“You can’t compete with me, because I want you to win too.”

The cure for office politics is being relentlessly apolitical…

Sure, you can get far by playing bad office politics. Sad but true. I believe there’s a better way that *will* be more fun and rewarding and *may* even get you farther.

To flip-the-table on office politics, first commit to three unbreakable rules.

👉 1) Don’t create politics, but be aware of them. In an arena of politics we’re not putting our head in the sand. We’re choosing to play a different game.

👉 2) Know what you are doing is truly best for the organization. Eliminate personal agendas so you are always standing on the high ground in a debate.

👉 3) Keep a long game mindset. This isn’t about individual win/loss decisions, it is about achieving an ambitious goal that motivates you -- and then the next big goal, and so on.

So what does being apolitical actually look like? 🤔

👇 Here are 5 winning tips to get you started on the right path...

TIP #1 - Take as little credit as possible.

Give it away like candy. If you are known as a leader that makes other leaders into heroes, they will line up to work with you. Your leaders will know you achieved their desired outcome, and that’s all that matters.

Tip #2 - Focus on building momentum with proof.

Often resistance isn’t about the idea, it’s about starting what is required to achieve the outcome. What friction can you remove that creates proof-of-value and allows others to draft behind your momentum?

TIP #3 - Honor people over things.

Embrace your humanity. Demonstrate that you value others, their unique contributions, and your relationship. Never forget that respect and trust is not about you... it's always a reciprocal relationship between you AND another person.

TIP #4 - Consistently circle the organizational outcome.

Be the leader who always asks “what is the best possible outcome for the organization?” Use this to focus the conversation and build alignment around shared outcomes vs. personal agendas.

TIP #5 - Be honest with yourself.

It's hard not to lose sight of oneself when pursuing an ambitious and challenging goal. Try your best to stay centered. Regularly ask yourself, am *I* truly doing what's best for the organization?

Although we’re heading in a positive direction overall, it’s clear that we are still in an extended “long-COVID” business environment. Leaders need to prepare - now - to navigate long-COVID and post-COVID challenges, and be ready for new growth opportunities.

I’ve been meeting with a lot of company leaders across sectors. Amongst cautious optimism, the anxiety is palpable as much of the future remains opaque. These companies are in different realities, as some are still struggling while others have never been busier.

Leaders learned new skills in their initial COVID response, but many are reluctant to revisit those difficult topics and decisions. Those waiting for things to get better, may be in for a rough awakening.

What’s different this time? You have time to reinforce your foundations so that you are ahead of the curve, regardless of how the future unfolds.

*IF* your company is still vulnerable, restart your emergency response. Start discussing ‘what-if’ scenarios and preparation. Where can ‘expenses race revenues’ with smart cost cutting? What business areas must be prioritized, while managing tradeoffs between sustainability and future growth?

*IF* you are better positioned, or even grew through 2020/21, continue to make the most of opportunities while at minimum doing some sensitivity analysis if the current business cycle cools. Also, don’t waste the opportunity to get ahead of challenges like talent attraction/retention/development and business management in the forever hybrid/remote future.

Don’t let 2021/22 knock you off your long term aspirations, and get in touch if you might want some help.

#leadership #resilience #growth

Board Directors… are you failing the organization you chose to serve? Ineffective boards are too common, and it’s time to take action.

I just received my micro-credential for completing Capacity Canada's Modern Board Program via Conestoga College.

Why now? I want to focus more of my time on non-profit and charitable service.

It was also an eye-opening experience after working with many startup and corporate boards. In the private and public sectors I have seen first-hand the harm of an ineffective board, and this program sharpened my tools to diagnose and correct the root causes.

Are you (or do you have) an ineffective board?

Here are five of the most obvious symptoms.

1. The board focuses on operations rather than forward and outward -looking strategy.

2. The board doesn’t understand the implications of key pillars supporting strategy like financials, partnerships, etc.

3. The board sees itself as being in service of the CEO, rather than the owners of the organization. (Never forget that it is the CEO who serves the board.)

4. The board is unbalanced. It is dominated by a few, rather than informed and guided by the whole.

5. The board is not diverse and lacks different perspectives in its role to bring new ideas and insights to the organization.

(… and I have a longer list of the more subtle symptoms if anyone is interested!)

The good news is these issues can be fixed, if you choose to look, and choose to speak up.

I highly recommend the Modern Board program. I would also encourage you to spend more time talking openly with fellow board members about a critical assessment of your board performance.

There is always an opportunity to do better!

I’ve been lucky to hire dozens of incredible students and young professionals. Among the most successful, and the most fulfilled, was a superpower of exceptional self-awareness.

This self-awareness superpower manifested itself in some important ways:

• A positive attitude and approach to work, and work relationships

• A strong intrinsic motivation and determination to achieve outcomes

• A greater awareness of others, including an appreciation of their needs

• A clear sense of their unique strengths, skills, and talents

• A visible enjoyment and satisfaction from their work and achievements

These students distinguished themselves so much I made a point to highlight their superpower. I also started to include it in coaching.

There is no magic to developing more self-awareness. Like most things worth doing, it’s a matter of being intentional. Self-awareness comes from habitual and active self reflection.

Creating a professional values statement is a simple exercise you can do to develop more self-awareness. Set a timer for 10 minutes to reflect on each of these questions. I also encourage you to ask others how THEY see in you in these questions.

I AM

What are your strengths?

I DO

What outcomes are you most consistently able to deliver at work?

What skills and talents do you apply to achieve those outcomes?

I WANT

What work brings you the most enjoyment?

What outcomes bring you the greatest satisfaction?

What are the work environments in which you do your best work?

Self-awareness can be practiced and improved, no matter your stage of life and career.

Struggling to navigate the Future Of Workplace? Start with your purpose, customers, and mindset…

This is a difficult time for leaders as the news cycle feeds us workplace proclamations that are praised (remote), condemned (office), or dissected (100+ different flavors of ‘hybrid’). A consistent criticism is being short on long term thinking.

It’s also the wrong debate, or at least, the wrong place to start.

Instead, start a rational team conversation with WHY your organization exists and WHO you serve. Don’t waste the opportunity to reinforce a winning aspiration and customer value proposition that attracted the talent you have and the talent you seek.

Let this be a clear and inspiring foundation on WHAT workplace decisions make sense.

And as you seek clarity on your workplace model, find the same clarity in your mindset to navigate changing conditions. Thinking long term, a fixed control mindset (workplace as defined by you) risks being inflexible, and a fixed talent mindset (workplace as ‘choose your own adventure’) risks being unrealistic.

What about adopting an open or ‘free market’ mindset to create more space for productive decisions and tradeoffs? Here’s how that mindset could be applied to a team discussion:

1. What is our purpose? Who is our customer?

2. What set of office and remote configurations both achieve outcomes, and are reasonable?

3. What are generous accommodations for diverse needs?

4. What are tradeoffs that need to be considered, by both employer and employees?

5. Which tradeoffs can be improved, and which must be accepted, by both employer and employees?

If your leadership is paralyzed or running scared as they fear losing talent, a more pragmatic approach is worth talking about.

#leadership #culture #mindset

Grandma's life advice turned out to be one of the greatest tools of my professional career...

I was lucky to have a close relationship with my grandparents, and my grandmothers in particular. In our family, they set the tempo and tone of the household.

Above all others, the advice that plays on my mental loop is to “be mindful of the work you leave for others”. Of course, my grandmother meant not leaving work for others and helping around the house.

But that life advice is also a gift at work. If you want to lead happy and productive teams -- and be recognized for it -- start demonstrating this behaviour, and encourage others to do the same.

Here are a few ways you can manifest the advice:

1. Offer to pitch in - always. Be sincere and don’t wait to be asked. Karma is real.

2. Before handing off a project or task, ask yourself “what one-more-thing could I do to move forward one-more-step?” You will set the next person up for success, and accelerate progress as a team

3. Give support and credit generously. Use your reputation and success to proactively “pave the road” for a teammate.

What is your greatest life lesson, turned business lesson, from a family member?

#leadership #team #growthculture #personalgrowth