galaxy not too far away, psychological safety exists

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October 26, 2022 | Mark Altman

How does someone take simple and immediate steps to create trust within their team?

Below are some techniques that will assist you in conversations that lead people to feel safe sharing their truths.

Creating trust is easier said than done, right?

A concept that has resonated with me is that the Jedi codes state power should be used to defend and protect, never to attack. If you are in the position of an illustrious Jedi warrior, it is your duty to protect the people you serve. A Jedi would say that your job as a leader is to:

  • Create trust and openness
  • Sustain positivity while being able to speak your mind
  • Notice how team members are feeling and be able to ask them about it
  • Be vulnerable with team members and have them be vulnerable back with you

This is Psychological Safety.

The great philosopher, Yoda, once said, “Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Quiet quitting and a deteriorating culture are not overnight issues. Sure, one interaction can start the process, but most people would give others a second chance. The chain reaction begins when employees fear their manager because of negative interactions. Then, those employees become angry and disengaged. Finally, they leave. If you pay close attention during your interactions, you may notice that they are unhappy, but what do they owe you? You may not have given them a reason to be honest at all.

Here are some steps and strategies to create and foster trust.

  • Ask for permission to give feedback, as well as ask for it yourself.
    1. Understand how and when to provide feedback so they are bought in.
    2. Ask about past experiences and what to do or what to avoid when delivering feedback.
  • Share the intention of your conversation and address the elephant in the room.
    1. No one likes surprises.
    2. Share with the employee your thoughts or feelings and allow them time to respond.
  • Provide the objectives as well as expectations; be clear.
    1. Ensure to be clear with your expectations so there is no room for ambiguity.
  • Model positive affirmation.
    1. When someone shares their opinion in a meeting, thank them for sharing and let them know you value their feedback.

Listen to the MindsetGo podcast here for more information.

May the trust be with you.

Enjoy this post? Contact us at MindsetGo to empower your leaders and teams to build confidence, develop skills, and shift mindsets and habits for lasting change.

The #1 Key to Employee Engagement, Performance, and Retention

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September 13, 2022 | Mark Altman

In our last posts, we covered why rewards aren’t enough to improve employee engagement and retention. We also shared why consequences have consequences when it comes to performance improvement. If rewards and consequences aren’t effective motivators of behavior change, what is? 

The answer is intrinsic motivation. The most effective way to inspire employee engagement, retain talented team members, and improve performance is to learn what matters most to your team members. 

A few examples of what might intrinsically motivate someone include:

  • Personal growth – professional development opportunities
  • Feeling challenged
  • Inclusion
  • Social justice and serving others
  • Fulfilling a sense of purpose
  • Sense of accomplishment
  • Mentoring opportunities
  • Allowing people consistent opportunities to do things they are passionate about
  • Fairness 

 If you discover that your team member is motivated by personal growth, perhaps they want to take online classes, or spend time job shadowing a senior executive, and/or participate in a training program. (Hint: ask them!)

If someone is motivated by serving people, what does that look like in their role? In what ways can they serve people that align with the business mission and objectives? 

Here’s a talk track to uncover your team member’s intrinsic motivation. 

You: Hey Janae, I want to better understand what drives and motivates you. What are your favorite aspects of working here and what do you love most about your job? 

Team Member: I care a lot about finding a sense of purpose in my work – I always want to understand how the part I’m playing contributes to the greater whole.

You: Do you feel you are making direct contributions to our success as well as your own? What can we do to help you feel more purposeful and fulfilled?

Team Member: Our mission statement speaks to me and was a large part of why I joined the company, but I don’t always understand how the work I do in the day-to-day fits into our mission.

You: That’s helpful, thanks. I want to better understand what we can be communicating differently and more frequently so you have more comfort around this.

Taking the time to understand what drives your team members intrinsically will pay major dividends in terms of engagement, performance, and retention. If you’re still struggling to have these conversations with your team, email us and we’ll share another conversation resource to get you talking to – and motivating – your employees. 

Enjoy this post? Contact us at MindsetGo to empower your leaders and teams to build confidence, develop skills, and shift mindsets and habits for lasting change.

This is the Last Time We Can Have This Conversation

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August 30, 2022 | Mark Altman

Performance improvement is a critical part of every leader’s job – but if you’re like most leaders, it’s probably something you don’t enjoy, because you end up having the same conversations with the same employees repeatedly.

When motivating people to change their behavior, we often default to thinking we have two options: the carrot and the stick. We can incentivize and reward good behavior and we can disincentivize and threaten consequences for bad behavior.

We grew up fearing (or at least being aware of) the consequences of our behavior. If we didn’t behave, we got in trouble. At school, if we misbehaved in class, we were sent to the principal or received detention. 

In the corporate world, when someone is not doing what they are supposed to do – not turning in projects, showing up late to meetings, not responding to communications in a timely manner – it is tempting to force compliance to improve poor performance. But amidst a labor shortage and fear of losing credibility and trust with your team, are consequences really your best choice? 

If rewards aren’t enough and consequences have consequences, what is left in the toolbox? Stay tuned for next week’s post to learn an influential way to create an accountable culture with a great tool for performance improvement.

Enjoy this post? Contact us at MindsetGo to empower your leaders and teams to build confidence, develop skills, and shift mindsets and habits for lasting change.

Why Benefits and Bonuses are Not the Key to Employee Retention

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August 23, 2022 | Mark Altman 

As an executive or HR Leader, if you’ve ever tried to improve employee retention with one-size-fits-all methods, you’ve probably ended up frustrated and confused. When you’re offering great salaries, benefits, bonuses, and time off, and people still aren’t happy, what can you discern from that? 

Human beings are wired to be motivated by rewards – so why don’t those rewards work the way we expect them to? 

Extrinsically motivated behavior starts from a young age. We’re rewarded with gold stars and A+’s for good grades (and sometimes toys or money or treats for those straight A’s!). We get extra credit points for class participation. We get allowances for unloading the dishwasher, mowing the lawn, and walking the dog.

When we grow up, these extrinsic motivators continue – we get bonuses, promotions, and extra time off at work for a job well done.

Rewards and incentives can work – but only if they are the right ones.

As employers work to engage and motivate their employees and make them feel valued and appreciated, they must recognize that a one-size-fits-all approach is usually ineffective.

People are different – and are motivated by different things. One tool that can help us better recognize and appreciate our teams (and thus better retain them) is corporate languages of appreciation.

Often employers default to Gift-Giving to show appreciation: letting someone go home early, offering bonuses and promotions, etc. But here are three other corporate love languages that can help show your employees that you care.

  1. Words of Affirmation: Sharing specific positive feedback with your team; e.g., “Derrick, I appreciate all the effort you put into pulling together the new pitch deck. It looks polished and professional, and you did a great job.”
  2. Quality Time: Making time to meet with your team members one-on-one to demonstrate your care and investment in them and their work; e.g., “Lily, let’s talk about your future. Where do you want to be in a year or five years? How can I help you get there?”
  3. Acts of Service: taking care of tasks you know your team members don’t enjoy; e.g., “Hey Travis, I know uploading blogs to the website is one of your least favorite tasks. Let me take care of it this week.” 

Taking the time to understand what motivates each member of your team is a sure-fire way to improve retention and engagement. 

Enjoy this post? Contact us at MindsetGo to empower your leaders and teams to build confidence, develop skills, and shift mindsets and habits for lasting change.

What to Do When an Employee Circumvents the Chain of Command

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May 4, 2022 | Mark Altman 

Category:

Managing up, down, and across 

The Problem:

Your direct report or colleague consistently circumvents the chain of command by going to your boss with questions and concerns instead of you. 

The Root Cause: 

Your report or colleague may: 

  • Feel frustrated at a lack of progress on something they want accomplished. 
  • Have an unmet expectation – something they wanted you to do that you didn’t – even though they may not have articulated that expectation to you. 
  • Not feel you are empowered to do anything about their problem. 
Your Choices:

You have the option to: 

  • Internalize the situation (and make it mean something about you, your report/colleague, your leadership skills, etc.), or 
  • Address it. 

If you choose to address it, you will need to have two conversations: one managing up and one managing across or down. 

Managing Up Conversation 

Have a conversation with your supervisor about the report/colleague’s behavior. 

You: Hey Susan, Jane is going to you to solve X problem instead of me. Have you noticed that?  

Allow your supervisor to respond. They may justify the behavior or make an excuse and regardless of their response, ask: “Will you support me in not enabling that behavior as it will impact my credibility otherwise?” 

Managing Down/Across Conversation 

Have a non-confrontational conversation with Jane. Use a curious, empathetic, nonjudgmental tone.  

You: Hey Jane, I noticed you went to my boss for X problem. I’m wondering why you didn’t just come to me directly? 

Jane may either become defensive or make an excuse and either way, empathize and validate her perspective, and then inquire further as needed: “I’m wondering why you made that choice?”  

Takeaways: 
  • You have choices: you can ignore the problem and hope it doesn’t repeat, internalize your frustration, or have a courageous conversation. 
  • If you choose to be assertive, you must have two conversations: one to ensure that your boss isn’t enabling the behavior and one to understand why the person is making that choice. 

Content derived from MindsetGo Training Programs: Managing Yourself; Courageous Conversations; Assertiveness 

Enjoy this post? Contact us at MindsetGo to empower your leaders and teams to build confidence, develop skills, and shift mindsets and habits for lasting change.

Beyond Engagement

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With all the buzz about how to engage people virtually, here are three quick tips to get people locked in from the get-go

  1. Magic Wand – ask the audience a question that gets them thinking about a dream problem they experience and would love solved related to the webinar topic . Have them type in a short answer. This allows you to access what is on your audience’s mind and make your presentation as relevant as possible.  It’s one great to learn new things but even better to know how and where to apply them.
  2. Y or N – another great method to engage your audience is to ask a question and simply ask them to type in a Y or N as a response. If many of your audience members won’t even respond with a letter, you may have lost them or best case, need to engage or re-engage them.
  3. Two Versions – many people are visual learners. Are the images you are relying on visually stimulating or is it just a bunch of words? Are they just staring at you the whole time? Visual support images should be used to supplement your verbal message and they should be compelling. The words can be sent after the fact in a handout or an alternate version of the PowerPoint that is focused on takeaway strategies and best practices.

To learn more about virtual, employee, or client engagement contact us at 978-206-1535 or info@mindsetgo.flywheelsites.com for coaching or training support.

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