Cortex Leadership Consulting

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One Path to Solving Your Biggest Problems at Work

Try this Path to Problem Solving this week

Problem SolvingIt can be confusing.  One minute you need to smooth over an upset team member.  The next, you need to hit a deadline on a report that is due.  You need to jump on a conference call and send out an email to that customer that wants a quick response.  You get to Friday and it feels like nothing truly important got done.  A month can go by you’re still battling the same issues you did last quarter.  What are you supposed to focus on?  Is it what the customer wants?  Or is it what you promised your team member you would get done? Maybe the most important task is getting that report that was due last week finished and sent out?

It’s easy to say you need to focus on the intersection between what truly matters and that which you can control.  It is much harder to pinpoint exactly what those things are and most importantly, to execute them.

Start here.

Begin with the end in mind by filling in the blanks because it’s important to create clarity before trying to solve any problem you are facing:

  1. If we get to the end of the year and ________________ is not complete the consequences will be significant to our team or organization.
  2. If we don’t ____________________________, we will not complete that thing that has such high consequences.
  3. What we need to do is ___________________________, to make certain we complete that thing.

Try this if you are stuck.

  1. Am I or are we focusing on things that are not within our control right now and therefore wasting time and energy that could be better spent elsewhere? Do we know what right will look like December 31, 2018?
  2. What is within our control right now, that we can change, fix, or complete? Do those tasks or issues work towards our goal of what right looks like?
  3. Is there anything that can be removed from our task list so that we can fully focus on tackling the things that matter most to achieving what right looks like on December 31, 2018?

If all else fails, do this.

  1. Stop. Really.  Just stop.  You could be operating from a place of anxiety which will not result in the best outcomes or your highest-level thinking.  Take a day to observe what is really happening in yours or others work flow.  You could be dealing with a systems issue.  If you have time to redo things constantly and fix things that are messed up or done improperly you have time to observe and plan for better outcomes.
  2. Get a thinking pair. Find someone who will ask you great questions and be curious about what you are doing, how you are doing things, and why you are doing certain things at all.  Curiosity is key here.  Your thinking pair is not an “expert” but rather a specialist in asking great questions that bring out our highest-level thinking.  The answers are there, you may not be seeing them from the perspective you are at.
  3. Unplug and relax. Sometimes we’ve worn ourselves out trying to solve the same problems over and over again.  Our brain needs a break.  Take a drive.  Go for a walk or run.  Turn off your phone, don’t check your email for a few hours, take some nice deep breaths and allow your brain to do its best job possible to solve some of your toughest problems.

Finally, it’s important to remember that competence breeds confidence.  You got this!

 

 

 

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The One Thing Employees Want to See Most from Their Leader

A few years ago, a leader in one of our classes… let’s call him Tom, was having a tough time with employees on his team.  During coaching sessions, I noticed that there was a common theme to the team member’s feedback about his behaviors towards them.  They were consistently saying the same things like, he didn’t give them credit for their ideas when he presented them to corporate.  From their perspective some thought he was inconsistent – they would be called out for something they thought was minor and then other times he would completely overlook something they would have thought was a major infraction.  Still other comments were around the perceptions that Tom was constantly late to meetings he had set with them and when he did show up he was on his phone checking email the whole time.

Leaders at work - Show RespectYes, employees would like to make more money, for the most part.  Yes, they would like to have more flexible work hours.  Certainly they want benefits if possible.  Yes, to all those things AND there is one thing that they want the most from their boss.  You probably guessed it already, RESPECT.

The research is in and the information may be helpful for us to review.  This article from Inc. magazine was the first source I used for this one.  When employees feel they are respected by their leaders the positive outcomes include:

  • 56 percent better health and well-being
  • 72 times more trust and safety
  • 89 percent greater enjoyment and satisfaction with their jobs
  • 92 percent greater focus and prioritization
  • 26 times more meaning and significance in their work
  • 1 times more likely to stay with their organizations than those that didn’t
  • 55 percent more engaged at work

If you’re a manager, you may not feel like one all the time, but you are a leader.  If you coordinate projects, you are leading others.  When you are influencing decisions you are leading.  Rather than focusing on people respecting or not respecting us, perhaps we need to look inside ourselves and wonder what things we are and can be doing to let the people that we work with feel respected by us.

Here are some quick thoughts on how to show respect to others you lead at work:

  • Listen to understand, not to be understood. Listen for information, not confirmation.
  • Encourage others to share their perspective and ideas.
  • Be on time to meetings.
  • Be aware of your resting face and body language as people are talking to you.
  • Treat people the same regardless of their experience, background, race, religion, size, age, or gender.
  • Treat others as they wish to be treated. Don’t assume you know.  Ask them how they would like to be treated and try just asking them one question, “What types of things make you feel disrespected at work?”  They’ll tell you, I am sure of it.

If you’re someone who doesn’t feel like you’re respected at work, the above will probably go a long way to getting more respect if you give more of it.

Here are some quick tips on how to gain more respect:

  • Listen to understand, not to be understood. Listen for information, not confirmation.
  • Do things that communicate you respect others like being on time and asking for their opinions on things.
  • Under promise and over deliver.
  • Be authentic which does not mean being rude.
  • Focus on ways to create solutions. Don’t play the blame game.
  • Seek and share knowledge.
  • Recognize and praise others for their work. Don’t act like you have a set number of “appreciation coins” in your pocket to give out in a year.

If all of this talk about respect has made you dying to hear Aretha Franklin’s song, Respect.  HERE IT IS!

Oh, you know you want to SING IT OUT LOUD and dance around right now!  Oh yeah…just do it!