The Importance Of Building A Supportive Company Culture

A supportive company culture is a living, breathing, dynamic space. It is an environment where ideas, responsibilities, respect and mutual support ebb and flow between leaders, employees, suppliers, clients and more. It is a place where trust and loyalty are nurtured carefully. And all supportive corporate cultures are built on a foundation of purpose; a shared understanding of the company vision, mission and values. Metaphorically speaking, purpose is where you are going, and corporate culture is how you are getting there.

Everyone from the most junior employee to the most senior has a responsibility to support the company culture; it is not the sole responsibility of the leadership team, HR or the social committee. A healthy, supportive corporate culture is a symbiotic relationship that involves everyone. It grows out of the big and small decisions we make, how we act, what we say, how we say it, how we treat each other and what part we play in our community. We are all ambassadors of our corporate culture as well as our own personal and professional reputation (brand).

The following are opportunities where each of us can contribute to a supportive company culture. And, while all of these are great opportunities, we must recognize it would be impossible to ever develop a complete list. So, I encourage you to consider these suggestions but to also consider what other ways you and/or your company could use to create a supportive company culture.

Company Examples: Adding to a supportive company culture:

Companies with supportive company cultures know most employees want to be proud of where they work and want to help the company be the best it can be. Yes, there will always be an employee who doesn’t care and only wants a paycheck, but truthfully, there are far fewer people like this than we may think. Most people who have checked-out simply don’t feel valued, respected and supported (3 from a list of most common reasons), but put them in a space where the corporate culture is rich and they will thrive.

To help proud employees do their best work, the following are examples how great leaders add to a supportive company culture:

1. ·      Offer employees fair wages with respectful benefits

2. ·      Strive to be sure employees feel:

   • Valued

   • Appreciated

   • Trusted

   • Involved

   • Empowered

3. ·      Encourage employees to ask questions

4. ·      Employees believe they contribute / their work is important

5. ·      Employees feel a level of control / Autonomy

6. ·      Provide employees opportunities to better themselves

7. ·      Empower employees to work when they are at their best

8. ·      Employees are:

   • Mentored

   • Challenged

   • Promoted

   • Encouraged to enjoy interests outside of work

9. ·       Be a good corporate citizen

Leadership Examples: Adding to a supportive company culture:

While it is everyone’s responsibility to build and support the company culture, leaders really do play an important role in what happens throughout the company and/or within their team. Even a leader within a company with a questionable company culture can create a happy, creative, productive and loyal corporate micro-culture when their team feels their respect and trust.

So, what can a leader do within their company and/or team to develop a supportive corporate culture?

1. Include everyone on your team to define team values and/or to discuss what the current team or organization values impact them and how they approach their work. Note: Even though your company may have defined values, I don’t think there is anything wrong with sitting with your team to not only review them… but to add one or two that your team may want to also adopt.

2. Explore openly with your team how every decision and/or action supports (or does not support) the company’s core values, beliefs, mission and vision.

3. Be approachable

4. Practice empathy

5. Be crystal clear with your expectations

6. Agree that no question is a bad question. Better people ask for clarification than do something unexpected eh?

7. Demonstrate trust by giving employees the opportunity to figure things out for themselves. This often develops a greater sense of responsibility, pride and confidence in the employees (or teams) and makes their work important to them. 

8. Demonstrate you value suggestions from employees and suppliers as much as you do from other leaders.

9. Provide employees and teams the autonomy and decision-making ability they need to be accountable. Leaders need to support their team while also helping them be responsible and accountable for their work. Accountability develops greater sense of responsibility, pride and confidence. It will help them grow and be better at their work in the future. Remember, leaders do not make every decision; they trust employees who are experts and/or closer to the work.

10. Reward when people and/or teams are accountable. 

11. Encourage and praise employees who collaborate well with others. This doesn’t mean only reward extraverts; introverts are often some of the best collaborators.  

12. Take onboarding new employees seriously, help them learn the language, the culture and the organization. Consider matching new employees with internal mentors.

13. Help your company and team be a good corporate citizen.

14. Respect our environment.

Employee Examples: Adding to a supportive company culture:

During my career I have had some great bosses – I’ve also had one really bad boss. This bad boss created a terrible team culture even though the overall corporate culture was quite good. Thankfully, there were a few of us on the team who banded together to support each other and to find ways to do our best work within the toxic storm our leader created.

Ways in which employees can add to a supportive company (or team) culture include:

1. Know what the company’s core values, beliefs, mission and vision are. Try to use those as goal posts for the decisions you make.

2. Demonstrate you recognize everyone has a voice and their ideas are valued.

3. Always enjoy a good laugh, but never at someone else’s expense. Mutual respect is critical.

4. When you are wrong or makes an error, admit it and move on. Being accountable shows respect for yourself and your colleagues. A culture of accountability also develops trust.

5. When someone else is wrong or makes an error, move on. Ask them if they would like your support to find ways to minimize / correct the damage. 

6. When someone else has a better idea, give them credit and help them / the team develop it further. Be an example of integrity, honour and respect of other people and ideas.

7. Be respectful with your language.

8. Help your company and team be a good corporate citizen.

9. Respect our environment.

Toxic workplaces cause psychological and physical stress. This engages peoples natural instinct to protect themselves, to not share creative ideas, decreases motivation, increases absenteeism and eventually turnover.

Organizations are aways in competition to hire and retain amazing people. The best way to protect themselves from losing valuable employees is to make sure you have a supportive company culture that makes your employees… and your competitions employees… want to work for you.

Conclusion

You now have many examples how to create a supportive company culture that is an environment for growth, hard work and change while still maintaining a low stress environment. This creates one of the best places to work where productivity and loyalty are high while conflict and turnover are low. When we have a great company culture, employees trust each other and can be their true authentic self. When we trust and respect each other we share good ideas, crazy ideas, we look out for each other and everyone wins. 

BONUS:

Two deeper dives into how companies and leaders can build great a great corporate culture.

1.     Build a solid employment brand. It starts with understanding what makes your organization unique. Once you have it, promote it; find every opportunity to talk about the company brand. Write articles, post employee survey results, sit on panel discussions, talk with reporters in addition to the more common approach of building a great career website and distributing job openings in both typical and non-standard places. Make sure that everyone knows yours is a great place to work.

If you’re a good employer, employees will want to work for you. Existing employee loyalty will go up and when you do need to hire new people you will be attracting talent that want to work for your company versus have to find a job.

Now is the time to be further developing your corporate culture because you can bet your competition is.

2.     Consider sabbaticals or approved / arranged boomerangs. We all know what a sabbatical is. In office terms a boomerang is when an employee leaves a company and then later returns to work for the company.

Imagine offering an agreed upon leave of absence like sabbaticals and boomerangs to employees who meet or exceed expectations to achieve a personal goal or gain new skills. 

Neither sabbaticals or boomerangs need to be for a year. Why not let them be can be as flexible as required. And, perhaps you can arrange employees spend some time in the office so you don’t lose all productivity. For example, imagine having a strong employee who requests a 3-month sabbatical to take a few courses or earn a professional certificate to help them further their career. Depending on their schedule they may even be able to work 2-days a week. Or imagine letting an employee take a 2-month boomerang to take their dream vacation.

Offering flexible options will provide a clear example of how you trust and value employees while giving them some autonomy. Employees who negotiate sabbaticals and boomerangs are going to be even more valuable when they return because they will always have a fresh perspective and likely be more hard-working than ever. If nothing more, they will be more loyal. And let’s be clear, in most cases you will save thousands of dollars versus the high cost of recruiting new talent in highly competitive business environments and opportunity lost when valued employees see no other way to get ahead than to quit… or worse, to not take a dream course or vacation, feel resentful about it and stay.

Whenever you can, create a workplace where employees feel comfortable being themselves and is built on mutual respect and mutual benefit.

Thank you for your interest in building a supportive company culture.

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About Bruce and Bruce Mayhew Consulting.

Bruce is Corporate Trainer, Keynote Speaker and Executive Coach.

Bruce Mayhew Consulting specializes in customized Email Etiquette Training, Leadership & New Leadership Development, Generational Differences, Time Management Training and other soft skills training solutions in Toronto and across Canada. Bruce is also an Executive Coach to a few select clients.

Bruce is an experienced motivational speaker in Toronto and has inspired audiences across Canada and within the USA and the UK. Bruce works hard to always make sure your training event, conference, retreat, or annual general meeting is a success.

Introducing Dr. Edward de Bono's Six Thinking Hats

I recall that when I first learned about Six Thinking Hats by Dr. Edward de Bono it was from someone who said it was a tool to analyze how each of us instinctively ‘think’ and therefore determine how potential hires may ‘fit’ within a team. It instantly seemed odd to me to think any person can be identified as ‘one thing’ … and it still does. Take me for example, different parts of my personality and experience are present at different times. Sometimes I am quiet and reserved and sometimes I take charge… and there is a whole spectrum in the middle.

Long story short, the person who introduced Six Thinking Hats to me was missing the power of this model. There are however Psychometric tests that do a very good job measuring an individual’s logical, verbal, mechanical, abstract and situational judgement reasoning. But for now, as a communication and leadership trainer and coach, let me share what I’ve learned after much research and my understanding about how the Six Thinking Hats can be used.

I see Six Thinking Hats as a great leadership, team, planning and problem-solving tool. It gives us a guideline on how to expand our thinking and encourages us to explore non-traditional possibilities and opportunities that may impact a project or decision. It also helps us analyze risk. And, as I suggested above, if we use it to only define ‘how Bruce thinks’ or ‘Bruce’s instinctive style’  then we are not doing our project, our company and certainly not Bruce and his future any favours.

What Are The Six Thinking Hats?

Before we go any further, let me share with you my explanation of what each colour within the Six Thinking Hats means from the perspective of a leader:

1. White Hat: "Facts & Information"

   • The white hat represents research, learning and information gathering. It’s about knowing what you know and knowing what you don’t know. It is also about giving yourself permission to learn more - gather more facts and information.

2. Red Hat: "Emotions & Intuition"

   • The red hat represents emotions and feelings. It’s about tapping into intuition, empathy and hunches while feeling safe to share who you are, your likes and dislikes. It is about embracing Soft Skills and what makes each of us unique.

3. Black Hat: "Judgement & Skepticism"

   • The black hat is the judgement. Judging, being cautious and assessing risk is important but too often the black hat is overused. Part of the creative process is learning from our mistakes… not hiding them or being fearful of making one as we grow. Make sure your environment doesn’t condemn mistakes and allow caution to paralyze progress.

4. Yellow Hat: "Optimism & Benefits"

   • The yellow hat represents optimism, the glass is half full not half empty. We embrace values, see opportunity, explore benefits and encourage positivity. 

5. Green Hat: "Creativity & New Ideas"

   • The green hat represents creative thinking. Green represents exploring new ideas and possibilities; it is about being free to be our unique selves, to share our thoughts and to try new things.

6. Blue Hat: "Control & Organization"

   • The blue hat represents control but certainly not stagnation. Everything happens on purpose. It is about strategy and a shared vision. It is about goals, objectives, planning, agendas and defined / measurable conclusions. 

I really like how the Six Thinking Hats encourages us to think more broadly. For example, it’s easy (and very common) to explore all the risks and threats of an idea and forget to explore all of the creative possibilities and opportunities that may not be immediately obvious. When we look at only the negatives and risk of a decision, we can’t truly move forward, learn, adapt and grow.

The Six Thinking Hats reminds us to look at a situation (every situation) from six different perspectives.

For The Team

• The model helps eliminate bias and group think. No matter what someone’s  personal style or even hierarchy, using the Six Thinking Hats (Red, Yellow, Black etc) helps the team stay focused on important issues and encourages shared understanding. This leads to the team being able to collaborate more effectively and reach consensus with little to no conflict. It also often means decisions are made more quickly and with less waste because it improves transparency, collaboration, team trust and accountability in a very productive way.

• A team can use the Six Thinking Hats in many ways. For example, a committee of 12 people could divide into six teams with two people per team. Each team could explore a shared topic, need or opportunity from the perspective on one of the hat colours. Then, after 1-hour each team would present their ‘research’ and ‘brainstorming’ to their peers. This would be a quick way to conduct a very thorough review which should also lead to shared understanding, shared decision making and perhaps best of all… shared commitment.

For The Individual

• The Six Thinking Hats helps each of us grow by encouraging our creativity and imagination while also improving our analytical skills. But it does more of each of us. The Six Thinking Hats encourages us to make room for other people’s opinions and to remember that not only are each of our jobs and responsibilities different, we are not all built the same. From this we are able to build trust with other people and within our teams, helping each of us to communicate more confidently and effectively and develop more reliable interpersonal skills.

It’s far too easy for us to get overwhelmed exploring risks (the black hat), and to not give creative ideas the benefit of the other six hats. The Six Thinking Hats reminds us to do more and be more. It is a leadership, team and problem-solving tool that gives us permission to be cautious and also permission to dream and to use non-traditional thinking or ‘thinking outside the box’ which may be a more familiar term.

Whether we are using the model as an individual to evaluate options or if we are in a team, the Six Thinking Hats theory empowers us to generate traditional and non-traditional ideas and to use non-biased evaluation to select the best possible decision. And of course, giving a nod to the blue hat, the model provides concrete reasoning that we can use now and in the future to justify our decision.

Example of how Dr. Bono’s theories help us generate non-traditional ideas:

Problem: A company is dumping pollution into a lake. It is seriously harming the ecosystem and a solution has to be found. There are many traditional methods that come to mind:

• Tax the company for each ton of sewage they dump.

• Draft laws that force them clean their waste before it goes into the lake.

• Draft laws that make them collect and recycle their waste in advance.

These solutions can work, but they are complicated, take time, require constant monitoring and can fail.

Solution (non-traditional): Using critical thinking and the Six Thinking Hats to generate new ideas, a team identifies a simple and non-traditional solution. Make the company position their water intake valve immediately downstream from their sewage output valve (usually output valves are positioned downstream). This way, the company is the first to be impacted by any pollution they dump. They will be eager to monitor pollution levels themselves and will likely be very motivated to find eco-friendly alternatives to their processes.

Conclusion

The Six Thinking Hats is a framework that helps us explore all sides of a situation; to dream, be creative, listen carefully, evaluate, feel, learn and above all, to grow, become better and achieve more as a team and as an individual. It helps us explore what can be… versus what is. The model also helps us change our perception and therefore overcome ‘errors of potential’ as Dr. Bono might say.

When you are faced with solving a problem, try using the Six Thinking Hats model to frame your approach and help you generate new ideas. I am confident it will help you explore your problem from multiple perspectives, improve creativity, help develop teamwork within a team (if you have one) and firm up your (and other peoples) commitment.

NOTE: The Six Thinking Hats approach was created by Dr. Edward de Bono a Maltese physician, psychologist and philosopher who is a global authority on creative and conceptual thinking wrote a book called ‘The Six Thinking Hats’ that encourages all of us to think differently and ‘The Mechanism of The Mind’ and many other books.

Thank you for reading this article, please be well. Happy communicating and happy leading.

Bruce

An other article you might like.

Read How to Prepare for a Job Interview Level 1

About Bruce and Bruce Mayhew Consulting.

Bruce is Corporate Trainer, Keynote Speaker and Executive Coach.

Bruce Mayhew Consulting specializes in customized Email Etiquette Training, Leadership & New Leadership Development, Generational Differences, Time Management Training and other soft skills training solutions in Toronto and across Canada. Bruce is also an Executive Coach to a few select clients.

Bruce is an experienced motivational speaker in Toronto and has inspired audiences across Canada and within the USA and the UK. Bruce works hard to always make sure your training event, conference, retreat, or annual general meeting is a success.

Build A Supportive Company Culture

A supportive company culture is a living a breathing, dynamic space. It is an environment where support for people and their ideas ebb and flow between leaders, employees, suppliers, clients, their communities and more.

A healthy, supportive corporate culture is a symbiotic relationship centred around the company’s core values, beliefs, mission and vision. Everyone from the most junior employee to the most senior has a responsibility to support the company culture, it is not a responsibility for only the leadership team or the responsibility of HR or the social committee.

Venice Italy

The following are opportunities for companies, leaders and employees to build together and add to a supportive company culture. These are all great opportunities but it would be near impossible to develop a complete list. It is likely there are some unique opportunities for your business. For example, imagine that if you are in the entertainment business what you might be able to do around a special performance or with a costumed event. If you are in the technology business what might you be able to do with a custom app or remote team solutions. Bring your teams together to brainstorm ideas.

I encourage you to consider what you can do to integrate or strengthen the opportunities within this article. I also encourage you to celebrate and share with your friends, family and like minded professionals what you and/or your company does that is not included within these lists.

Company Examples: Adding to a supportive company culture:

Supportive corporate cultures are respectful of everyone. Companies realize that employees want to be proud of where they work. Employees are also eager to help the company be the best it can be… until they feel disrespected or used. To help employees do their best work and be the best individual they can be, supportive companies don’t only take, they give back to employees, helping them be their best and be proud of what they do and the company they work for.

Companies that add to a supportive company culture:

• Strive to be sure employees feel:

  • Valued

  • Appreciated

  • Trusted

  • Involved

  • Empowered

• Encourage employees to ask questions.

• Take opportunities to let employees know they contribute and that their work is important.

• Help employees feel a level of control and autonomy.

• Provide employees opportunities to better themselves.

• Empower employees to work when they are at their best.

• Provide opportunity for employees to be:

  • Mentored

  • Challenged

  • Promoted

  • Encouraged to enjoy interests outside of work

• Let employees grow at their own pace.

• Are a good corporate citizen.

• Offer employees fair wages with respectful benefits.

Leadership Examples: Adding to a supportive company culture:

While it is everyone’s responsibility to build and support the company culture, leaders do play an important role in what happens throughout the company and/or within their team. Great leaders don’t wait – they know that even within their own team they can make a difference and create a fantastic, trusting and respective corporate culture where employees on their team are happy, creative, productive and loyal.

So, what can a leader do within their company and/or team to develop a supportive corporate culture?

• Explore openly with their team how every decision and/or action supports (or does not support) the company’s core values, beliefs, mission and vision.

• Be approachable.

• Practice empathy.

• Be crystal clear with expectations.

• Celebrate great work.

• Recognize and celebrate when employees make decisions or take actions that are inline with the company’s core values, beliefs, mission and vision.

• Agree that no question is a bad question. Better people ask for clarification than do something unexpected eh?

• Demonstrate trust by giving employees the opportunity to figure things out for themselves. Opportunity often develops a greater sense of responsibility, pride and confidence in the employees (or teams) and makes their work important to them. 

• Listen. Leaders demonstrate they value suggestions from employees and suppliers as much as they do from other leaders.

• Provide employees and teams the autonomy and decision-making ability they need to be accountable. Great leaders help employees and teams be responsible and accountable for their work. Accountability develops greater sense of responsibility, pride and confidence in the employees (or teams) work in similar ways that opportunity does. Accountability will help employees grow and be better at their work in the future. Remember, leaders do not make every decision; they trust employees who are experts and/or closer to the work.

• Reward when others are accountable. Celebrate accountability. Turn it into a positive team building and / or learning experience.

• Encourage and praise employees who collaborate well with others. This doesn’t mean only reward extraverts; introverts are often some of the best collaborators.  

• Take on-boarding new employees seriously, help them learn the language, the culture and the organization. Consider setting new employees up with internal mentors for a short time.

• Help the company and team be a good corporate citizen.

• Respect our environment.

Employee Examples: Adding to a supportive company culture:

During my career I have had some great bosses – I’ve also had one really bad boss. He created a terrible team culture within a more or less very good corporate culture. Thankfully, there were a few of us on the team who baneded together to support eachother and to find ways to do the best work we could do within the perfect storm our leader created every day.

Ways in which employees can add to a supportive company (or team) culture include:

• Know what the company’s core values, beliefs, mission and vision are. Try to use those as goal posts for the decisions they make.

• Demonstrate they recognize everyone has a voice and their ideas are valued.

• Always enjoy a good laugh, but never at someone else’s expense. Mutual respect is critical. Toxic workplaces cause psychological and physical stress. This engages peoples natural instinct to protect themselves, to not share creative ideas, decreases motivation, increases absenteeism and eventually turnover.

• When you are wrong or make an error, admit it quickly, help find a solution and move on. Being accountable shows respect for yourself and your colleagues. A culture of accountability also develops trust.

• When someone else is wrong or makes an error, offer to help find a solution and move on. Ask if your support to find ways to minimize / correct the damage would be helpful, don’t push your way in.

• When someone else has a better idea, give them credit. If appropriate, help them / the team develop it further. Be an example of integrity, honour and respect of other people and ideas.

• Be respectful with your language.

• Help the company and team be a good corporate citizen.

• Respect our environment. 

Conclusion

When our workspace creates a space where employees feel comfortable being themselves. When we have a great corporate culture, employees trust each other and can be their true authentic self. When we trust and respect each other we share good ideas, crazy ideas and we look out for each other. This is the best environment for growth, hard work and change while still maintaining a low stress environment. This creates one of the best places to work where productivity and loyalty are high while conflict and turnover are low.

Negative cultural issues can have long-standing effects on your workforce’s wellbeing and performance. Leaders who do not realize this are setting up the company, the employees and suppliers and of course themselves for failure.

BONUS:

Two deeper dives into how companies and leaders can build great a great corporate culture.

1.    Build a solid employment brand. It starts with understanding what makes your organization unique. Once you have it, promote it; find every opportunity to talk about the company brand. Write articles, post employee survey results, sit on panel discussions, talk with reporters in addition to the more common approach of building a great career website and distributing job openings in both typical and non-standard places. Make sure everyone knows yours is a great place to work.

If you’re a good employer, employees will want to work for you. Existing employee loyalty will go up and when you do need to hire new people you will be attracting talent that want to work for your company versus have to find a job.

Now is the time to be further developing your corporate culture because you can bet your competition is.

2.    Consider sabbaticals or approved / arranged boomerangs. We all know what a sabbatical is but a boomerang in office terms is when employee leaves a company and then returns to work for the company at some later date. Imagine offering an agreed upon leave of absence like sabbaticals and boomerangs to employees who meet or exceed expectations to achieve a personal goal or gain new skills.

Sabbaticals and boomerangs don’t have to be for a year. Why not let them be can be as flexible as required, and perhaps you can still arrange employees spend some time in the office so you don’t lose all productivity. For example, imagine giving a strong employee who meets expectations a 3-month sabbatical where they work 1 or 2-days a week and use the extra time to take a few high-intensity courses or earn a professional certificate to help them further their career. Or, imagine letting an employee take a 2-month boomerang to take their dream vacation.

Offering flexible options will provide a clear example to all employees that you trust and value them. And, when you have an employee who has returned from a sabbatical or boomerang they will have a fresh perspective and likely be more valuable and hard-working than ever. If nothing more, they will be more loyal and you will save a ton of time, money and intellectual knowledge versus the high cost of turnover and hiring new employees. Think about it, can you advertise for, interview, hire and train a new employee in 2-months… or even 6-months? Usually no. We see time and time again when a valued employee sees no other way to get ahead than to quit… or worse, they stay and feel resentful and not appreciated.

Thank you for reading this article, please be well. Happy communicating and happy leading.

Bruce

An other article you might like.

Read How to Prepare for a Job Interview Level 1

About Bruce and Bruce Mayhew Consulting.

Bruce is Corporate Trainer, Keynote Speaker and Executive Coach.

Bruce Mayhew Consulting specializes in customized Email Etiquette Training, Leadership & New Leadership Development, Generational Differences, Time Management Training and other soft skills training solutions in Toronto and across Canada. Bruce is also an Executive Coach to a few select clients.

Bruce is an experienced motivational speaker in Toronto and has inspired audiences across Canada and within the USA and the UK. Bruce works hard to always make sure your training event, conference, retreat, or annual general meeting is a success.

Almost No One Is Born A Great Leader

Almost no one is born a great leader, but I am confident anyone can become one.

Even those few internationally recognized leaders like Alan Roger Mulally* who learned leadership qualities and values from his parents and other role models while growing up have had to work hard to become great leaders. Mr. Mulally freely shares how he studied, read, talked with, listened to, surrounded himself with other strong leaders, practiced, failed and learned from his mistakes on his journey.

If you are reading this article you are interested in being a great leader. In fact you may already be a good leader and want to continue your own journey to become a great leader and help the leaders who report into you. On your journey I’m sure you have already read or listened to great speakers about how you can improve your skills. Maybe you have even read some of my other articles or heard me speak at a conference.

As with everything I know of there is a positive and a negative; a good and bad; a pro and a con. So, for this article I want to do something different than my usual approach to discuss what great leaders should do. In this article I want to discuss challenges… or more specifically, three challenges that often destroy careers for people who want to be, could be and even should be great leaders.

What Makes A Flawed Leader?

1.    May be promoted before they are ready.

Far too often people are hired or promoted because they have excelled at a specific task or a specific technical skill. Top performers are often rewarded with a promotion and more responsibility. The challenge is that while it is great they are a top performer, that doesn’t prepare anyone to lead others. If you have a top performer I encourage you to offer them leadership training before you promote them.

Being a great leader means you will have to be a coach and mentor who creates a vision and inspires others to be their best as a team. You have to listen to others, make compromises, build trust and nurture loyalty in others. But being a top performer doesn’t mean you have learned those skills. In fact, many top performers are very self-motivated with a high degree of technical knowledge and skills. But, becoming a leader usually means stop doing some or all of their skills that got them their promotion. 

When people are hired or promoted into leadership roles primarily because they have specific technical skill instead of their specific leadership skill, we will not only have individuals that don’t reach their potential. When great employees are promoted without learning the leadership skills they need we also have teams and whole companies that don’t reach their potential. Those leaders with only great technical skill often become bottle-necks of information because they feel they have to ‘do’ the ‘doing’ like they did before they became official leaders instead of inspiring and coaching others.

This doesn’t mean they don’t have great leadership skills… in most cases they do. They just have never had to use, build and rely on them much in the past when they were a team member versus a team leader. That is why its important to offer high-potential people leadership training before you promote them. In fact, I would suggest everyone receive some leadership training.

2.    Don’t build trust

There are many ways to build or destroy trust.  Whether you are a leader or a co-worker, the catalyst for trust are the same. And while trusting others and being trustworthy is important for everyone, the need to build trust is absolutely critical for great leaders.

Building trust is a two-way street. Great leaders have to be trustworthy; their team members have to learn that they can trust them. Great leaders also have to learn to trust the people within their team. This is where being a great coach and mentor come in handy because highly motivated people may not have had to trust others much in the past, but now they are leaders building trust and being trustworthy are key indicators of success.

When employees don’t trust their leader they move into protection mode. This makes perfect sense and we can not blame employees when they do this. When people go into protection mode their performance, creativity and loyalty usually decline for a whole list of reasons.

Here are some of the key attributes of people who don’t build trust:

• They don’t give credit to others. One of the worst things a leader can do is to not encourage their team members when they have done a good job. However, trust destroying behaviour is eclipsed if they take credit for someone else’s work. 

• They don’t take responsibility when they made a mistake. If a leader doesn’t take responsibly for a mistake, or worse yet covers it up or blames others, team members will not feel they can come forward when they make a mistake… and we all make mistakes from time to time.

• Don’t share information. There are many reasons for this, for example they often believe knowledge is power and may want to keep themselves as a critical, important resource.

• It is always their way or no way. When their ideas or approach is always the only way forward it is demoralizing, making others feel irrelevant and incompetent. This is even worse if they always re-do everyone’s work. 

• Professional development is a luxury never or rarely offered and/or not taken seriously, especially is not in-line with the way they want to work.

Trust is built when we listen to each other with the intent of understanding each other. When we listen to each other we are demonstrating respect. Two of the greatest rewards we all have is a desire to be seen as competent in the work we do and that our work is relevant. We all want to feel we make a difference and are respected for our contribution and poor leaders often are not good at helping others feel their work is important and they are making a difference.

Leaders have to help others be as successful as they were earlier in their career. This is a more difficult’switch’ than it sounds and every leader I know has had to get help to unlearn some trust behaviour and learn new trust behaviour

3.    Are a bottleneck for important decisions or information

A poor leader is a bottleneck who slows down any and all decision-making process.

In today’s fast paced, highly technical world it is near impossible for a leader to be able to know everything about everything and to do everything about one thing. If this is the case, it is likely that by being a bottleneck they are slowing down decisions and putting themselves, their team and the company at risk of falling behind. Here are some of the key attributes of people who are a bottleneck for important decisions or information:

• Don’t empower or teach autonomy within their team. Another of the greatest rewards that resonate with all of us is having some control of what we work on and when. 

• Try to decrease risk of making a bad decision by establishing an ever-expanding list of rules and procedures. Besides being in full control, this is one of the most efficient ways to hinder and disable a team.

• Waste time and miss opportunities. Every person, every department and every organization has limited time and resources. If a leader tries to impact all decisions, they rarely succeed in any of them.

• Increase overall risk of success because of their slow-action and non-action, and therefore missing opportunities

• Because individuals become demotivated, they leave. One of the signs of a dysfunctional leader is high-turnover because people around them quit

• They, their team or their company fall behind in a fast-paced culture / market

Decision makers see decisions as a path that can be fine-tuned along the way as information, opportunity and needs change.

They may feel knowledge is their reward for hard work - but really knowledge is a tool and if we keep it from our talented team we are handicapping them and hurting the success of the project - and therefore hurting our own success.

Conclusion / Solution

Leadership today is much different than it was 10 years ago when Millennials were young, 25 years ago when Gen Xers were young and especially 40 years ago when Boomers were young. Leadership is complex and great leaders are aware of the behaviours that can derail their success and the success of the people and company who depend on them.

Today’s leaders need qualities and skills that unify every team and inspire every individual. Because almost no one is born a great leader, great leaders today are proactive not only with the vision and values of their company and team, they are proactive in their own success and the success of their team members.

A few years ago I was giving a presentation discussing Leadership and Generational Differences. A young 30-something Millennial asked “What can I do to learn how to be a great leader?” My conclusion to this article is the same advice I gave her. If you are looking to be / become a great leader I recommend you read as many books on leadership and related topics like Difficult Conversations and Change Management as possible. There is no one book that has it all. I also recommend you find other sources and add them to your education list. Sources like Ted Talks, going to conferences, speaking with other leaders you know, asking to take leaders you don’t know out for a coffee, reading magazines and so on.

Great leadership is a life-long journey. The world is changing around us and change is getting faster and faster. How we need to lead is also changing. Just like how leadership is different now than it was 20 years ago, leadership is going to be different again in 10 years from now.

Thanks for reading.

BONUS: 3 More Bad Practices.

Flawed leaders:

1. Don’t allow people to bring their uniqueness / individuates to work.

2. They are not interested in getting to know what motivates and inspires each of their team.

3. Don’t give people an opportunity to broaden their experience by working on new projects and / or with different people.

Be well. Happy communicating and happy leading.I hope this article will help you be a great leader. 

Bruce

Reference Foot Notes:
* Alan Roger Mulally is an American aerospace engineer and manufacturing executive. He is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of the Ford Motor Company and before that was the executive vice president of Boeing and the CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA).

An other article you might like.

Read How to Prepare for a Job Interview Level 1

About Bruce and Bruce Mayhew Consulting.

Bruce is Corporate Trainer, Keynote Speaker and Executive Coach.

Bruce Mayhew Consulting specializes in customized Email Etiquette Training, Leadership & New Leadership Development, Generational Differences, Time Management Training and other soft skills training solutions in Toronto and across Canada. Bruce is also an Executive Coach to a few select clients.

Bruce is an experienced motivational speaker in Toronto and has inspired audiences across Canada and within the USA and the UK. Bruce works hard to always make sure your training event, conference, retreat, or annual general meeting is a success.

You Are Asked To Meet Unreasonable Timelines. What To Do.

I just had a quick “Can I bounce a situation off of you” request from one of my coaching clients. This is an agreement my clients and I have. They know that if I can I will drop everything for them for quick chats like this. 

The Situation

It’s Friday morning and like many people one of the first things you do is check your work email. Yes, you know in the name of healthy work-life-balance and your blood pressure you should not.

One of the many overnight email you received (yes, you also check your email before bed… another bad habit), is from a peer in another division. They sent you a 30-page report that you didn’t know was coming and asked you to provide comments by 11:00AM this morning. Like many people, you have a full day of back-to-back meetings with your team, your boss (whose time is even more compressed than yours) and many other people who are counting on you.

What Should You Do?

Let’s be clear, they are not being fair to you and they are seriously compromising / hurting their own personal and professional reputation. Also, if you surprise one or more of your team and ask them to review the report by 11AM you risk being labelled as unreasonable as well… and that is a hit to your reputation.

At best, they should have let you know the report was coming. If you knew it was coming you could have set aside some time and planned for the review. This may be a review from you or you may have been able to prepare a few members from your team to each take a section to provide a quick but thorough review so you could meet their quick turn-around window.

As an Executive Coach and Leadership Trainer I would say there is no single perfect response, so let’s explore a few different responses. Then, if you ever find yourself in this spot you might use one or you might use a combination of two of them to best complement your situation.

Before we get going I want to highlight the word ‘response’ that I just used. Respond is good – do not react. Respond means you have thought through your options before you acted. React means you had an impulse and went with the first thing you thought of. Either way (respond versus react) your reputation will forever be impacted by what you do. Personally, I like to be accountable to my responses.

A Few Different Response Options:

1. If this is outside their typical pattern / emergency report and they need your help, I recommend doing anything you can for them. There are always emergencies when all hands need to be on deck.

2. If this is typical for them, if you tell them you / your team have only 30-minutes to spare to do a high-level review, be careful. They may intentionally or unintentionally give their leaders the impression that you / your team reviewed it and only had a little feedback. This may come back on you a week, month or year from now.

3. If this is typical for them, let them know you / your team have only 30-minutes to spare and ask them to highlight the section that they think is most important or time sensitive. I would also formally tell them how much time you need to do a comprehensive review and when you could do it. This way you are helping them now, clearly putting responsibility on their shoulders, and you are training them (hopefully) to give you more time next time.

4. If you can’t meet their timelines, tell them as soon as possible. As before, I would also formally tell them how much time you need to do a comprehensive review and when you could do it. Again, hopefully you are putting responsibility on their shoulders and training them to give you more time or more warning next time. Depending on the corporate culture and political atmosphere at your organization, you may want to give your leader a quick heads-up. But, be sure you sound rational and thoughtful not agitated and critical when you speak with your boss.

Let’s face it, as a leader you are always being watched and you are always impacting the morale, motivation and respect of your team… and from your team. You set the tone for your workspace and those around you. My advice is to always be aware of this and be mindful of the impact you are having.

I hope this article will help you manage a difficult request being made of you / your team in the future.

Bruce

An other article you might like.

Read How to Prepare for a Job Interview Level 1

About Bruce and Bruce Mayhew Consulting.

Bruce is Corporate Trainer, Keynote Speaker and Executive Coach.

Bruce Mayhew Consulting specializes in customized Email Etiquette Training, Leadership & New Leadership Development, Generational Differences, Time Management Training and other soft skills training solutions in Toronto and across Canada. Bruce is also an Executive Coach to a few select clients.

Bruce is an experienced motivational speaker in Toronto and has inspired audiences across Canada and within the USA and the UK. Bruce works hard to always make sure your training event, conference, retreat, or annual general meeting is a success.

Four Rules To Be An Effective Leader

Rule 1. 

Lead by sharing a strategic vision and by honoring shared values with every decision. Be consistent with your company vision and values. Be an example that inspires others and help others be consistent with your company vision and values. At some moment in time it may be important to break the rules and do something unexpected… daring… challenging. But if your decisions are always in-line with your overall vision and values, it will be OK.

Rule 2.

Have someone (or a team) who can push you. Find successful people you trust, work with them and listen to them. Also find successful people who will listen to you and who are not scared of disagreeing with you – who will challenge you and enter into open, creative, productive, respectful dialogue.

Rule 3.

Empower everyone around you. Give them the tools, resources and moral support to push their limits and grow. Help them be successful but don’t try to be them – be you. Everyone has special qualities to add. Together you are a force – apart you are alone.

Rule 4.

Read books and articles. Yes listing to others is important and watching YouTube videos has value. But we learn differently when we read and there are thousands of talented people who have written books and shared their great ideas. Take advantage of their experience.

Conclusion

There are many great things great leaders do. I encourage you to explore how you are doing with these four rules. Thank you for reading four rules to be an effective leader. Please share your own favourite leadership rule or rules in the comments.

Thank you.

Bruce

About Bruce and Bruce Mayhew Consulting.

Bruce is Corporate Trainer, Keynote Speaker and Executive Coach.

Bruce Mayhew Consulting specializes in customized Email Etiquette Training, Leadership & New Leadership Development, Generational Differences, Time Management Training and other soft skills training solutions in Toronto and across Canada. Bruce is also an Executive Coach to a few select clients.

Bruce is an experienced motivational speaker in Toronto and has inspired audiences across Canada and within the USA and the UK. Bruce works hard to always make sure your training event, conference, retreat, or annual general meeting is a success.

5 Email Writing Guidelines To Always Follow

You likely get over a hundred email every day. I know many days I do.

There are two general types of email most of us receive. The most common is known as ‘Daily Business Email’. The other is what is often called ‘Promotional Email’. 

I don’t have to explain what daily business email are, but let’s take a moment to be clear on what promotional email are. Promotional email is usually not junk mail. They are often sent from a business to a customer or prospect. Promotional email also usually fall into one of two categories:

1. Traditional Marketing Email: Loosely defined as a commercial message often meant to start or build a business-to-consumer relationship. They might be notifying us of the latest newsletter, or they may use our past history to send us notices of new inventory, items on special, upgrade opportunities or other items we may be interested in purchasing. These are the email that can start feeling intrusive.

2. Transactional Email: Loosely defined as a personalized, one-to-one message based on existing relationships. Transactional email is sometimes called ‘Triggered Email’ because they often are in response to an action a customer or prospect has taken. For example, the online order I placed yesterday has triggered two transactional email so far, one to confirm my order was received and another to say it has been shipped. Another example is when we are sent a notice to confirm we have changed / reset our password.

Why do I bother sharing this history with you? Because no matter if you write email to ‘do’ your job, or if your job is to write Marketing or Transactional email, we should all be following the same email writing guidelines. Great email etiquette is constant no matter what the purpose or who the email recipient is. How could that be? Because our goal is always the same; that we maximize the chance our intended reader(s) will open, read, understand our email and then act in accordance with our call-to-action. 

5 Email Writing Guidelines To Always Follow To Write Better Email

As I said above, use the following five email writing guidelines whether you write ‘Daily Business Email’  or Promotional Email:

1. Use 5-7 words for your Subject Lines. Email subject lines should be short enough to be concise but long enough to tell our reader exactly why they're getting the email… and more than that, they should make a recipient want to open and read the email. The 5-7 rule is a good guideline.

2. Address your reader by name if you can. Your message will be seen as more relevant and inviting when they are personalized. How formal or informal depends on your relationship and what is expected within your corporate culture and/or brand. Always aim to make your reader feel they are valued and respected.

3. Incorporate a Call To Action (CTA) in the first sentence or two but don’t sound demanding, pushy or bossy. Repeat a version of the call to action at the end.

4. Achieve your goal by addressing the needs and/or wishes of the recipient / your customer. Sounds like a no-brainer, but it doesn’t always happen, especially with daily business email.Instead we often write messages as if they are writing to ourselves, therefore, the copy sounds self-serving.

5. Use whitespace to keep the message easy to read and easy to understand. This is one of the easiest guidelines to use but often the least used.

Email is one of the easiest ways for us to connect. And yes, there is more you could be doing. The email training workshops I’ve been teaching takes a whole half-day. But, I’m confident that if you follow these five key guidelines you will doing some of the best things to get your email opened, read, understood and answered. You will also save yourself and your readers lots of time as you build a trustworthy reputation.

NOTE for anyone sending ‘Promotional Email’: There is an option to insert special preview copy for ‘Traditional Marketing Email’ and ‘Transactional Email’ that I encourage you to use; it will help your reader prioritize your email. If you don’t use the special preview copy all is not lost, traditional marketing email and transactional email will fall back on the same rules daily business email follow and that is to show readers the first few lines of copy in your email.

BONUS: BOTTOM LINE EXAMPLE:

Either way, make sure your first sentence or your Special Preview Copy grabs your readers attention and lets your potential reader know why theyshould invest time out of their busy day to open and read your message. Here is the thing, even with Marketing email we often write as if we are writing to ourselves and address our needs… not their needs and their curiosity. This is important even if they already have a relationship with you. This is your chance to stand out and separate yourself from all the ‘noise’ they receive in their email inbox.

Whether it is in your recipients preview screen or if you are lucky enough that they have opened your email, assume the first two sentences of your email are what has to grab your readers attention. Imagine seeing an email that says.

Option 1 (not great)

Option 2 (much better at managing the readers objectives)

 If you have a chance, add a comment and share:

• 1 thing you like about email

• 1 thing you don’t like about email

Thanks,

Bruce

About Bruce and Bruce Mayhew Consulting.

Bruce is Corporate Trainer, Keynote Speaker and Executive Coach.

Bruce Mayhew Consulting specializes in customized Email Etiquette Training, Leadership & New Leadership Development, Generational Differences, Time Management Training and other soft skills training solutions in Toronto and across Canada. Bruce is also an Executive Coach to a few select clients.

Bruce is an experienced motivational speaker in Toronto and has inspired audiences across Canada and within the USA and the UK. Bruce works hard to always make sure your training event, conference, retreat, or annual general meeting is a success.

How to Prepare for a Job Interview: Level 1

Tips to help make your job interview successful.

You need to prepare for a job interview; in fact, this may be your first job interview. Although the tips I’m sharing in this article are meant for someone relatively new to the job search and interview process, the tips can help anyone prepare, feel confident and make the best impression possible. 

You Have Something Valuable to Offer

If you are just entering the workforce, it’s understandable you have limited formal work experience. That’s OK and to be expected. Don’t worry, you still have important abilities and experience to offer and talk about during your interview. 

Other than actual work experience, lets explore examples of things you can share to demonstrate what kind of person you are and your interests.

1. Remember the paper route you had or how you spent a summer cutting lawns or babysitting?

2. Did you volunteer at a school event or track meet or organize a food drive with friends over the holidays?

3. Were you a lifeguard?

4. Have you been part of a sports team or club that had to work together?

5. Did you try out to be in a play at school or at summer camp?

Don't underestimate your work experience, including your volunteer activities. There is a long list of things you may have done or helped someone else with. What did any of those activities teach you about you? What did it teach you about your strengths or even about what you don’t like doing (just as important)? What did you learn about working with others? Write down what positive and not so positive experiences you had, and then, think about what you might want to share with a potential future employer to show them how amazing you are. 

Additional Things to Prepare

To show your interview panel you have something valuable to offer, do a bit of work in advance. Things you should prepare and be ready to talk about are:

1. What are your values? What makes you – you?

   1. Go through a Values Exercise and see what 4 or 5 values feel like you. Why do these values represent you?

2. What are your interests? What excites you?

   1. What is your Vision Statement? Where do you see yourself in 6-months and 2-years?

   2. What is your Mission Statement? What do you want to do now to get you to where you want to be as you described in your Vision Statement?

3. Why you want to work for / with this company / department / person?

4. Are you responsible / dependable? If you are, prepare 2 examples that prove it. Write them down.

5. Are you a hard worker? If you are, prepare 2 examples that prove it. Write them down.

6. Are you trustworthy? If you are, prepare 2 examples that prove it. Write them down.

7. Is there something else you want to share with them about you? If you are, prepare 2 examples that prove it. Write them down.

Research The Company and The Job In Advance

This is an important step to determine if you really want to work at this company and therefore invest more time in the process.

If you do decide the company and the work is interesting, then this research will help you prepare your cover letter / executive summary as well as prepare for the interview.

Research also has another benefit. You may be a little nervous before, during and even after the job interview; that’s natural. Knowing the details of the prospective company, especially as it pertains to the job you’re interviewing for, is a great way to prepare and calm those nerves.

Here is a list of things to consider learning about the company and the work:

1. How long have they been in business?

2. Are you familiar with their website?

3. Key business (es)

4. Key markets

5. Key products / brands

6. Key growth areas

7. Number of employees

8. Number of offices / locations

9. Core Values (if they have posted them – if not read their about us)

10. Company Vision Statement / Mission Statement

11. Do they have a tagline? What do they mean by it?

12. Does it host events?

13. Community Service / Corporate Citizen?

14. Who are their competitors?

Here is a list of things to consider learning about the job / position:

1. What interests you most about the position / job?

2. What skills do you have that meet the requirements?

3. What skills will you need to learn to meet the requirements?

4. How is this job similar and different at other companies? Note: At this point this information is important for your overall knowledge but not usually something you would mention in your cover letter or during the interview.

5. What are key words and acronyms for the position and the company? You will want to use these in your resume and during your job interview.

Ask your network what they know about the organization and if they know any current or past employees you can talk to before your interview. If you are able to speak to someone who does or has worked there, ask them what it’s like to work at the company.

Thank you for reading about how to prepare for a job interview, level 1. I will enjoy your comments / suggestions of this article.

Bruce

Read How to Prepare for a Job Interview Level 2

Read How to Prepare for a Job Interview Level 3

About Bruce and Bruce Mayhew Consulting.

Bruce is Corporate Trainer, Keynote Speaker and Executive Coach.

Bruce Mayhew Consulting specializes in customized Email Etiquette Training, Leadership & New Leadership Development, Generational Differences, Time Management Training and other soft skills training solutions in Toronto and across Canada. Bruce is also an Executive Coach to a few select clients.

Bruce is an experienced motivational speaker in Toronto and has inspired audiences across Canada and within the USA and the UK. Bruce works hard to always make sure your training event, conference, retreat, or annual general meeting is a success.

How to Prepare for a Job Interview: Level 2

How to apply… and hopefully get a job interview

Make a great impression from the first time they hear from you. This means your resume and cover letter have to be impressive.

You may not have loads (or any) work experience. That is OK. You are not applying for the CEO’s job (yet). But you still have lots to offer and show them.

You still want to create a polished and well-written resume and cover letter. A one- or two-page resume will be fine. This means you have to pay attention to what resume and cover letter says and how well they read. Sentence structure, punctuation and spelling are important.

For both your resume and cover letter, use key words and acronyms for each job you are applying for and for each company and include them throughout your descriptions of your education and experience… but don’t force it; it has to sound natural and it has to be true. Key words are important to make your background real / relevant for anyone who reads your resume or cover letter. Key words and acronyms will also be important for you to be recognized when the employer or a recruiter they use an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), to screen and prioritize applicants.

Here is how to create a polished and well-written resume.

• Include in your resume:

1. Informal work

2. Volunteer experience

3. What leadership opportunities have you been exposed to in clubs or on teams?

4. What are your academic achievements?

5. Be sure to reference your technical skills on the first page.

6. If you have work experience, name the company. Also, be sure to specify what that company did.

7. What are your hobbies or particular relevant experiences that may make an impression?

8. Who are your mentors… and have you ever mentored someone else?

9. What are your values?

10. What are your goals / vision?

11. Do not include anything you cannot easily prove or talk about.

12. Do not include your photo, age, Social Insurance Number (SIN) or Social Security Number (SSN)

• Include a one-page cover letter. If it goes beyond four short paragraphs, it is likely too long:

1. Why you are interested

2. What you offer (not a resume summary)

3. Mention you look forward to the opportunity

Three last notes about your resume and cover letter:

1. Use a font and font size people can easily read

2. If you are emailing the potential employer (versus using an online submission system), send it from a meaningful and professional email address. JJGParty02@yahoo.ca is not a good email to use, however JeffryJGraham02@gmail.com is. Create on if you don’t already have one.

3. When you are done, put everything away for a day if you can. Then, when you are rested and can focus, proofread everything. Take your time and pay attention to everything. You do not want to send anything that has a typo or worse, talks about a different job or company you applied to.

   • Double check the spelling of the name of person you are sending it to. I cannot tell you how many times I receive correspondence with a typo in my name. Not Good!

   • Double check the spelling of the name of the company.

 When You Have An Interview

Prepare Yourself for an In-Person Interview

Expect to be nervous. It’s OK. And any reasonable interviewer will expect you to be somewhat nervous and should try to ease your anxiety. Here are some tips on how to prepare for your interview:

• Dress appropriately. Often a bit more conservative than expected is fine. I recommend do not wear anything with a logo… especially a competitor’s logo.

• Even if the job and/or the interview will be casual, iron your cloths, shine / clean your shoes and be clean from top to bottom. I remember being on a panel once and the candidate had dirty fingernails. It was disgusting and distracting.

• If you may perspire a lot, dress in layers and choose dark colours that will not show.

• Have a clean recycle water bottle with you that is easy to open and drink from. The sport bottle you use at the gym is likely not the best choice. Use water, not a carbonated drink that may make you burp.

• Do you have a nervous bad habit? Perhaps you use one word over and over? Perhaps you bounce a leg? Maybe you are a pen twirler or clicker. If you are unsure, ask someone who knows you. If they tell you, believe them… and watch for it during your interview.

• Be sure you are early. If travelling, give yourself a buffer. I recommend planning on being there at least 30-minutes in advance:

  • Arriving on time is your responsibility – nobody else’s.

• Bring a pen and paper so you can take notes. Make a note of each person on the interview panel. I suggest you write their names in the same order (clockwise) as they are sitting. 

Prepare Yourself for a Live Video Interview

It’s important to put as much preparation into a video interview as if you were interviewing in person. Here are twelve things you should prepare or prepare for in advance.

1. Test your connections and signal strength with a friend or family member in advance.

2. Days in advance ask what video software they use. Will you have to download it? If so, do it in advance.Zoom, Teams, GoToMeeting, Skype, and Google Hangouts are some of the most common.

3. Consider updating your software the day earlier. Reboot your device and test.

4. On the day, close off everything else if you can. Reboot your device.

5. Check your audio and video work.

6. Know how to use the interview software. 

7. Have your camera at eye level. Seriously! Nobody needs to stare at your chin or your ceiling.

8. Check your lighting – make sure you are in a well-lite room. Your face needs to be seen and should not have a big shadow on one side. If it does it means your lighting is not great and you should fix this.

9. Check your background. It should be professional and uncluttered. Remove items that may distract the interviewers. Use a blank wall or pin up a curtain or sheet if you have to.

10. Remove things that will distract you or them as best you can (people, pets), or find sitters who can watch them.

11. Be fully dressed – even if you think they will only see your top part. Accidents happen, and this is not a time to be caught with no pants on. Besides, being fully dressed will make you feel more prepared and take a worry off your mind.

12. Arrive early – just like you would in-person. This lets you check your connection again and potentially fix any issues that may come up. This also shows you think ahead and plan for the unexpected.

Prove To The Interview Panel You Take This Seriously And Are Motivated

The people interviewing you will determine in seconds if you take this seriously and want to be considered… or not. If you make them believe you are just going through the motions (for whatever reason), don’t expect a call-back. So, to demonstrate you are serious and motivated:

1. Don’t be late. Have I said this enough yet?

2. First impressions matter. I recommend planning on being there at least 30-minutes in advance. If you think there is the slightest chance of being bad traffic plan for 1-hour. If you are late you will never be able to regain that first impression.

3. If you arrive 30-minutes early like I recommend, don’t go into the office / reception area before 15-minutes.

4. The interview panel should have copies of your resume, but prepare for them just in case. Show you are a planner and are organized by bringing three copies of your resume for potential interviewers and one copy of the job posting for yourself. Don’t do this if you know they are a paperless organization. Consider putting the job posting on a tablet.

Be Aware of Your Body Language

Body language can say a lot whether you mean to or not. To keep from unintentionally sending unhelpful messages, here are a few tips that generally give others a good impression:

1. Sit up straight with good posture.

2. Don’t lean back or on the arm of a chair.

3. Place both feet on the ground to help avoid slouching.

4. Don’t get distracted looking out a window.

5. When someone is asking a question, look at them.

6. When answering, look at different people, but don’t look like you are on constant scan mode.

7. If on a video interview call, don’t get distracted looking at yourself (it happens).

What Questions Do You Have For Them?

Asking questions shows you are interested, and you will do research on your own – take initiative. Show your interest:

• Prepare three company related questions… but ask only one.

• Prepare three job related questions… but ask only one.

Just do not ask questions whose answers you could have found on their website. Instead, ask specific questions. Perhaps expand on an article in the newspaper about their work or their community involvement / corporate giving.  

After Your Interview 

You are not done after your interview. Here are a few suggestions to keep on making a good impression by following up in a professional and thoughtful way:

•  At the end of the interview thank the interviewer and each person on the interview panel.

• Phone your main contact and thank them in a day or two or (not and), send a thank you email to your main contact and Cc each person on the interview panel. If you don’t have everyone’s email, send it to your main contact only.

• Recap how interested you are.

• Add an additional personal note – perhaps about one of the questions they asked… or the answer they gave to one of your questions.

Thank you for reading about how to prepare for a job interview, level 2. I will enjoy your comments / suggestions of this article.

Bruce

Read How to Prepare for a Job Interview Level 1

Read How to Prepare for a Job Interview Level 3

About Bruce and Bruce Mayhew Consulting.

Bruce is Corporate Trainer, Keynote Speaker and Executive Coach.

Bruce Mayhew Consulting specializes in customized Email Etiquette Training, Leadership & New Leadership Development, Generational Differences, Time Management Training and other soft skills training solutions in Toronto and across Canada. Bruce is also an Executive Coach to a few select clients.

Bruce is an experienced motivational speaker in Toronto and has inspired audiences across Canada and within the USA and the UK. Bruce works hard to always make sure your training event, conference, retreat, or annual general meeting is a success.

How to Prepare for a Job Interview: Level 3

Final preparations for a job interview

Things You Should Focus On During The Interview

The following might seem like a lot to think about during the interview but half of it is common sense and half of it is what your folks have been saying to you all your life… and now you can thank them for it. Don’t worry, you will be fine.

1. Greet everyone. If you are entering a room do your best to make eye contact with everyone when you say hello.

2. Sit up straight. Don’t slouch.

3. Keep your elbows off the table.

4. Make eye contact but don’t stare at anyone.

5. Stay Present. Don’t drift when they are asking you a question. Listen to what they are asking – make sure you understand the question.

6. If you don’t fully understand the question, ask for clarification.

7. Wait a second before answering just to make sure they have finished speaking.

8. If you want a few seconds to formulate your response that is OK. Even ask for it.

9. Focus on answering the question they asked. Don’t answer a totally different question.

10. Don’t ramble.

11. Don’t make things up – people will be able to tell. It is a rare thing that someone will have all of the things they ask for. It takes confidence to say, “I don’t know”.They should respect that.

12. Speak slowly and clearly, enunciate your words.Do your best to speak at a relaxed pace. When people are nervous it’s easy to speak too quickly. Remember to breath.

13. In most cases, using one word, Yes or No answers is not good.

14. If you can, answer with stories. Talk to them about your experiences… times when you _____. Telling stories makes your experience more real, more understandable to them and more memorable to them. For example: If they ask about your experience with Excel, instead of telling them you know it well, tell them a story of how you used it to accurately predict inventory needs.

15. If you see an opportunity, incorporate what you know about the company into the discussion, but don’t force it.

16. Avoid looking at distractions – like outside windows or people walking in a hall.

17. At the end of the interview, thank the interviewer for taking the time to interview you. 

Other Things to Focus On

It would be nice if the list above was all you needed to think about during your interview. And while they are things you need to do or not do, here are a few additional things going on during the interview you will want to control or know about so they don’t throw you off your game.

1. Turn your phone off. Don’t turn it down or put it on vibrate, turn it off. If you are expecting your partner to give birth – then tell the panel that is why you have to keep it.

2. Expect people to make notes as you answer your questions. They may not always be able to make eye contact with you, so move your gaze to someone who you can look at… if that makes you more comfortable.

3. They may even throw in an uncomfortable question or challenge to see how you manage it. Do you stay calm? Do you look for solutions… or blame?

4. If shaking hands is OK to do, use a firm handshake. If you need to practice do so.

5. No cursing.

6. Address everyone by “Mr.” or “Ms.” unless they tell you otherwise.

7. Always wait for others to finish speaking. Even pause just to make sure. You do not want to ever talk over your interviewer.

8. Prepare a reference list in advance. You don’t want to waste time scrambling to get references if you are asked. Check with friends and people you have worked with and/or volunteered with. Ask them in advance to be a reference. If they say OK, add them to your list. For each reference, include a name, title, organization, division or department, telephone number, email address and your relationship / past experience with them. 

Practice For The Interview

Why not schedule a mock interview to practice?

There are some questions you can predict… and even if they don’t ask them specifically knowing the information will enable you to insert these positive responses into the questions they do ask.

Sample Interview Questions

You can’t know every question they are going to ask you, but you can guess at some of them. You have to expect some of them to be related to the job description, so you can likely go through that and imagine what you might ask someone. Then, prepare what your answer would be.

Here are ten questions I highly recommend you prepare. Even if they don’t ask them directly, they identify great information about why you would be a great fit and perhaps you can work some of this information into the answers you provide. Take some time before the interview to practice your answers – out loud.

1. Why do you want this job?

2. Why are you interested in working for our company? 

3. Tell us about a time you felt most proud of something.

4. What do you think it takes to be successful in this position? 

5. Tell us about a time you had to say no to someone. How did you handle it?

6. Describe a difficult situation when you felt stress and/or pressure. How did you handle it?

7. Would you say you prefer to work alone or with a team?

   • Why?

8. What are your greatest strengths?

9. What are your greatest weaknesses?

10. What are your future goals?

Create A Reference Guide

A reference guide puts all your important information for an interview in one place. This is great for many reasons and frankly, parts of it can be re-used for different jobs and/or companies you are applying to. And while you don’t want to read from it during the interview (except for perhaps when you read any questions you may have about the company or job), just the presence of it will show your interviewers that you are thoughtful and organized.

So, here are some suggestions for your reference guide:

• Use a binder or portfolio that you will feel comfortable bringing with you in a professional setting.

• Include what questions do you think they may ask?

• Write out your questions and the ten sample interview questions mentioned above. Then, write out your answers.

• Have a printed copy of each question and your answers. As I suggested above, bring your reference guide to the interview. You don’t want to read from it, but it will be comforting to have on hand in case you go blank.

• Use an interview reference guide to store all of the information we’ve suggested in this article including what are your values, vision and mission.

• In this reference guide, have and samples of work you have done, be it photos of projects you have worked on or samples or writing or reports you have drafted.

Double Check Where The Interview Is

I once had a training event and the client only told me the address of the building where the training would be. But the parking lot for the company was two blocks away… which they didn’t tell me. It took me 30 minutes to discover where the parking lot was, get there, purchase a ticket and walk back to the building. Thankfully I schedule a big buffer when I am meeting a new client. So, a few days before the interview call your contact and confirm:

• Address including what floor and room.

• If you are going to drive, where are you going to park? Will you have to pay for parking? If you do you have to allow for a payment type and allow time to go to the parking meter. 

I really recommend contacting someone who knows about the interview. Don’t just call the main reception desk because they may knowingly give you the wrong address / information. 

Late Arrival Blunder

Recently a leader I was coaching told me about a candidate they were interviewing for a summer position. She arrived 20 minutes late with no phone call to let them know she would be late. As she sat down, she said she was late because her father drove her to the interview, and he didn’t set enough time for them to get there on time. Would you have considered her for the job?

Thank you for reading about how to prepare for a job interview, level 3. I will enjoy your comments / suggestions of this article.

Bruce

Read How to Prepare for a Job Interview Level 1

Read How to Prepare for a Job Interview Level 2

About Bruce and Bruce Mayhew Consulting.

Bruce is Corporate Trainer, Keynote Speaker and Executive Coach.

Bruce Mayhew Consulting specializes in customized Email Etiquette Training, Leadership & New Leadership Development, Generational Differences, Time Management Training and other soft skills training solutions in Toronto and across Canada. Bruce is also an Executive Coach to a few select clients.

Bruce is an experienced motivational speaker in Toronto and has inspired audiences across Canada and within the USA and the UK. Bruce works hard to always make sure your training event, conference, retreat, or annual general meeting is a success.

How Leaders Can Use "The Motivation Myth" by Jeff Haden

For as far back as I can remember I’ve believed you can’t motivate anyone… but you can inspire them (or yourself) to do great things. Motivation however, comes from within. 

Jeff Haden’s book “The Motivation Myth” is a whole book dedicated to this idea, and I find it inspiring.

In “The Motivation Myth” Jeff takes us on a deep dive into how to motivate ourselves. Using those same techniques I see a direct line on how leaders can inspire others to achieve greatness.

One of the other great things Jeff does is provide solid reasons why motivation surges often evaporate regardless of our best intentions. And, since Jeff is Inc's most popular columnist, an author, speaker, ghost writer, cyclist, husband and so much more, I trust that if anyone knows about motivation, it is Jeff Haden.

How Leaders Can Use “The Motivation Myth”

Leaders can use the “The Motivation Myth” by embracing Jeff’s basic idea that motivation isn’t satisfying. What Jeff believes is satisfying is when we see the results from our effort and feel a sense of success and accomplishment. This makes total sense to me. So much of what I write about in my leadership articles and speak about when I give presentations and training events is the idea that one of the best things leaders can do to help someone is to learn how to inspire them.

As leaders we need to help others feel proud of what they are doing, learning and accomplishing… and this is easier than most of us imagine.

I believe you and I and all the people around us at work are inspired by only five core desires. This of course assumes we are paid a fair wage and our physical and emotional safety is not an issue. The five desires that inspire employee engagement are:

1. Competence: To be great at a task by gaining experience and using that experience.

2. Autonomy: To be trusted so that we have a choice on what we work on, when and how.

3. Purpose: To know our work is important… that what we are doing has meaning and won’t be wasted.

4. Impact: To know we are making a difference and whatever happens will be better because of us and our efforts.

5. Connection: To be part of a ‘Tribe’ as I’m sure author and speaker Seth Godin would say.

As a leader, this short list makes it easy to keep track of how we can inspire anyone, from our employees through to our children and pretty much anyone else we meet.

When people are inspired by what they accomplish, this success as Jeff calls it in “The Motivation Myth” will give them a rush. And because they like that rush they will want to feel that again and again. That is what drives people to do more of the thing that gives them a sense of ‘Competence’ or ‘Autonomy’ or ‘Purpose’ or whatever they crave.

Whatever button (desire) turns them on, be sure to push that button… or those buttons. This is when they will begin to feel sustained motivation!

It is important to note that different people will have a different hierarchy to this list of five desires. So, as a great leader, take time to learn which desires are the most important to each of the people around you. Is it a drive for ‘Competence’ or, do they light up when they know they have had ‘Impact’? One desire isn’t better than the other – they just are. And, as I teach in my training, be prepared for someone’s inspiration desire to change; especially if they have a life-changing event like a wedding, a birth, an illness or perhaps have purchased a new home. 

What About Self-Motivation?

Should you ask of yourself “What motivates me? ”Ug. No! Stop asking that question. Instead ask “What inspires me?” and“What makes me happy?”

As we have discussed above, a key message of “The Motivation Myth” is to stop waiting for motivation to hit. Instead, do something that makes you feel proud… feel success. Even if you take one small step, experience how wonderful it feels. Even if it is a bit scary it still feels great right? And, take notice of what you learned about the task and/or about yourself. That is all pretty exciting and that is what gives you the motivation to take another step.

Set yourself a goal and then write out all the steps you can think of that will lead you to that goal. Then, Jeff says ignore the goal. Only focus on the one step in front of you. Put yourself on a path and start experiencing each step. Live in the present, not the future. Feel pride and success as you accomplish that first step… and then move on to the next step on the path.

One last thing. I believe it’s important you expect your path to change over time. You may need to add a step or take a step away. You may need more time or less time. That is OK. Remember, you are likely experiencing new things and meeting new people and learning new skills. That is exciting - inspiring. Embrace that exciting, inspiring feeling. Take pride in your accomplishments. Everything is OK as long as you stay open – stay present and stay curious as you pay attention to your plan. The next thing you know you have accomplished your goal.

Thank you for reading about how leaders can use “The Motivation Myth” by Jeff Haden. It is a great book that explores how high achievers really set themselves up to win. If you have not read it, I recommend you do. I also think it is a great approach leaders can use to inspire their team. I will enjoy your comments / suggestions of this article.

Bruce

About Bruce and Bruce Mayhew Consulting.

Bruce is Corporate Trainer, Keynote Speaker and Executive Coach.

Bruce Mayhew Consulting specializes in customized Email Etiquette Training, Leadership & New Leadership Development, Generational Differences, Time Management Training and other soft skills training solutions in Toronto and across Canada. Bruce is also an Executive Coach to a few select clients.

Bruce is an experienced motivational speaker in Toronto and has inspired audiences across Canada and within the USA and the UK. Bruce works hard to always make sure your training event, conference, retreat, or annual general meeting is a success.

Advice to build an inspiring corporate culture that energizes your corporate strategy.

Advice to build an inspiring corporate culture that energizes your corporate strategy.

A first step to building an inspiring corporate culture that energizes your corporate strategy (if there ever is a first step), is to be comfortable that corporate culture and corporate strategy are two very different things that enjoy a symbiotic relationship.

Corporate Strategy answers the question, “What do we do?” It offers direction for employees to follow by defining goals and objectives. It is the Vision and Mission of the company. Strategy is tactile and easily measured using accounting tools like Net Income, Return-on-Investment (ROI), Sales Growth and Net-Conversation Rates.

Corporate Culture answers the questions, “How do we do it?” and “Why do we do it?” It encompasses energy and passion, fuelling excitement that employees, clients and suppliers will give to the corporate strategy (and feel from the corporate strategy). Corporate culture defines whether the journey is exciting, gratifying, sustainable and something to be proud of, or a lack of culture (or a negative culture) can make the exact same work discouraging, repetitive and exhausting. 

A strong corporate culture rallies people behind the strategy and can quite literally drive exponential success. But, strategy with a mediocre culture will never reach its full potential.

Being Intentional Matters

Having an intentional corporate culture is like being part of a great orchestra with many musicians committed to playing the same music at the same time at the same tempo. Sure, the string section will be playing one aspect of the concert (finance), the wind section will be playing another (production), the horns will be playing another (sales) and the percussion will be playing yet another (marketing), but together they are all excited to bring their best to a shared goal.

When a team have shared commitment and trusted leadership to guide them along the path of vision, mission and values they become high-functioning / high-value and their individual expertise shines. Staying with the example of the orchestra, if the musicians didn’t have a shared goal and a conductor they trust, their efforts would almost always be disorganized with a risk of chaos. Alternatively, working together they can all bring their unique expertise and experience to the project and create beautiful music.

Leadership Responsibility

Supporting the corporate strategy and corporate culture are two of the most important responsibilities of a leader.

As I said earlier, strategy and culture should live in balance – a symbiotic relationship. This balance should guide and align everyone’s actions and decisions whether they are collaborating as a team of 10 people or are working on their own. And while the company will have one overarching culture, great leaders know that within the company many micro-cultures will likely exist. For example, the legal department will likely have a strong sense of policy and structure while the R&D and marketing departments will likely have far more creativity and agility. But even with these differences, all employees should still experience work that is exciting, gratifying, sustainable and something to be proud of.

How you and I experience culture is always changing. Every new person on your team or in your working group will add a bit of their own flavour as they share into your corporate culture. Over time, as your company / industry changes your corporate culture will adjust a bit as well. Every company and every team will have a unique culture; you will never be able to duplicate the culture somewhere else, but that is OK just create a new great culture. So, embrace what you are experiencing but don’t hold on too tightly – expect it to change and let it change.

A word of caution; many companies move the responsibility for corporate culture to their HR team. There are real challenges with this. Sure, HR should be involved as a partner – a member of the team. But, without the unconditional input, collaboration, financial support and implementation commitment of department leaders, real impact within each department and across the organization is not possible. Healthy corporate culture limps along when it becomes only HR’s responsibility at no fault of people in HR. 

More About Corporate Culture

Because corporate culture is more elusive, I want to spend more time talking about it.

As I mentioned earlier, when exploring corporate strategy and corporate culture, strategy is what we are most familiar with. Corporate culture is far more abstract and even mysterious within organizations because it is usually a reflection of softer skills like trust, respect, transparency, diversity and inclusion, reward and recognition. But a healthy culture also positively impacts many important processes like how we hire, who we hire, how we treat advancement opportunities and so much more. Aspects of organizational hierarchy, authority and consistency are also culture attributes.

Regardless of how it is built, culture drives engagement and productivity through camaraderie, loyalty, learning, commitment – a willingness to proudly go the extra mile and lend a helping hand at a time of need or crisis. These are always driven by culture and rarely driven by strategy. Culture lives within each of us but because it is more personal it must be nurtured.

Examples of a good corporate culture are high measurable levels of:

1. Communication

2. Respect

3. Recognition

4. Purpose

5. Impact

6. Trust (built upon reliable communication and respect for example)

7. Morale

8. Competency

9. Autonomy (requiring a flexible culture for example)

10. Motivation / Inspiration

11. Training / Professional Development

12. Innovation (requiring a stable and interdependent culture for example)

13. Transparency

14. Inclusion

15. Diversity

16. Comfortable Workspace (workspace safety is a Hygiene quality)

The question is, how do you get these? How do you drive engagement and productivity by investing in corporate culture?

Every item on the list above (and more) are the result of specific intention… a strategic goal to embrace corporate culture and to build that culture one brick at a time – one step at a time. And it does take time. Some wins will be quick – some not so much.

How To Develop a Healthy Corporate Culture

For widespread corporate success the leadership team have to be 100% onboard. You are likely going to need to adjust virtually every element of your organizational structure; from job descriptions to training and development to performance measurement, HR policies, internal and external communication, new employee on-boarding, workplace flexibility, hierarchy and more. Once the leadership team is on board an organization needs to successfully embrace and develop a corporate culture and include the following steps.

1. Be an organization that embraces, supports and rewards change. Everyone says they hate change but change you must… and in reality, people hate ambiguity and feeling lost – not change – so communication is critical.

2. How will you involve everyone in the process, building trust, commitment and accountability?

3. How will you determine what is working that you want to keep and what needs to change – like using an employee survey?

4. Develop or refresh / update your vision, mission and goals.

5. Identify your company values, what they mean and how everyone can represent them. Everyone gets measured by them… even your top salespeople and your COO. Nobody gets a pass.

6. Share what is expected. Everyone has to know what is expected. From you most recent hire to your longest serving employee to your customers, suppliers and investors. Share the road map of what is changing and why. Be crystal clear about what new behaviour is important and why as well as what past behaviour isn’t and why.

7. Introduce what your reward and recognition structure will look like in the new culture. How are you going to help employees make the transition and what is available for employees who choose to not make the transition?

8. How will you be sure you hire the right people? Culture should be one of the first assessment criteria used to screen potential candidates. Will you use methods like Behavioural Event Interview when hiring to remove unconscious bias and support diversity and inclusion?

9. How will you support your leaders and ambassadors? Everyone looks up to someone. Leaders have to be on board and know how the corporate culture impacts their department so they can support their team. They should also know how the corporate culture impacts the other departments so they recognize how the culture is defined in that space and can align their team accordingly. This step also allows leaders to be able to properly support employees who have official or non-official leadership roles.

One Person Can Make A Difference: You Can Too

If you are a leader please don’t throw up your hands and say, “I’m just one person – my this isn’t on the corporations’ radar. I can’t do anything on my own.” I’m here to confirm you can make a difference. Yes, it will be more difficult and likely not as successful than if the whole company was with you, but I’ve seen whole departments quickly turn a low morale and low productivity team into a high-performing award-winning team when a new leader came in, even though the leadership above didn’t change or did the pay grades or budget or anything else.

Trust, transparency, open dialogue and respect are four of the most powerful culture shifters and when team members see / feel these in action great things begin to happen, which begin to compound / collect and significantly energize the mindsets and motivation of the team.

Conclusion / Recap

Don’t let things get too complicated. Let’s just remember corporate culture and corporate strategy are symbiotic whether we acknowledge corporate culture is there or not. Strategy provides direction by outlining the ‘what’… the companies vision and mission – around them is defined the goals. Culture provides direction by outlining the ‘how’ and ‘why’… guided by the pride and values the company and therefore the employees will stand by, honour and emulate.

Seriously, keep it simple. Great cultures are easy for everyone to describe and everyone to understand no matter if they are an employee, supplier or customer. I usually recommend to clients to keep their values list to 6 words and their mission / vision statements to two sentences each. This clarity helps everyone focus on what matters because it lets people understand the ‘why’ behind the ‘what’… something that Simon Sinek talks about extensively. And because people understand the why they have passion and commitment. This is why research like Deloitte Australia research by Deloitte Australia shows that when financial services companies focused on culture instead of compliance their compliance levels actually improved. 

High levels of employee engagement and employee training correlate with closely aligned views of what the cultural characteristics are and how to represent them.

For organizations that are looking to embrace their corporate culture and make it intentional, it will be important to see how structure and reorganization from leadership to discussions to messaging to financial commitment can support the desired culture and vice versa.

Thank you for reading. I will enjoy your comments / suggestions.

Bruce

About Bruce and Bruce Mayhew Consulting.

Bruce is Corporate Trainer, Keynote Speaker and Executive Coach.

Bruce Mayhew Consulting specializes in customized Email Etiquette Training, Leadership & New Leadership Development, Generational Differences, Time Management Training and other soft skills training solutions in Toronto and across Canada. Bruce is also an Executive Coach to a few select clients.

Bruce is an experienced motivational speaker in Toronto and has inspired audiences across Canada and within the USA and the UK. Bruce works hard to always make sure your training event, conference, retreat, or annual general meeting is a success.

Are Generational Differences Important To Study And Discuss?

Generational differences are real – just like cultural differences are real. In this article we’ll discuss generational differences in the workplace and why discussions about generational differences and generational diversity are important for team success.

What are generational differences? When looking to define generational differences we typically mean differences in experiences, values, beliefs and needs. The answer to the question, “are generational differences important?” depends on how we use the information. If we use it to determine how I will act as an individual or what kind of reward will inspire me, then making assumptions based on what year I was born will likely not do either of us much good. But if we use the information to estimate how a group of consumers in one generation and from one geographic area will respond, we will likely get close to making a good (but not perfect) decision.

This begs the question, “How does labelling employees by generation help or harm employee, team success?”

Overview

Today’s workspaces currently have employees from four generations all holding junior through to senior positions. And of course, each generation brings very different and valuable perspectives, experiences and insights. In addition, on one side of the age spectrum is a large group of young employees who likely are highly educated and are used to a fast-changing world. On the other side of the age spectrum is a large group of older employees with unparalleled experience, institutional knowledge and typically less formal education.

To be clear, I’m not saying Gen Z and Millennial employees don’t have experience, they do; and I’m not saying Gen X and Boomer employees don’t have education because they do. What I’m saying is there are people from four very different generations who all have something unique and very worthwhile to say (and if we know what is good for us and our companies) to be listened to.

Globalization also means we have valued employees (and customers) from many different countries with values, needs and traditions that further add to the complexity and amazing insight of our workspaces. And while I could talk more about cultural differences, for the purpose of this article I’m going to stay with discussions about the importance of generational differences and generational diversity (for the most part).

The diversity and inclusive energy in todays high-functioning workspaces is quite amazing. One of the great trends of the last 10ish years that is adding to this positive energy is that many in the business world are finally seriously focusing on important topics like team development, trust and accountability. Along with the strong focus on diversity and inclusion there is also a heightened refocus on important issues like creativity, equality and accessibility. When we talk about diversity and inclusion in the workplace, we often think of things like race, culture, gender and sexuality. But age is another important aspect within the diversity and inclusion discussion.

For reference, the following are general categories in Canada and the USA. Please note, generational birth ranges do vary from country to country and east to west:

• Baby Boomers (born 1946 to 1964)

• Generation X (born 1965 to 1980)

• Millennials / Generation Y (born 1980 to 1995)

• Generation Z (born 1996 to 2010)

Generational Differences Training: Argument For 

The simple reality is that there are differences in populations from different generations. For example, some high-level generational differences are as follows:

• Boomers grew up in the economic boom following the depression. They had very little in the way of money or possessions and physical labour was the bulk of available work. Hard work and loyalty was part of their basic upbringing. From a career perspective it was generally expected that employees would be loyal to companies and companies would be loyal to their employees. As young adults many Boomers became uncomfortable with the economic structures and began rebelling, wanting a better quality of life.

• Generation X often grew up with their mothers returning to work and wanting to have their own career, therefore many grew up in two-income families. Generation X kids were also the first generation to grow up with computers. They were children who watched the Vietnam war unravel on live TV (and in colour). They also experienced corporate America consolidate and lay off their loyal parents and move manufacturing to developing countries. For many of these reasons Generation X lead the charge of wanting greater work-life-balance.

• Millennials grew up with most families able to provide for them better that any previous family structure. They had exposure to computers at a young age, video games and diversity like no generation before them. Their parents were known as ‘Helicopter Parents’ giving their children lots of pre-planned activities, positive reinforcement and often less independent freedom. Traditionally Millennials want feedback frequently because that is what their Boomer parents gave them.

• Generation Z are often seen as being financially conservative but socially liberal. Why? Because they saw their Millennial brothers, sisters and cousins collect large amounts of debt through education but have fewer job opportunities than expected. Generation Z children traveled widely with their parents and grew up with computers from birth, giving them instant access to information and entertainment. At school, many cultural stereotypes were broken because their schoolmates (and friends), came from many different cultures and backgrounds. At the same time the entertainment they consumed and their family structures often broke many gender based stereotypes.

Now that we’ve explored a few of the generational differences, how might labelling employees by age generation help or harm employee, team and organization success? I believe the #1 greatest benefit from generational differences training is how it helps us understand ‘Why’ certain generations behave the way they do. With an understanding of ‘Why’ we humans are naturally more patient and empathic. Instead of treating everyone the same, great leaders and great companies use discussions about generational differences as opportunities to recognize employees are different and that they can embrace these differences to help their employees, their company and of course their customers to be successful.

This is a big step for companies. Don’t undervalue its importance and how difficult traditional management style is to overcome. Consider, almost all of the 1900’s hard work (and I mean physical labour) translated to success. In this environment money was the primary motivator because with money you could buy what you needed to survive.

Today we know money isn’t the best motivator. As long as we are being paid fairly based on our industry and work, people don’t want to only survive… we want to thrive. This means most employees want to embrace their own definition of work-life-balance. In the last 40+ years a whole new business psychology industry has slowly been emerging that studies and measures the impact of what really motivates and inspires employees. Through that research we finally began seeing the undisputable reality that intrinsic motivation… like pride, purpose and impact is far more effective and longer lasting than extrinsic motivation… like money.

Generational Differences Training: Argument Against 

The worst thing we can do is use stereotypes to determine how individuals will act or what individuals need. If we use stereotypes we will undoubtably make mistakes that will stop a company from hiring a great employee or by not rewarding a valued employee as they need to be rewarded and therefore, they quit.

Without doubt employees should be assessed on their unique ability to do a task and rewarded based on their individual abilities, needs and goals. Except at some high-level marketing level, I can’t think of many helpful situations where the generational label would be effective in predicting behviour.

Conclusion

All we have to do is look within our own families, our brothers and sisters who grew up with the values and often in the same households to see we as individuals we want different things and are inspired in different ways. We are both similar and different, and this is an example of why discussions about generational differences and generational diversity are important.

Beyond allowing me and others to generally understand the ‘Why’ of a generation or culture I have to admit, I’ve found that one of the most important benefits generational differences training delivers is in how it helps the teams I’ve worked with discuss – and often be amazed by how diverse people are. Through these discussions participants experience in real-time the insight (often for the first time), that what inspires one person will likely not inspire another person even if they are from the same generation and doing the same work in the same company. I bet some of your coworkers want to buy a house and raise a family while others want to rent a condo on the 30th floor and travel… and I bet some want to own an energy efficient electric car while others dream of a F150 pickup truck. For many of employees, the choices relating to how they live their lives are endless.

We are all individuals with unique training, skill, motivation and ambitions and it is best that instead of making assumptions, we stay curious as to what others value, believe and need. In the end, what is important is that you strive for greater generational diversity and treat everyone with curiosity and respect.

Thank you for reading. I will enjoy your comments / suggestions.

Bruce

About Bruce and Bruce Mayhew Consulting.

Bruce is Corporate Trainer, Keynote Speaker and Executive Coach.

Bruce Mayhew Consulting specializes in customized Email Etiquette Training, Leadership & New Leadership Development, Generational Differences, Time Management Training and other soft skills training solutions in Toronto and across Canada. Bruce is also an Executive Coach to a few select clients.

Bruce is an experienced motivational speaker in Toronto and has inspired audiences across Canada and within the USA and the UK. Bruce works hard to always make sure your training event, conference, retreat, or annual general meeting is a success.

Attention On Results: Teamwork In The Workplace

To have great teamwork in the workplace where attention is on results, everyone has to trust their leader and each other. With trust, team members feel safe challenging each other (including the ‘leader’), and even disagreeing and challenging each other as they respectfully share each other’s expertise. Working together, individuals will commit to clearly defined goals and measurements of success. In addition, the trust and commitment team members built will allow them to hold each other accountable.

Trust is a wonderful and imperative foundation. Read more about how to build trust at work.

I have to confess, the first time I considered the need to elaborate on the idea of ‘Attention on Results’; this final tier of Patrick Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of a Team, I thought it oddly unnecessary. I thought that if a team was able to accomplish the previous four tiers, why would they have inattention to results. But after further investigation and a look into my past years in corporate banking, I saw it does deserve a dedicated discussion… so here is my take on it.

How Attention On Results Works:

When the whole team is focused on achieving the same goal, team members will feel an energy as they work together and support each other and the project. With this harmony, it’s unlikely to hear statements like “That was Richards job – not mine”, “It’s not my fault” or “Richard isn’t pulling his weight”. Instead, in high-functioning teams, team members support each other and it’s more likely to hear, “How can I help?” or “How can we combine effort to make it more effective?” or “I may have an answer to your problem / set-back”.

Without a shared commitment to the final goal a few things often happen. One of the most frequent is that people like Richard will care more for what makes him look good and put his individual goals and ambitions ahead of the shared goals and the needs of the many. Richard may even focus on an unrelated goal he can take individual credit for, while making hollow gestures of support for the shared strategic goal and attacking / blaming others for the lack of progress. In this case, Richard’s inattention to results pulls the whole team down and puts success at risk.

Alternatively, successful teamwork in the workplace means teammates are committed to the shared strategic goal and watch out for each other. For example, when ‘Bob’ falls behind his sales goals, all salespeople will do their best to exceed their goals to meet the company-wide goal. Or, if the Widget A design team is experiencing a set-back, they trust they can reach out to the Widget B and C teams to collaborate to find a solution. Successful teamwork in the workplace happens when individuals don’t treat themselves as islands, they stay focussed on the big picture. As the Three Musketeers said, “All for one and one for all.”

Individual Work Still Matters:

Attention on results doesn’t mean that individual success doesn’t matter. Shared goals do need everyone to work at their best and achieve their own personal and professional goals.

Interestingly, for those who worry their individual work still matters and that it may not be recognized, in reality individual commitment and excellence may get all team members even more attention and recognition. Consider that working within a high-functioning team on a highly successful project, it’s nearly guaranteed each teammate will:

• Get attention (and bragging rights) because they worked on a highly successful project.

• Gain valuable experience in areas they would not usually get exposure to as they collaborate and discuss solutions.

• Gain a reputation for being excellent at their work.

• Develop a reputation of being a great team player.

• Because of their team experience they will have a whole network of people who respect them and, in time when that network is looking for great new talent and a referral, they will have their own personal cheerleading section.

What’s Necessary To Have Attention On Results:

I’ve shared previously in this article and others that the only way to have attention on results is for a team to hold themselves and each other accountable and trust each other enough to freely share their individual expertise and experience.

There are many other things a great team leader can do to build this type of commitment. For example, 

1. Keep a focus on the organization values. Every decision should reflect back onto the organization values and by doing that, the values will provide a clear guide on what decisions need to be made.

2. Once a shared goal is defined and committed to, I recommend creating a team contract; a 1-page overview of the goal, each teams’ or individuals’ responsibilities and how success will be measured. I also recommend this contract include a companywide and project vision statement and mission statement.

3. Expectations have to be shared, clear, understood and achievable. In addition, it has to be clear how each team member’s results roll up into the team or departments results and how the departments results roll up into the company’s results. Our commitment to results always matters because our work and results must support the level above us.

4. Leaders and team members should reward only behaviors and actions that contribute to shared results

5. Commit to frequent meetings everyone agrees (in advance) to attend. Schedule these meetings weeks and/or months (as necessary), ahead to ensure availability. Keep these meetings as short (under 1-hour if possible) and during these meeting have everyone share their commitments and the status of their delivery on their goals. I recommend a status code of each project as Green, Yellow and Red to help make the status easily identifiable. I’ll repeat, these meetings have to be a place of trust and respect where people can bring challenges and not be ridiculed.

6. Each member knows they are going to be held accountable for their commitment and to support the team through the journey through crisis and unavoidable tasks that could not have been identified at the beginning of the project.

If you are going to have accountability, then you have to also keep your focus on results.

Inattention to Results Conclusion:

A team that is focused on team results will retain good staff, make sacrifices for the good of the team and they will enjoy credit for their team – and then for themselves through the teams success.

Great leaders help every team member feel safe and free to respectfully challenge each other (including the ‘leader’), disagree and perhaps even argue as they share each other’s expertise. Only then, when everyone is working together and holding each other accountable will the project - and each individual thrive.

And that is how you can have attention on results and teamwork in the workplace.

Thank you for reading. I will enjoy your comments / suggestions.

Bruce

About Bruce and Bruce Mayhew Consulting.

Bruce is Corporate Trainer, Keynote Speaker and Executive Coach.

Bruce Mayhew Consulting specializes in customized Email Etiquette Training, Leadership & New Leadership Development, Generational Differences, Time Management Training and other soft skills training solutions in Toronto and across Canada. Bruce is also an Executive Coach to a few select clients.

Bruce is an experienced motivational speaker in Toronto and has inspired audiences across Canada and within the USA and the UK. Bruce works hard to always make sure your training event, conference, retreat, or annual general meeting is a success.

Help Team Members Be Accountable

It’s no fun following up with others to make sure they are being accountable and doing what they agreed to. The thing is, it is near impossible to force someone to consistently produce top quality results. If their commitment level is average, people will usually do their J.O.B. and not much more. But what if your team members chose to be accountable? I believe two things that make this possible:

1. We all want to be respected, proud of our work and know our contribution is making a difference.

2. Most leaders want to be great leaders but have never learned how, and worse they may have unintentionally learned poor leadership skills.

In this article I share opportunities leaders can use to help team members be accountable, feel respected, proud and so much more.

Accountability Overview

One of the most successful ways to help team members be accountable starts with creating a corporate culture people want to belong to. Over the years I have coached many leaders and written extensively on leadership and the value of intrinsic motivators. I’ve seen first-hand that even if your corporate culture is less than ideal, every leader can still create a high-functioning micro-culture of proud employees.

If you’ve followed my writing over the years you know I write extensively on leadership and intrinsic motivators. In studies I’ve ran as well as research by other professionals, the following three intrinsic motivators are at the top of the list and all encourage accountability:

1. Experiencing pride in our work and sense of accomplishment: Generates feelings of Achievement

2. Being noticed for our competence, creativity and / or for learning a valuable skill: Generates feelings of Recognition

3. Having impact and being relevant: Generates feelings of Responsibility / Making a Difference

So, how can we use these three motivators to inspire others and help them be accountable?

The following are six ways to help team members be accountable. As you read through the list consider that as a leader your work is less about being a ‘boss’ and far more about being a ‘coach’. As you move forward, imagine how you can have coaching conversations instead of performance review conversations, even though the topic or subject matter stays the same. Imagine how you can help each person on your team to be the best employee while they also achieve their personal and career goals?

Note: The following six opportunities I'm sharing are very real and very inexpensive motivators that help build a very loyal and very accountable team.

#1. Align people’s passion with their work

This means hire the right people for the right work. Far too often we hire or promote people who are the right people on paper but not the right people for the work. For example, if you are hiring someone for a customer service position, be sure they naturally demonstrate empathy as they communicate.

Use a standardized interview assessment process like a BEI (Behavioral Event Interview), to hire people who mesh well with your corporate culture and values and will also naturally feel a sense of pride and achievement from the work they will be doing.

#2. Know what motivates and inspires each employee

We are all unique and want different things. Some young employees may want relevant experiences and training while others may be starting a family and want job security and workplace flexibility. Some more senior employees may want more strategic responsibility while others may aspire to take on a mentoring role. The simple fact is that if we want to have great impact we shouldn’t treat or reward everyone the same way.

Of all the employees I’ve met, there is one common denominator; they want to work for an employer and a leader who respects them and who helps them be proud of what they accomplish.

#3. Be clear with expectations

Give employees a chance to discuss, influence and set their goals. By sharing what you expect and making them part of the discussion you are allowing them to take responsibility and accountability for their work. For example, perhaps they need additional training, or your support to get access to specific company resources; this allows the company to support them as much as they will support the company.

Be clear that when they want to talk through a problem with you that they should also bring a solution to discuss, and this should happen as soon as possible. When employees clearly know what the expectations, timelines and measurements of success are, surprises can be eliminated, their accountability can increase, and overall frustration can decrease.

After you have set expectations, continue to spend time with them at regular intervals to make sure you are both on the same page (see #5).

#4. Help employees understand the question ‘Why’?

When people know why their work is important, they are likely to be more accountable for getting it done on time and as expected. And, at a team level they will be more inclined to hold each other accountable.

For example, when someone knows the recommendations you asked for are going into the proposal for the CEO and that is why you need it on Monday, 99.9% of employees are going to be proud of who will be reading their work and will want to make sure you get it on time and with the detail you discussed.

This helps engage intrinsic goals like having influence and making a difference.

#5. Stay in touch

You may have information that will help them course correct toward their goals. At the same time they need to know you are there to provide guidance and to trust you will help them with (not blame them for), any challenges they may be having.

I used to have a boss that would keep information to himself. This made it impossible for the team to support the strategy which made our work less effective, created more waste and of course we were all very frustrated. Note: He also had a high employee turnover rate… and you can imagine why.

Often, knowing you are counting on them and you are there to support them will often help your team meet and even exceed your expectations. 

#6. Recognize and celebrate their creativity and success

When your team deliver high quality work take a moment and recognize it - praise them immediately. During your check-ins make sure you are praising them for their good work. Recognition is one of the most important promoters of accountability for not only the project they are working on but their overall outlook such as being motivated to help their coworkers and add value in meetings which will even feed into their next project.

You can never be too busy to make sure people feel proud just like you can never be too busy to hold people accountable. When you see behaviour that is (or is not) in-line with expectations you have to respond immediately. Any delay diminishes the reward or adds to the damage being done… and damage to everyone’s motivation who is watching.

Conclusion:

Leaders have to look at accountability, motivation and reward in a different way than business traditionally has. And while change may be difficult at first, the beauty is that being able to help team members be accountable is like rolling a snowball down a hill. As trust and understanding build momentum quickly takes over and accountability has greater impact. As time goes by, employees also begin to hold themselves (and each other) accountable.

Note: Firing someone is not what I mean as holding people accountable; rather, helping Richard correct before the situation gets so bad you have to fire him is. As a leader you have to be ready, willing and able to quickly have respectful but difficult conversations. One example I have used in other articles is that if you ever find yourself or other people on your team say things like. 

BONUS I: Why employees don't take responsibility / accountability:

I asked my friends and professional network why they thought employees don’t take responsibility / accountability. Here is the list we came up with. A big thanks to all of them… we are all better when we work together.

1. They don't know it's their responsibility.

2. They haven’t been held accountable in the past.

3. Transparency is low so they have a poor understanding of organizational goals and priorities.

4. They don't know 'Why?' a specific piece of work is important.

5. They don’t feel included or empowered to contribute their expertise.

6. They don’t feel part of the team… or important.

7. It isn't their job. They don’t see how the work relates to them.

8. If they are being asked to assist others they are never thanked… or given assistance when they need it.

9. They are unsure of expectations – unsure of what their boss wants.

10. They don't know how – they’ve not been trained (and perhaps not empowered).

11. They are treated differently (poorly) than their peers.

12. Their leader always reworks their work.

13. Their leader takes the all the glory and credit, but blames you and the team for mistakes or errors.

14. Their work is often ignored by their boss.

15. Their leader doesn't try to fix uncomfortable situations like when other employees consistently do not ‘pull their weight’

16. They never hear "you did well" or “thank you” or “great idea”.

17. They are frequently asked to work extra hours for their boss and/or company but made to feel guilty when they need time off.

18. They have far too much work for anyone to expect to handle… and more work unceremoniously added on.

19. Everything is treated like a crisis.

20. They are disheartened – they’ve been let down / unsupported by their boss and/or the company in the past.

21. Their leader is paralyzed with fear of making a decision or of looking like they are not ‘all knowing’ so make no decisions and don’t ask their team for their expertise or experience.
    

BONUS II: Hypothetical at-home example that accountability can’t be forced… especially accountability connected to quality:

Assume you are a parent of a teenager… or remember back to when you were one.

To earn their allowance one of your teenagers has agreed to fill and empty the dishwasher. Even though they also have a need for dishes (they do eat), they feel no pride in the job. They don’t like cooking, they don’t like mess and touching the wet, dirty, greasy dishes makes them want to immediately shower afterward. The result is they almost always have to be reminded and emptying the dishwasher often gets done last minute and increases everyone’s frustration.

You know that reminding them “It’s your job” followed by the silent intention of [and you get paid to do it] doesn’t make things better and is easily interpreted as a lightly veiled threat. And because their frustration is growing, when they do empty the dishwasher they don’t check to see if the dishes are clean (because cleaning the dishes isn’t their J.O.B.) which means from time to time you find knives with peanut butter residue and other dirty dishes.

The result is things just keep going from bad to worse. In the end they are going to quit, or you are going to take over – ultimately firing them. No matter how you look at this nothing good is coming from treating this task as a job and trying to force accountability. As I shared in #1 above, it seems you hired the wrong person for this task… and they will never feel this work is making an important difference.

Thank you for reading. I will enjoy hearing your comments, feedback and even examples about how you can help team members be accountable.

Bruce

About Bruce and Bruce Mayhew Consulting.

Bruce is Corporate Trainer, Keynote Speaker and Executive Coach.

Bruce Mayhew Consulting specializes in customized Email Etiquette Training, Leadership & New Leadership Development, Generational Differences, Time Management Training and other soft skills training solutions in Toronto and across Canada. Bruce is also an Executive Coach to a few select clients.

Bruce is an experienced motivational speaker in Toronto and has inspired audiences across Canada and within the USA and the UK. Bruce works hard to always make sure your training event, conference, retreat, or annual general meeting is a success.

How To Build Employee Commitment

Employee commitment is one of the most important qualities leaders can cultivate with their team; it is a powerful asset - a multiplier of productivity, creativity and loyalty. The beauty is that people like you and me like to commit; committing makes us feel part of something important. But we will not commit if we feel we are being neglected, taken advantage of, abused, excluded, under-appreciated or lied to (I’m sure you can think of others to add to this list).

What Do I Mean By Commitment?

Commitment is built when people add their voice to a conversation or brainstorming meeting and their voice is respected and considered. Even if their idea didn’t make it into the final decision, because their voice was respected and valued during the process, they begin to fully invest in the decision the team made. This is an example of a strong corporate culture and how trust and healthy conflict lead to building employee commitment at work.

Studies prove there is a direct and measurable link between commitment and employee performance factors like transparency, creativity, productivity, work quality and turnover. For example, when employee commitment is high, turnover is almost always low while transparency, creativity, productivity and quality of work are high. When employee commitment is low, turnover is almost always high while most other measurement criteria are low.

Not surprising, without commitment the success of every project is in jeopardy. Because commitment is critical to success, it is important leaders cultivate commitment and know how to inspire the employees they support. Traditionally, companies focused on job security and money as primary motivators. While that approach may have been great in the 1950’s, it is not a great option with today’s four-generations of highly educated, multicultural employees working within a fast-paced global economy.

Diving Deeper Into How To Build Commitment

Let’s not even bother discussing the myth of job security in today’s economy. And, even though getting paid a fair wage is important, money is no longer a good motivator. Money and the hope of a raise 12 months from now have a poor track record at inspiring most people to do more than what is required to get a ‘meets expectations’ at their next annual review. Even bonuses quickly become expected and turn into what is called a ‘hygiene motivator’ (without it you would not be able to attract new employees and current employees would stop showing up). If you don’t agree, try eliminating bonuses and just watch your employee turnover increase exponentially while performance and employee morale drop like a stone. But all hope of building commitment is not lost, there are far more effective (and virtually free) motivators known as intrinsic motivators.

I introduce the top 10 motivators in my Leadership Training courses, but for the purpose of this article let me share the following top five intrinsic motivators that brilliantly build commitment and workplace excellence:

1. Being respected and valued at work

2. Doing interesting and challenging work

3. Professional development / opportunities

4. Achieving something / doing something important

5. Being given greater responsibility

Take a moment to let it sink in that ‘being respected and valued at work’ is frequently rated the #1 motivator to help build employee commitment. This is no surprise because everyone, no matter what work they do or how long they’ve been working want to be respected and valued. You know this is true because I am certain this is one of your key motivators.

Being respected and valued also ties into a basic human need to be ‘seen’ and ‘included’, to have our voices heard. It is our inborn and intrinsic desire to matter; we all want to make a difference. When you think of it, being respected and valued fits perfectly into any organizations plan to improve diversity and inclusion (D&I). Because intrinsic motivators are so important, let’s look at how both leaders and employees can use them to drive personal and professional success:

• As a leader I believe one of our most important jobs is to learn - to be curious about which intrinsic motivators inspire each member of our team. Remember, people are individuals and everyone will be motivated by different things at different intensities. One person may be motivated by doing interesting and challenging work while another is motivated by professional development / opportunities.

• As an employee I believe one of our most important jobs is to determine which motivators are most important to us and to then share that information with our leader; help our leader (and frankly other members of our team), inspire us. For example, perhaps you want greater responsibility and professional development opportunities because you want your career to grow. If this is you then make sure your leader knows and doesn’t have to guess at what your future ambitions are and how to help you / motivate you because they may think you are content with your position and therefore doing interesting and challenging work will keep you inspired and committed to excellence.

Live The Company Values:

As important as motivation is to cultivate commitment, leaders must also demonstrate integrity. One of the easiest ways I've found to do that is to live the company values. Two of the most important values I’ve discussed in previous articles that demonstrate how a leader can build commitment are:

• To trust and be trustworthy (to be dependable)

• Show respect (by giving everyone the opportunity to share ideas)

I believe these values (which are part of almost every organizations core value set), have a symbiotic relationship; you either have both or you have neither. For example, if an employee doesn’t trust their leader they will never freely share their ideas.

When it comes to gaining employee commitment to a plan, the best way to do this is to have each person add their unique expertise, education and lived experience to the solution. Employees have to trust each other and their leader to be honest, transparent, and respectful. It means not ever feeling attacked or made fun of when we share our ideas or experience. It also means that if my boss needs to share constructive feedback with me, I am confident I will be respected and can trust their feedback comes from a place of making me, the team, the project and the company better. Note: That feedback should also be timely - delivered as soon as possible within a private conversation.

For me, one other element is needed to cultivate commitment within a team. I have always found it important to create a workspace culture that helps employees learn about each other and from each other. I believe this familiarity reinforces the idea that we all have something to say and something to learn. Many professionals recommend activities that help employees discover what they have in common. I like those - but I also like activities that help employees learn what is different / unique about each other. I believe this helps them understand each other’s unique contribution potential.

When a team knows they can trust their leader and each-other, that is when they will do their best work… and feel proud an energized at the same time.

Conclusion:

Building commitment at work isn’t always easy but it’s a priority of every successful leader that I know. A conscious decision to build employee commitment really does make a difference. I’ve seen mediocre teams transform into high-performing teams in months when they got a new leader… and I’ve seen high-performing teams unravel in weeks when they got a poor leader.

One last observation about commitment (I did not want to scare you above). Commitment has many layers (holding back a reference to the children’s movie Shrek). I believe there are four key places where individuals channel our commitment.

1. Commitment to ourselves and our work (and our family / friends)

2. Commitment to our leader 

3. Commitment to our team (or project teams)

4. Commitment to our company

For the purpose of this article, perhaps you don’t need to focus on these - what I’ve shared above might be the most important for now. But, do keep these four areas in the back of your mind. They may help explain behaviour as you see it unfold.

TRUST Bonus:

To build trust everyone has to understand what behaviour is appropriate and what is not appropriate…. and to be held accountable. For example, Alan Mulally (one of the most successful and celebrated leaders and former CEO of Boeing and Ford) has 11 Working Together Principles and Practices. Four of those are:

1. Everyone included

2. Clear performance goals

3. One plan

4. Respect, listen, help and appreciate each other

Thank you for reading. I will enjoy hearing your comments, feedback and even examples about employee commitment at work.

Bruce

About Bruce and Bruce Mayhew Consulting.

Bruce is Corporate Trainer, Keynote Speaker and Executive Coach.

Bruce Mayhew Consulting specializes in customized Email Etiquette Training, Leadership & New Leadership Development, Generational Differences, Time Management Training and other soft skills training solutions in Toronto and across Canada. Bruce is also an Executive Coach to a few select clients.

Bruce is an experienced motivational speaker in Toronto and has inspired audiences across Canada and within the USA and the UK. Bruce works hard to always make sure your training event, conference, retreat, or annual general meeting is a success.

Thank you for stopping by.

Could Fear Of Conflict Be Holding Back Your Team?

You can have conflict only when you have trust.

When I say, “you can have conflict only when you have trust”, I’m not meaning negative, vindictive, inappropriate, call the lawyers conflict. I mean sharing opposing views, challenging each other’s assumptions, opening your mind and encouraging yourself… and each other to grow conflict. 

An essential ingredient of a proud and inclusive workspace is when employees, partners and suppliers don't fear conflict. They know they’re able to freely share each other’s experiences, knowledge and points of view and not worry about being attacked, mocked, ridiculed or worse. It’s exciting and empowering to be part of a team that’s committed to finding the best solution by sharing different ideas and being able to challenge each other’s assumptions, judgements and even beliefs from a place of respect and curiosity. That said, maybe the word ‘conflict’ isn’t the best word to use – it sounds negative; perhaps engagement is a better option. But because conflict is what Patrick Lencioni, founder of the Table Group and author of Five Dysfunctions of a Team calls it, we will stay with conflict for now. 

Sharing Opposing Views And Making A Decision Can Get Loud

I think it’s fair to recognize that sharing opposing views and challenging each other’s assumptions can get a little loud (some workspaces, families and cultures embrace loud debate). Personally, I’m better with calm discussion, but if loud is your way then go for it… as long as that’s what everyone expects and they feel safe and respected. I also recommend always being aware of your surroundings for a few reasons. For example:

• I urge you to stay aware of socially acceptable boundaries relating to colourful language and/or full-on inappropriate language (read your HR policies). Crossing over the socially acceptable line can cause you trouble even within a trusting relationship. We have to know what’s appropriate and what isn’t.

• People won’t share if they feel intimidated by how everyone around them communicates. For example, introverts, new hires, suppliers and meeting guests may not understand what is going on if they are not familiar with your discussion and debate style (this goes for your at-home neighbours and people in the grocery store as well). 

Whether we are speaking with someone or writing an email, I believe our primary goal should be sharing whenever we communicate. As a leader, I want to make the distinction that sharing our ideas and experience does not mean you or I have to change each other’s mind or beliefs. What is vital is that all voices are respected and we understand that challenging each other (conflict), is an important step toward collaboration and for us to honour our commitment to find a single clearly defined, measurable choice. When everyone has input, good things happen.

Conflict and Respect Within Difficult Conversations At Work

Hearing and respecting feedback, opinions, and even goals that are different than our own (like not getting a promotion we want) requires Vulnerability Trust. As I shared in a blogpost about trust at work, an example of Vulnerability Trust is when you and I feel safe saying something like “I am sorry, “I don’t know,” or “I made a mistake,” and we know we will still be treated with respect – not embarrassed or attacked.

Within healthy conflict, Vulnerability Trust strengthens our relationships as you and I experience first-hand we will not be attacked or made fool of. Using a workplace example, there is something pretty special when we can listen to our counterparts as they share honest feedback - and know (trust) it is coming from a place of support not malice or revenge. It often takes time to build trust in our team and our ability to have healthy conflict at work; it also requires we watch our triggers and our conscious and unconscious biases… especially concerning challenging news.

The one thing we really want to avoid is holding back constructive feedback because ‘we don’t want to hurt Richards feelings’. If we do hold back, what often happens is that instead of having a discussion we start making excuses, saying things like “It’s just the way Richard is”. If we hang that reputation on Richard without ever confronting him we are likely doing him a disservice that will have long-lasting negative implications on his career. Instead, choose to have a difficult conversation with Richard and respectfully share what you are experiencing / noticing. At that point Richard now has a choice to adjust or not, and what happens next is up to him.

Conclusion

Conflict is an important component within any highly functioning company or relationship. And, as I suggested above it is not meant as a fight or battle… but a commitment for two or more people to respectfully struggle as they discuss, debate, share and learn from each other.

For me, there is nothing quite like having a constructive debate. Using a personal example, in non-Covid times I always enjoyed having a few good friends over and to fall into a lively discussion on some in-the-news topic (usually over a glass or two of scotch).  I find this a meaningful reflection of many workspaces because while we are great friends, we all very different in our age, backgrounds and careers. And yes, we have very different and very similar interpretations on things. It is invigorating and I always learn something from each encounter and / or I’m reminded how wonderful it is when someone gives me space – and respect to share my ideas.

So perhaps now that we are at the end of this article, this may be a better time to ask you, “could fear of conflict be holding back your team”?

When we listen we learn, and when we don’t listen we see what we want… not usually what is true or the ideal solution. As my wonderful friend Belinda Jackson recently said to me, “[It’s] always important for a leader to listen and to ask the team if there are ideas they want to share that can make the team stronger. If you want a team, you have to be a team player. Everyone has been in different situations and it is important to share ideas and to be open to hearing them.”

Thank you for reading. I will enjoy hearing your comments, feedback and even examples about conflict at work.

Bruce

About Bruce and Bruce Mayhew Consulting.

Bruce is Corporate Trainer, Keynote Speaker and Executive Coach.

Bruce Mayhew Consulting specializes in customized Email Etiquette Training, Leadership & New Leadership Development, Generational Differences, Time Management Training and other soft skills training solutions in Toronto and across Canada. Bruce is also an Executive Coach to a few select clients.

Bruce is an experienced motivational speaker in Toronto and has inspired audiences across Canada and within the USA and the UK. Bruce works hard to always make sure your training event, conference, retreat, or annual general meeting is a success.

Thank you for stopping by.

Why Trust Matters and How To Build Trust At Work

A productive team trusts each other.

Building a successful team takes self-awareness and courage; it also takes empathy, listening and trust. 

Trust is when you can depend on something or someone… at least this is the definition I work with. Yes, this is a simple definition, but even so trust is often elusive… especially trust at work.

While doing research for this article I came across the following quote from D. Bowlby that stopped me cold because it's so amazingly relevant to a leader from my past I had to endure.

“If you do not trust your own judgments, actions, and decisions, you will question the motives of others."

Imagine the damage a leader can do to the morale and cohesion of a team when, instead of trusting recommendations as points for discussion, their own ego sees any and all recommendations as threats. In one particular instance I know of, the leader even went so far as to allege unsubstantiated workplace harassment and bullying against members of their senior team. This unfortunately is a real example that lead to months of stress, expense and long-term loss of income for the organization and the many people caught in the leaders loosely cast - ego driven net. Sadly, I am sure this scenario has played out many times in corporations and associations of all sizes.

There are many ways to destroy trust. For example, laughing at an idea or observation a fellow team member has is one of the most efficient ways to destroy trust… and show disrespect. Another is to cast aside recommendations using the age-old and exhausting excuse, “We tried that in the past and it didn’t work.” In my opinion, anyone who has lived through the last 12 months... never mind the last century should know nothing can be taken for granted, there are always lessons to be learned and whatever didn’t work yesterday might very well work today or in the future.

But enough of the negative; lets look at how to build trust on a team.

Patrick Lencioni, author of Five Dysfunctions of a Team and founder of the Table Group describes trust in two ways:

1. Predictive Trust

2. Vulnerability Based Trust

The following are my professional reflections of these two types of trust.

Predictive Trust is usually built over time – from experience. My interpretation of Predictive Trust is when I can count on (or predict) what you will say or do in a certain circumstance. For example: If my partner asks, “Do you want ice-cream?” he can trust I will say, “Yes please.”

Vulnerability Based Trust is when you and I feel safe saying something like “I don’t know,” “I made a mistake,” or “I am sorry” and we know we will still be treated with respect – not embarrassed or attacked. Vulnerability Trust means you can be in a meeting and suggest a course of action or idea and you will not fear you may be laughed at or mocked. I believe Vulnerability Trust is more personal – more tender.

Based on the Difficult Conversations training I do with clients, I would say Vulnerability Trust is also where someone can say to me, “You messed up” “You are letting the team down” or “I can’t give you what you want” and I will stay open and keep listening because I trust the other person is sharing information in good faith and likely for my benefit, even if it’s difficult / disappointing for me to hear. Vulnerability Trust is where two people can discuss sensitive topics and even disagree, but stay present and keep doing their best work, moving forward to find solutions instead of assigning blame to setbacks and gaps. It’s when team members can stay in discussion / dialogue without being defensive or shutting down.

How To Develop Productive Trustworthy Teams

To develop productive teams Patrick Lencioni believes leaders must intentionally nurture vulnerability and I 100% agree. 

The following are two ways leaders can build trust within their team. Then, at the end of this article I quickly reference 11 more ways to create a safe, trusting workplace culture.

But before I go any further, I want to be perfectly clear that not all leaders have the title ‘leader’. In many big and small ways leadership responsibilities are often shared between co-workers depending on what is needed by the team and the project at that moment.

1. The quickest way to build vulnerability trust on a team is for the leader to demonstrate it. Otherwise, why would a team trust their leader if the leader never trusted or respected their team / team members? The best leaders quickly acknowledge when they need help and (equally importantly) their mistakes. Trusted leaders don't take control of every situation; they don't pretend they are all-knowing, and they don’t get ‘defensive’ when asked a question or given advice. Team members gain confidence when leaders are honest and respectful and demonstrate its ok to speak up when they have a question and/or an opinion. They start thinking things like “Since my leader is honest and up front with me, I can see it's OK for me to be honest and upfront with them,” and “There are things I can do and things I cannot do, the important thing is to ask each other for help.”

2. Another way for anyone to build vulnerability trust is to give credit to others. A trustworthy leader will not think twice before saying something like, “I know you have been working on this, and while I think you are doing well it’s a long journey and I do hope you stick with it,” or “I know bringing your concerns to me was not easy and I want to acknowledge that. I’m pleased we can be honest and open.”

Of course vulnerability trust also strengthens relationships between co-workers. The important thing to know is that this works… it really really works!

• I’ve worked with leaders who show disconnected individuals how to trust each other, turning them into highly productive and highly loyal teams who have a renewed loyalty to each other and the organization.

• I’ve seen great teams disintegrate when a great leader leaves and a weak leader replaces them. Recently leader I admire shared with me that in just over one year his previous team of 20 loyal, hard working professionals (who also found time to laugh with each other), experienced 100% turnover except for one person. Imagine! 

11 Ways To Create A Safe, Trusting Workplace Culture

Here are 11 ways leaders and teams create a safe, trusting work culture (yes, some of these mean we have to be vulnerable… but if we are not willing to be, it sends a signal that others cannot be either):

1. Eliminate disparaging talk and gossip. We have to all feel safe and that we are being open, honest, respectful and respected.

2. Be transparent and honest about goals, challenges, news. Share ‘What’ and ‘Why’.

3. Know your preferred work style and strengths and take time to understand and appreciate another's work styles and strengths. Myers Brigs and SuccessFinder are two great tools to use, learn from and share with your team.

4. Take time to learn about each other but don’t push if people want to be more private than you.

5. Share your successes and also share your failures - this gives others permission to make mistakes

6. Admit when you are wrong, make mistakes and readily apologize.

7. Acknowledge and celebrate the successes of others.

8. Listen to others and take their advice – help them be proud by giving them credit for their ideas and experience.

9. Be willing to learn from each other. Leaders especially need to demonstrate they don’t know it all and are willing to learn from their team.

10. Don’t make assumptions about people’s behaviour or actions – watch your conscious and unconscious biases especially concerning challenging news.

11. Don’t hold grudges – deal with situations, learn from them and move on – be an example.

While trust is the main topic of this blog post, you may also be interested in a blog I wrote last year called 5 Stages of Team Development.

It takes courage and bravery to build trust… especially vulnerability trust. There will be times you wish you didn’t, but as Brené Brown says, “If you choose courage, you will absolutely know disappointment, setback and even heartbreak. That’s why we call it courage.” But I promise you, trusting yourself and others gives you a unique strength.

BONUS: Trust Helps When Hearing Bad News

We can begin to manage our defence triggers (fight & flight) when we know we are respected, supported and won’t be made a fool of. When we trust we learn to stay present and listen to unpleasant feedback or be part of decisions that, while they go against our personal or professional self-interest, we can still support because we know the decisions are made with honesty and in-line with the agreed upon goals.

Conclusion

While it is possible for great teams to form without a strong leader, the most productive, most loyal teams exist when a strong leader createsa safe, trusting, transparent workspace where team members feel they belong and are treated with dignity and respect. The beauty is, when you have trust you can have conflict. I don’t mean conflict like wars and fighting… I mean discussions, (perhaps even loud passionate discussions), but still discussions that show respect and appreciation.

To end, I want to leave you with this one thought. I wish I could remember where I read it and who to credit; I’m not even sure I am quoting it right, but here it goes, “You can’t trust when you have to sacrifice respectful honesty in order to protect and feed someone ego.” Please, don’t be the person with an ego that others have to protect.

Thank you for reading. I will enjoy hearing your comments, feedback and even examples about workplace culture, predictive trust and vulnerability trust.

Bruce

About Bruce and Bruce Mayhew Consulting.

Bruce is Corporate Trainer, Keynote Speaker and Executive Coach.

Bruce Mayhew Consulting specializes in customized Email Etiquette Training, Leadership & New Leadership Development, Generational Differences, Time Management Training and other soft skills training solutions in Toronto and across Canada. Bruce is also an Executive Coach to a few select clients.

Bruce is an experienced motivational speaker in Toronto and has inspired audiences across Canada and within the USA and the UK. Bruce works hard to always make sure your training event, conference, retreat, or annual general meeting is a success.

Thank you for stopping by.

Nobody Should Be Bullied At Work: Part 1

Nobody should be bullied, and the excuse of working in a high pressure / critical workspace is no excuse at all. Sadly, bullies of all shapes and sizes are actively throwing chaos, low morale and low productivity into even the calmest of workspaces.

Thank you in advance for wanting to explore this complex topic. This is Part 1 of my 3-part series I continue to explore how employees, leaders and organizations can approach important elements. I have linked to the other two parts of this series at the end of this post.

A bully’s behavior is tolerated at work for many reasons. For example:

• The bully appears to be a high-performer and therefore perceived to be valuable. But, while they may be winning big accounts, in addition to being a bully they may be alienating others and/or not sharing recognition. Truth is, the situations they create likely cost the company a fortune due to low morale of other employees as well as lower productivity, creativity and attention to detail. In addition, there is likely higher than average employee turnover and an overall negative impact on suppliers and customers.

• Others around the bully may see the bully as a great way for them to ascend to a power or profit position. We see this often in politics, but it happens within the political sphere of business as well. While victims pile up, the enablers who are benefiting keep their heads down and quietly support the bully (or at least allow them to function) while hoping (with no guarantee) that their loyalty will keep them from becoming a victim.

• The bully may be well cloaked, passing themselves off as a collaborator, an enlightened non-violent friend-of-all, meanwhile they consistently grab positions of power. As masters of passive aggressiveness and fearful of not being seen as ‘the expert’, their goal is to control situations by putting themselves at the center of every positive decision and far away from any shortcoming. Truth is, once you begin recognizing their behaviour, these bullies are easily spotted since they rarely make quick decisions to novel situations. Instead, they look to form a committee to working group.

What Makes A Bully Become A Bully? 

Generally, many professionals who study workplace dynamics and bullies specifically say people are bullies for a few reasons. For example:

1. The bully craves power. Bullying is a habit that has worked for them in the past to help them get the power they desire. Often these people also feel inadequate (and insecure) and use bullying as a way to compensate and push high-value people away – again helping them look and feel good.

2. They feel success is a competition; a zero-sum-game and feel they have to always come out on top – as the winner. Because they see things through the lens of “If you win then I lose” or in other words, “If you have a good idea, I look less valuable” they feel threatened by others. This is often apparent for people who apply great value to hierarchy (in any of its many forms). They see others as competition instead of team members and attack them and/or their ideas, trying to tarnish their reputation or confidence.

3. The bully has suffered themselves, feels insecure and handles that badly. Consciously or unconsciously, they’ve learned over time that putting others down helps them feel better.

4. The bully is overwhelmed and sees power in knowledge, not leadership. Often this bully is cloaked as the collaborator, they are slow to make decisions, always looking for input from others. They become a bully-thief. When plans are put in place, they position themselves as the hero who orchestrated the solution and presents the final strategy.

Personally, for the last year I’ve been experiencing a particularly nasty combination of both bullying and passive aggressive behaviour from a (so called) leader. Fortunately, I was able to disconnect with relative ease – but the impact is still great. Even though I’ve distanced myself 100%... and if feels so good to get away, I’m also learning there is a long list of people who came before. And worse of all, there are many people who can’t get away so easily.

As I reflect on my own experience of being bullied I have to admit that even with all of my experience as a leader in a corporate world… even with all of the research I have done in relation to generational differences, communication, leadership and diversity, I did not see this one coming. In retrospect I realize I made excuses for the bully… excuses like:

1. They really didn’t mean it

2. I was misinterpreting their behaviour

3. They were on a steep learning curve

4. They were experiencing unprecedented situations (Covid-19)

5. They wanted my support as a coach so I should try harder and give them more opportunity.

Turns out, only #4 was true. They did mean it, I wasn’t misinterpreting their behaviour, they had no interest in learning or changing their approach and my support only tapped their insecurities even more – I assume because would have to admit they were not all knowing and all seeing (and no leader is).

What Happens When We Are Bullied?

Bullies are commonly found in leadership positions or some other position of authority. This often makes it difficult for victims and potential victims to get support; this is one reason people often stay silent when they feel they’ve been bullied. Unfortunately, this often empowers and emboldens the bully.

When we are bullied, victims feel increasing levels of stress, anxiety, fear, depression, high blood pressure, insecurity and often lower self-worth, especially when they stay silent. Even if victims quit their job to get away, victims usually carry their feelings of lower self-worth forward for years to come.

My personal experience is just another reminder that the best leader is the one who supports their team to share their expertise – not the one who is jealous of it or intimidated by it.

Either way – being bullied – or being a bully isn’t cool.

Conclusion:

Please continue exploring this topic in any and all ways possible. In my three articles I cover just the beginning of an important topic with many variabilities.

Nobody Should Be Bullied At Work Part 2: Explores Education And Setting Up Support Systems

Nobody Should Be Bullied At Work Part 3: Explores Bullying versus Performance Management

If you feel you want to talk to someone about an experience you’ve had or are having, don’t wait… there are many services where friendly and well-trained people are on hand. Just search online for something like ‘bullied conversation line’ and you will find many options. If your situation is not urgent and you believe I can help, please send me an email at bruce@brucemayhewconsulting.com

Thank you for reading.

Bruce

PERSONAL NOTE OF GRATITUDE: Thank you to the wonderful people who added to this article by discussing their experiences with me and making suggestions. You are some of the strongest - most courageous people I know. I am honoured to know you and you make the world around you a better place.

Bruce Mayhew Consulting specializes in customized Email Etiquette Training, Leadership & New Leadership Development, Generational Differences, Time Management Training and other soft skills training solutions in Toronto and across Canada. Bruce is also an Executive Coach to a few select clients.

Bruce is an experienced motivational speaker in Toronto and has inspired audiences across Canada and within the USA and the UK. Bruce works hard to always make sure your training event, conference, retreat, or annual general meeting is a success.

Thank you for stopping by.