When I started my career as a professional in the workforce, I was a Connector Type. I was very social; I easily connected with others (Coworkers, Bosses, and those we served), and I was a nerd about my craft. Back in my Mental Health Therapy days, I remember taking books about Bipolar Disorder to the beach while on family vacations, Lol… I was clearly all in! Therefore, when I stepped out on my own, as a Professional Speaker, Author, & Leadership Trainer I was BIG on helping to enhance Communication and Connection. However, Communication and Connection alone don’t always equal RESULTS… and Results don’t always mean there was excellent Communication and Connection… Be Mindful!
Think about the newly promoted Leader who gets trapped in the “Friend Zone” and their Team treats their expectations like suggestions. They may be great at communicating their vision, expectations, and rules… but, nothing happens! Think about the Leader or Leadership Team that continuously meets metrics and pulls off the impossible… but the Leader does all the work themselves because it’s easier for them, they can do it faster, or they lack trust in their staff and Direct Reports.
Therefore, to enhance our Leadership & Work/Life Harmony and that of those you’re Leading, we must enhance our communication of what is going on, why it’s going on, what is needed, and how it will benefit your Employees, the organization, and those your organization serves. We must enhance our connection; allowing each Employee to feel seen and understood. Lastly, we must be willing to have “Difficult Conversations” with our People to maintain high standards and expectations. So, how do you do it?
Here’s a simple tip and activity I use in my Evolve & Lead Training Program with companies…
- Think of The 5 Types of Employees from my book 7 Ways to Lead:
- The Inspired & Motivated – Wants to know more, do more, be more!
- The New & Unknown – New to the job, your team, or the company!
- The Steady Stream – Shows up daily, super-dependable, good/great at their job, and doesn’t want the promotion you want to give!
- The Here, but Not Here! – The Positive Type has different aspirations other than their current job. While The Negative Type is actively trying to get fired!
- The Grouch – No further explanation needed, Lol!
- As visions of Employees (past and present) danced through your head, what current Employee on your Team stood out the most? Why?
- Would they benefit more from your Communication, Connection, or a Difficult Conversation?
- What’s your plan? Take about your phone and actually put your plan in your work calendar with notifications and alerts; making yourself have to ignore your idea for great Leadership!
Communication!
Simply put, does your Employee or Team know what’s expected of them and how their success impacts the bigger picture? This can be achieved through various methods and I encourage these top three, however be sure to marry how you prefer to communicate with the deepest need and most effective way of your People and it’s hard to lose!
Effective Emails
I have a love/hate relationship with emails, Lol! The positive is, that’s where business is done: introductions, new business, closing of deals, signing contracts, receiving and providing new information, I could go on but you get the point! The concern is… the CONSTANT flood of emails, having to read them, rapid fire responses while attempting to be polite, they never stop… and the eventual question of, when am I actually supposed to get my job done?
Therefore, my rule for email is… make the person receiving your email want to read it! I start my emails with a positive greeting, usually “Happy Monday and I hope all is great!”. It varies, but I can’t tell you how often people have said they weren’t having a good day until they received my email. Make your request or shared information in a few sentences and easy for the other person to digest. Lastly, close as positively as you started, “Thanks so much, I look forward to hearing from you, and enjoy your day!”. Yes, I can hear you as you reading this and saying… that’s a lot, Lol… but, so are your results! You can choose to Copy & Paste… I don’t, but you can. You can place a version of this in your signature. Whatever you do, it tends to benefit communication most of the time.
There will be rare times when you engage with a more “Intense Type” of Leader and you’ll be able to tell by their ultra-brief emails. You don’t have to be as short and never be less positive, but it may be wise to shorten and get more to the point… Be Mindful!
Meetings
Have you ever sat in 17 meetings about a meeting and still nothing has happened… Yuk! Effective communication yields meetings that operate by looking through the windshield, not the rear-view mirror. Reviewing progress and goals are important; however, purpose of all your meetings is for your People to leave with necessary information that allows them to do their jobs with a clear vision, less friction, and maintain their 3P’s of being Positive,Passionate,& Productive… and remember, DEADLINES Matter!!!
As a Leader, your Monday Morning Team Check-In Email or Team Meeting will keep the train on the right track, going the right speed, and on schedule to arrive at the desired destination. I always like to ask my Team their Positive of the Week, what they are focused on for the upcoming week, and what their professional WIN will be this week? Your People’s answer will tell you everything; allowing you to praise them, thank them, stay aware of their “List”, or possibly help reprioritize their “List”… Be Mindful!
Training
Part of effectively communicating with your People is sharing information that will make them not only better at their job, but ELITE in their field! Some Leaders may feel there’s not enough time for training, don’t want to invest financially in training, or fear if their People get too good they’ll leave. Here’s a truth, either your People are going to get great and stay… Yay! Get worse and stay… BOOOO! Get worse and Leave… OK. Or get great and leave… GOOD! When you start pumping ELITE professionals into the workforce three things will happen:
- It means you have an onboarding system, training system, and company culture your company can depend on that creates more and more Elite Professionals!
- Those Elite Workers who leave will speak great about you while out in the world! This along with point #1 will eventually make your organization the Gold-Standard place to work!
- The Elite Professionals who leave will kick back and refer great People to you! Think about a powerhouse sports team; once they start winning and the word is out. Great players flock to them!
Connection!
Connection is my superpower; perhaps that’s why I got into the mental health field and was a Therapist for 19 years. “Connection” is marrying what you want to do and give with what the person you’re giving your effort to needs most right now… and your willingness to do it a little bit outside of your comfort zone, but not so much you wind up resenting them or the task!
There are hundreds of ways to enhance connection, however your willingness and consistency as a Leader to have your 1-on-1 Meetings, get up from behind your desk to actually visit your Team, and speak The 7 Professional Languages of Leadership will prove to be your professional foundation!
As I often share in my books and trainings, 1-on-1 Meetings are the number one way to best connect, know, impact, influence, and protect not only your People… but your organization as a whole! Most Leaders are experts at either cancelling 1-on-1 Meetings, rescheduling them, or jumping right into protocol, procedures, evaluation, and metrics!
Instead, schedule them with each Member of your Team (one per month or as needed for three months out) and set them for 20 -30 minutes. If you go over, great! If you go under, great! The point is to have the meeting set and in your respective calendars.
Here’s the Flow:
- P.O.W. – Positive of The Week – Professionally & Personally!
- Get Out of It – What would THEY like to get out of the meeting?
- Mesh Goals – What would you like to get out of the meeting? Also inquire about their professional list of things-to-do; allowing you to be aware or help prioritize!
- Plan – Develop a plan of action… with deadlines!
- Biggest Takeaway – Ask what their Biggest Takeaway from the meeting was!
Although 1-on-1’s are special, they are still limiting. Your “Visit” as a Leader keeps momentum and enhances the connection required to make their work feel special and more meaningful. “Visits” may look different from Leader to Leader… as some Teams are in-office, hybrid, or fully remote.
The point is to visit enough that they aren’t shocked whenever they see you, but not so much that they feel micro-managed. In my upcoming book, The Complete Leader, I encourage a Scheduled Path when you enter work; allowing you to visit your Team and them to intercept you. An Unscheduled Path that allows you to be seen as human, how to chat, then get out of the way so your People can get back to work, Lol!
Lastly, to enhance connection, it helps to know and speak your Employee’s Top 2 Professional Languages! Do they prefer:
- Goodie Time – Pizza, donuts, etc.
- Quality Minutes – Few minutes of conversation, not related to work
- Recognition & Affirmation – Praise for a job well done
- Knowledge and/or Advancement – Information, Training, and/or Opportunity
- Incentives – Extras for professional achievements and success
- Flexibility – Opportunity to work in a flexible manner and/or their ideas to be implemented
- Respect – Tone of voice, manners, email etiquette, etc.
Difficult Conversations!
Think of someone on your Team you’re responsible to Lead. Whomever they are, what would they benefit most from? Communication of information to increase their knowledge and/or decrease their stress? Connection to enhance professional bonds and a sense of belonging? Or, “The Difficult Conversation”, which brings awareness to actions that go against Team expectations, standards, or rules?
In my experience, communication can be done quite easily. It’s simply intent and consistency. Depending on the personality of the Leader, connection, can be made simpler by scheduling it into your calendar and using the tips I shared or other amazing strategies of your own.
The most difficult communication, the most avoided, and the most poorly performed tends to be “The Difficult Conversation”; as Leaders are anxious, over talk, or are too abrasive, the conversation is one-sided, and dare the Employee actually speaks up, has a point, and is right about something!
The good news is… the more effective you communicate and connect, the less negative surprises you’ll have; therefore, the less “Difficult Conversations” will be required. However, Employees are human, and mistakes will be made. Unchecked, mistakes become habit, then new employees follow what they see… not what you tell them… Be Mindful!
In my Training Program for companies, we have an amazing Role Play day separately for both Leaders and Frontline Employees. It’s the day they all dread, but I make fun, real, and they take a huge step in their Leadership. For now, here’s what you can do regarding “Difficult Conversations”:
- Don’t Wait! People either know they messed up and are expecting it… or… don’t know they messed up and would prefer to do it right
- Ask to speak, preferably not behind your desk or in front of others. Also, for first-time difficult conversations, sit or stand Covid-Distanced apart and at a 45-degree angle. Ongoing infractions, you can sit behind your desk
- Start with something positive
- Transition to the issue and ask, “Can you help me to understand what’s going on with that?”. You can then share what you observe, why it’s an issue, and how it impacts the bigger picture
- Ask what they think they can do to fix the issue
- Evaluate their response… if it works, great! If it needs fine-tuning, great! If they’re actively trying to get fired, great! When they don’t know, only then do you lead with your plan!
- Restate the plan to get confirmation
- Set a date for the following week to evaluate progress
- Ask their Biggest Takeaway from the meeting
- Thank them for sharing
I can hear you already, it never goes that smoothly, Lol! Keep in mind, smooth comes in time, with practice, and ongoing effective communication and connection… and you now have the formula. Enjoy your evolution with more Leadership & Work/Life Harmony with my books, training programs, and more!
What was your Biggest Takeaway from A Leader’s Results? What will you apply with your People and Teams moving forward to enhance your Leadership & Work/Life Harmony and theirs?
“Connection” is marrying what you want to do and give with what the person you’re giving your effort to needs most right now… and your willingness to do it a little bit outside of your comfort zone, but not so much you wind up resenting them or the task! … Be Mindful!” – Andre Young
Written by: Andre Young
Are you looking to impact your Organization, Leaders, Teams, and Employees with Leadership & Work/Life Harmony Trainings or a Speaker? Click www.youevolvingnow.com to connect, chat, and customize with Andre Young!
