people in the workplace

Three Things Your Team Needs from You Right Now

April 15, 2020 By Patti Cotton Leave a Comment

As you confront change, the most critical thing you must do as leader is to support the cohesiveness of your executive team.

This means that they must be aligned and coordinated in their thinking and actions.

Having a plan of action is the rally cry to move forward together, but it isn’t the answer.

During the current COVID crisis, I’ve reached out to several of my former clients to see how they are faring. Most report what is probably familiar to you: shock and paralysis, replaced by a scrambling to redirect resources and keep business going.

I talked to Bob, CEO of a software tech company, about three weeks ago. He expressed great frustration around being stuck in place.

“We are so busy putting out fires,” he said. “And they all need extinguishing. But how do we move forward?”

“That’s the question, Bob,” I said. “Most of the world is caught up in a mode of urgency and this is their current way of operating. But they are missing the boat entirely.”

“I hear you, Patti,” he answered. “But how do I get my team to move forward? We have an interim plan – you taught me the value of plotting a short-term direction in times like these. But I’m not seeing the action of which I know they are capable.”

“Bob, having your interim plan is the first of three things your team needs to move, and move quickly,” I said. And I outlined the following for him.

1. Clarity.

Your team needs a short-term, interim plan that plots a clear direction. Centering the plan around a particular theme will serve as a galvanizing rally cry to bring the team together and help them to coordinate more easily. Remember to ask yourself what will best serve your customers at this time and position your business to meet the undefined future.

2. Trust.

How well do team members trust each other? Revisit your trust charter and facilitate discussion around what the team needs more or less of from each other in order to trust and be able to count implicitly on each other in this critical time.

3. Replacing effectiveness with efficiency.

In times of transition or change, people seek comfort in the familiar. This means that you and your team members may find you are focusing on being efficient instead of being effective, because being busy feels like you are moving ahead when you really may not be. Once you have determined your interim plan, be sure to identify those other projects, tasks and activities that lie outside the plan parameters. Decide how you want to handle these in light of the current clime and be ruthless about holding each other accountable.

Bob called back a few days ago to report that moving through these steps did the trick. He first worked with the team to revisit the trust charter to discuss what everyone needed from each other in order to take action. The team then performed a quick audit of activities and identified some of those that needed to be placed on pause. And finally, Bob and the team communicated the interim plan to the entire employee base and have pledged to bring weekly updates on progress to the organization.

Which of these three things does your team need to focus on in order to move forward more effectively? Providing a unified direction and deeper conversations around what is needed to trust more will open doors to a much richer future.

HOW MUCH

DO OTHERS REALLY TRUST YOU?

Learn the two vital parts to trust and how they can help you become a more highly effective leader.

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Patti Cotton

Patti Cotton reenergizes talented leaders and their teams to achieve fulfillment and extraordinary results. For more information on how Patti Cotton can help you and your organization, click here.

Leading with Greater Inner Agility

April 8, 2020 By Patti Cotton Leave a Comment

You are moving an entire business through uncharted waters right now. A lot of people are depending on you.

Grit isn’t enough to meet the challenges you are facing. You need to increase your inner agility in two ways to deal with the complexity occurring right now.

Owen, president of a manufacturing firm, reached out to me some time ago to help develop talent for the company’s succession planning.

“I’m tired,” he began. “And I think the company needs new blood. Can you provide executive coaching for my second in command?”

“I’d be pleased to help you, Owen,” I answered. “But if I can ask, why do you think the company needs new blood? You seem like you have more good years to give.”

“Truth be told, I’ve been perplexed by the business scene,” Owen answered. “Strategies that used to work don’t cut it. The challenges that we are presented with are new. I can’t refer back to anything I’ve dealt with before in order to create a roadmap out that makes sense.”

“Owen, you aren’t alone,” I responded. “Today’s business landscape is changing so fast that it’s hard to stay on top of what’s in front of you.”

“You aren’t kidding,” he shot back. “I can’t catch my breath. It’s one fire after another. I guess I’m just too old for this.”

“You aren’t too old, Owen. You are finding yourself in the same situation as most other executives right now. It’s time to increase your leadership’s ‘inner’ agility.”

“I’m ready for anything that helps me stay sane while I move this business forward,” he said. “Tell me more.”

“Well, there are two parts of inner agility,” I shared. “These are emotional and cognitive, and they both play a part in how well you make decisions and take actions. Emotional agility has to do with how well you manage your thoughts and emotions around your experiences. And cognitive agility has to do with your ability to make complex decisions.”

Owen and I talked for a bit about emotional agility and after exploring a bit, it seemed he was on top of things there. If you are interested in working on this particular aspect of agility, see the article Four Steps to Crisis Management.

We then talked about his ability to make complex decisions in light of the current business landscape, and this is where Owen admitted he was struggling. He had no past success he could reference as he confronted presenting challenges – the things that had worked in the past were not relevant.

I shared the following 5 steps to help him begin to develop greater cognitive ability:

1. Stand still while moving.

It’s important for a leader to find time for pause, but it feels impossible when the challenges keep coming non-stop. Yet, pausing is what provides self-awareness, reflection, and a moment to replenish one’s emotional and mental stores. Some executives practice breathing meditations, journaling, a walk around the building once or twice daily, or another habit that creates a moment where they can regroup.

2. Adopt uncertainty.

We are creatures of comfort, and when challenges arise, we run to what feels familiar and safe. Yet, with the world’s volatility and its effects on business, we must learn to embrace what feels new and trade in the hat of “expert” for that of “explorer.” If you find yourself using language like, “When this is all over,” think again. Our mindsets and rhetoric need to change to, “Let’s explore this challenge!”

3. Change Up Your Questions.

Begin by asking yourself where you need to go. Avoid gravitating to “how do we do this?” too soon, and replace this impulse with “What if we could…?” By remaining in the visionary portion of your questioning for a longer brainstorming period, you can begin to think outside the box about the way to accomplish it at a later time. Involve your greater management team and line employees. Tell them what you want to accomplish and get their feedback about what they think needs to change in order to accomplish this. And don’t be afraid to ask, “What am I missing?” Be open to thinking about different ways of moving forward and accomplishing your goals.

4. Focus on the journey, not the destination.

The destination you head for today may not be there tomorrow. Set shorter-term strategies to continue supporting your customers and their current needs, using your values as the foundational rudder that keeps you, the team and the organization grounded in who you are and what you are about.

5. Work on the who of your personal leadership and not the how.

Hard skills and competencies are no adequate to support the business of tomorrow. Your leadership character – your personal values and integrity – along with your agility to move through the unfamiliar – will be what count now and in the future.

I was pleased that Owen decided to work on his inner agility, focusing on the cognitive piece, to help move the company forward. As we shouldered this together, he became more confident, able to read the business landscape and connect the dots to make complex decisions, and at the same time, reported that he was less stressed than he had been in years.

Now is the time to step away from old habits to embrace the new and uncertain as exciting, uncharted territory, full of promise. The landscape continues to shift and evolve. How about you?

The Clockwork of Excellent Leadership: 3 Essential Gears

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Patti Cotton

Patti Cotton reenergizes talented leaders and their teams to achieve fulfillment and extraordinary results. For more information on how Patti Cotton can help you and your organization, click here.

Leading to Recovery While Managing Response

April 1, 2020 By Patti Cotton 2 Comments

Your full attention and energy have been called to manage the current crisis. By now, part or all of your workforce is working remotely. Your executive team is alternating “home days” with “office days” to meet social distancing edicts.

Your entire management team is working on ironing out the systems and protocols that need to help you deliver service to your customers during this critical time.

But are you leading to recovery while managing response? If you aren’t already examining how to reinvent yourself and your business to meet the “next normal,” you need to shift gears now.

This begins with vision.

If you can envision the new normal, you can already lay the groundwork to meet it. You certainly know who your customers are and what they need from you at present. But can you anticipate what will they need, once this crisis has passed? The ability to look ahead and project what is likely to happen with customer behaviors and desires will help you define the future of your business. Make sure you are careful to access resources to help you project this. Pool your energy and brain trust with a few other forward-thinking leaders on a regular basis to stay current and sharpen your abilities to anticipate.

Plotting a course for the future, now, is paramount.

This may seem challenging when you are dealing with a crisis, but it’s actually the only smart thing to do. Most organizations are drafting plans that allow them to return to “business as usual.” They are doomed to fail. There will be no returning to ways of operating that we have known in the past. Those who recover and thrive understand this and are seeking to reinvent. This means that if you can respond to current demands in a way that also lays the groundwork for the envisioned future “normal,” you will have moved your organization ahead. Think about how regulatory and competitive environments in your industry may shift. Does this change your thinking around an action you might take so that you not only survive in the immediate, but you also pave the way to thrive?

You are positioned well right now to make change.

The fact is that managing change is never easy. But current conditions have placed the business world in a situation where all must take bold action and take it now. People are looking to make sense of today. They are seeking leaders who embody confidence and character, even if they don’t have all the answers yet. Employees are rallying to the cause as they work together in new ways to deliver service. Your customers are looking for the human part of your business presence and your support.

If you will look to the horizon toward anticipated and yet unseen vistas, while leading the organizational charge to move forward, your business will be primed to succeed.

The Clockwork of Excellent Leadership: 3 Essential Gears

Patti Cotton

Patti Cotton reenergizes talented leaders and their teams to achieve fulfillment and extraordinary results. For more information on how Patti Cotton can help you and your organization, click here.

Leading in a Time of Crisis

March 18, 2020 By Patti Cotton Leave a Comment

We are faced in this moment with a crisis that stretches around the world. It is affecting every aspect of our personal and professional lives.

You, as a leader, are being tested with every fiber of your being. The work challenges you were dealing with a few weeks ago have been eclipsed or compounded by COVID-19 and its effects on your business.

How do you lead through this?

The real test of leadership – a leader’s behaviors and actions during a crisis – are what help a company to move through successfully. At this time, you are no doubt being asked to make critical decisions that affect the livelihoods of many.

How can you encourage confidence and stability to bring your people along as we move through this critical period?

1. Educate yourself and others.

Make sure you are aware of federal and state requirements vis-à-vis the current situation so that you are abiding by that which is requested. Additionally, seek trusted sources to learn more about how you can protect your employees, clients, and key stakeholders. Check in with these sources on a regular basis and ask your executive team to do the same. Make sure you are communicating well and often. Dealing with a crisis means that others need to hear from you often and with reassurance.

2. Check your attitude.

The way you see and approach the crisis is critical. It is difficult to use the word pandemic as I write, but we are currently experiencing one. Focus on the things you can control as you lead forward and check your language when talking with others to make sure you are not inciting panic, fear, or stress. Your attitude bears great weight and influences many. In the not-too-distant future, we will look back to see how we made it through. Lead with this in mind.

3. Exercise self-care.

Stress and anxiety can certainly soar during these times. Yet, frequenting public places to exercise and get self-care services may not be your first choice at this time. Think about replacing these rather than foregoing them. For example, if you feel uneasy about going to the gym, find some recorded videos for workouts at home. Avoiding spas or other self-care centers? Create your own spa experience at home with music, hot tub soak, and other ideas.

4. Be decisive.

As you and your team make critical decisions, move forward with conviction to take action. Don’t wait to be the last company on the block to make a move you know you should be making. Part of keeping the employee and client base calm and developing trust is sending a message of strength through taking precautions when you know you should.

5. Feed your executive team.

Don’t forget that your executive team needs increased connections with you during this time. Think about incorporating a daily huddle for updates, a weekly briefing with discussion around next steps forward, and frankly, even stopping by their office during the day to check and see how they are doing. Your team is carrying great weight with you, and they deserve the reminder that they are appreciated as they carry this responsibility. Where you cannot meet in person, collaborate virtually.

6. Stay connected with your life team.

These are the few close people in your life who care about you and who will be supportive and present for you. As a leader, it is hard to ask for this kind of support. It can be difficult to find people with whom you can share not only feelings of celebration, but also feelings of doubt and uncertainty. This is a time to call on your life team even more often to fill your own cup as you continue to care for the well-being of so many others.

Patti Cotton

Patti Cotton reenergizes talented leaders and their teams to achieve fulfillment and extraordinary results. For more information on how Patti Cotton can help you and your organization, click here.

Do You Have a People Pleaser on the Executive Team?

March 11, 2020 By Patti Cotton Leave a Comment

Do you have a people pleaser on the executive team? Someone who might change opinions depending on which way the wind blows?

If so, you have a major trust leak in the team.

How can you tell if you have a people pleaser? And what can you do if you identify one?

Your people pleaser means well. In fact, this is his or her main driving force in life. But because they are busy making sure they fit in, people pleasers can’t support a particular idea or direction with integrity.

Sandy was a newly appointed executive in a large software tech company. One of the chief reasons she had interviewed well was that she exhibited a great deal of empathy.

“We needed more empathy on the executive team,” said Anna, the CEO. “In our world, tech can tend to come before people, and we were making an effort to infuse leadership with more human connection and understanding.”

“You are right to keep that in mind,” I answered. “We are losing human connection in the workplace. And empathy as one of the emotional intelligence traits is key in leadership.”

“She also brought a wealth of technical knowledge, so I felt it was a great combo,” Anna continued. “But I’m noticing that she can’t tether to a decision she makes. And she actually looks at other people to see what they are going to say before she offers an opinion.”

“This is serious,” I said. “It sounds like you have someone on the team who is stuck in what we call ‘the socialized mind.’”

“Well, whatever you call it, the team has started to distrust her. They don’t know how to take what she says or presents with any kind of certainty. She pretends to agree with everyone and seems to try to act like the people around her. A real chameleon. And she is constantly asking for feedback – seems to need praise to feel good. It’s exhausting.”

“Those are hallmarks of a socialized mind,” I responded. “This means she relies on the external world to tell her who she is and what value she brings.”

“It’s just not working,” Anna said. “I need someone who can contribute by bringing her own perspective and expertise to the mix. Someone who isn’t afraid to counter an opinion, but who can also negotiate to a great solution. When I tried to talk with her about this the other day, she just kept apologizing and started crying. I need your help.”

I met with Sandy, who was, of course, eager to please. It was clear she needed to show me that she understood and agreed with me, no matter what I shared. Not surprising, as we are all creatures of comfort who need to feel that we are accepted and safe. We took some time to become acquainted so that I could develop trust with her. I asked her what she felt was the challenge from her perspective.

“I just want to do the right thing,” she said. “Hearing what is needed is important to me. And I want to make sure I align with others’ thinking so I get it right.”

This showed me clearly that she was ready for growth. There were several things we did over the course of eight months that helped Sandy move from this people-pleasing state to one that was more tethered to her values and beliefs, even in the face of conflict.

A first phase in coaching Sandy was to help her recognize where she was trying to please others instead of standing true to herself as she negotiated solutions with the team. We began by doing some personal values work to solidify her sense of self and to use as a litmus when forming opinions.

At the same time, we identified her fears around carrying different opinions than her team members and tested out of this mindset trap in small ways so that she could become accustomed to disagreeing with others as it felt comfortable.

As her confidence grew, we explored key issues in her company and identifying multiple perspectives on how to solve these. Becoming comfortable with the complex and various ways to resolve such can be threatening to someone who needs to be right in others’ eyes. Working with real-time challenges with which she was familiar helped her to become more comfortable with weighing various options and seeing that more than one might be right.

Later, developing Sandy’s comfort and lens on seeing things as systems was important. The world is complex, and this can be overwhelming for anyone. A person of socialized mind can feel threatened by such complexity. Learning to first see complexity as a system and to become comfortable with the pieces in order to make decisions is key for today’s leadership.

Sandy’s team members rallied, seeing integrity in how she showed up and contributed. She felt the positive results and worked on developing closer relationships with each to strengthen her credibility.

The end result of our coaching? Sandy became a trusted contributor at the leadership level and the company benefited greatly, as well.

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Patti Cotton reenergizes talented leaders and their teams to achieve fulfillment and extraordinary results. For more information on how Patti Cotton can help you and your organization, click here.