Being an effective leader includes managing differences -- Part II

In one of the recent episodes, I talked about ensuring that your new leaders were both technically proficient as well as effective.

And in response to that, I was asked, what about cultural differences and background in the team or with the new leader and what about levels of experience and skills and the difficulty to reconcile them?

Again, thank you so much for the question!

Because I felt that these were two complementary topics, I chose to address them separately. In Part I, which was the previous episode, I answered “What about levels of experience and skills and the difficulty to reconcile them?”

And, now, for Part II, let’s answer what can new leaders do to help address varying levels of experience and skills and the difficulty in reconciling them within a team?

Begin with an assessment

Start by addressing the various levels of experience and skills within the team by reviewing who is in your team. The needs will be different. The time commitments will be...

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Being an effective leader includes managing differences -- Part I

Recently, I talked about ensuring that your new leaders were both technically proficient as well as effective.

And in response to that, I was asked, what about cultural differences and background in the team or with the new leader and what about levels of experience and skills and the difficulty to reconcile them?

First, thank you so much for the question.

Second, let’s talk about it!

I feel that there are really two distinct topics here, and, therefore, I’ll divide them in two parts.

So for Part I, let’s answer what can new leaders do to help address cultural differences and backgrounds between themselves and/or the team?

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Like many leaders, I am not a DE&I expert. Although I do my best to educate myself in terms of diversity, equity, and inclusion, it is not my specialty. And the risk, of course, as we know it, is in the unknown unknowns. As in what do I not know that I don't know?

Personally, to get help with that, I have turned to hiring...

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Conflict as a Tool for Healthy Team Growth

leadership team dynamics Jul 29, 2022

It’s 3 a.m. You’re wide awake. You’re having a “conversation” in your mind with a colleague, a boss, a client. Again. The same one. Seemingly on repeat for the past few days, weeks, or months even.

Barring some intractable factors, it appears it’s time to transition that hard conversation from inner monologue to outer dialogue.

The thought of it is potentially making your heart race, your palms sweaty, your mouth dry, and even causing you to be a little nauseated.

When asked, most will say that they don’t like conflict. And that’s fair. I, myself, do prefer my conflict in works of fiction.

But all that internal turmoil, the time spent spinning, the miscommunications due to avoidance is not only unhealthy, it also frequently builds up and makes the situation worse.

Yes, conflict can be intimidating. And with a mutually agreed-upon approach, it is possible to elevate it to a healthy and productive conversation. As the Corgibytes ...

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Making the Most of Assessments While Guarding against Their Pitfalls

Most of us love a good personality assessment. They’re usually fun, can help us understand ourselves better and, at times, may even have implementable tips for us.

To be clear, I’m not talking about the suspicious ones that pop up in social media feeds and may or may not be gathering security question information.

I’m talking about the DiSC assessment, MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator), CliftonStrengths (formerly Clifton StrengthsFinder), and others in the same vein.

It seems every organization I’ve ever worked at had me take one of these as part of the onboarding. I took the test, enjoyed reading the results, and that was as far as it went. The organization didn’t seem to care much about it.

A REVELATORY TOOL

Although I have no first-hand knowledge of how these assessments were created, I’m pretty sure it’s safe to assume that Isabel Myers, Katharine Briggs, Donald Clifton, and others did not invest so much...

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How Small Businesses Can Attract And Retain Top Talent In A Changing Remote Landscape

For the longest time, just using the words “fully remote position” was enough for some small businesses to be flooded with resumes from top talent. Now, with big names such as Twitter and Slack embracing remote work for the long-term, this will likely no longer be the case.

Such massive changes in the remote landscape might have some small-business owners wondering what they can do to prepare themselves. After all, larger organizations might be able to offer various career paths, higher salaries, fully paid medical and dental benefits, unlimited vacation, equipment, paid-for internet, covered accounting costs and so much more. If the recruiting space is now filled with such employers, how can a small organization compete?

The answer is simple: it can’t. At least, it can’t compete directly. And it could be financially disastrous to try.

Does that mean small businesses have to sit back, wait and be grateful for whatever leftovers come their...

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Five Differences Between A Boss Leader And A Bossy Leader

A leader is often described as someone who inspires through their own actions. They’re a role model of expectations and behavior. But what does that look like in the concrete everyday?

Daily operations can get in the way of that idyllic image and the desire for the leader to be a mentor as well as a motivating force. After trying some heavy leadership frameworks, leaders may find themselves wondering who has time for this aspirational duty, especially when they’re struggling to make payroll, just lost a large client or had their best customer service agent leave to go work for the competition.

Except that, during difficult times — perhaps even especially during difficult times — the leader has to step into that shepherd position. Morale is likely already suffering. Stressors are probably very high. The need for a boost and unifying force becomes that much more indispensable.

It becomes essential for leaders to make time to be able to not only keep that...

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