The following are five questions I find leaders are asking this week about their workplace culture:
Tough Conversations
Former major league manager Jim Leyland was recently voted to the Hall of Fame. He has been known to say, “If you mislead a player you lose them forever. If you tell them the truth, you lose them for 24 hours.”
While hard conversations may be challenging, leaders must engage in them to have influence and success over an extended period of time.
Leaders, are there any hard conversations you have been putting off? If so, are you willing to engage in them this week?
For a deeper dive into hard conversations, read 33 Lessons For Leaders On Hard Conversations, Confrontation And Conflict.
Employee Turnover
At the time of this writing, three-time Premier League defending champion Manchester City are currently in fourth place. Legendary manager Pep Guardiola has a reason why. He said in this article from The Athletic, “How I saw the team, with the problems that we have, changing the core of the team — the midfield players are completely opposite to what we have the last seasons — we change many things but we are quite stable, create more chances, concede fewer than the opponents.”
There are other reasons but Manchester City is not off to a fast start this season largely because the core of their team has changed.
Sometimes changes need to be made to improve your team. But there are also times when excessive employee turnover can hurt performance.
Leaders, are you currently experiencing unnecessary employee turnover? This leads to my next point…
For a deeper dive into the extraordinary leadership of Pep Guardiola, read 35 Qualities Of A Once-In-A-Generation Leader.
Alignment vs. Attunement
Alignment and attunement are different leadership competencies.
Alignment is when your team is all on the same page about its goals and objectives. Attunement is when everyone is in agreement on how to get there.
You can be aligned but not attuned.
Alignment can make leaders assumptive. Attunement assures unity and cohesion.
Leaders, are you not only aligned, but also attuned in your 2024 goals?
Meetings
In this week’s James Clear 3-2-1 newsletter, he quotes business executive Jay Ferro’s thoughts on meetings:
“The three stages of career development are:
- I want to be in the meeting
- I want to run the meeting
- I want to avoid meetings.”
I will write in greater detail on the subject of meetings later this week, but I largely agree with Ferro. I am not a fan of meetings and think they can be a great hindrance to productivity. However, I was in an excellent meeting this week.
The following are five things which made the meeting not only effective, but enjoyable:
- The leader was fully-engaged.
- Everyone was invited for a reason and had a job to do in the meeting.
- Desired outcomes were clearly defined.
- We broke into individual groups but switched teams halfway through the meeting.
- The meeting schedule was strictly adhered to and we ended on time.
Leaders, do those who attend your meetings find them engaging and productive?
Effort vs Looking Effortless
Colin Cowherd pointed out on his Friday, December 1st podcast that nine of the last ten Super Bowl champions have averaged seven-to-eight blowout wins.
On Saturday, December 2nd, Arsenal had built a trouble-free 2-0 halftime against Wolverhampton. USA commentator Robbie Mustoe noted, “Champions win games easily.”
Struggle is necessary for strength. Effort is not easy. Preparation is not easy. Neither is training or having command of the fundamentals. But once do so, your performance could look effortless. Mastery often look easy.
Leaders, are people amazed at how easy you make things look?
Conclusion
The five questions leaders are asking about workplace culture are:
- Are there any hard conversations you have been putting off?
- Are you currently experiencing unnecessary employee turnover?
- Are you not only aligned, but also attuned in your 2024 goals?
- Do those who attend your meetings find them engaging and productive?
- Are people amazed at how easy you make things look?
My latest eBook is available for download. The Top 65 Leadership Quotes Of 2022 Part 1 is a resource every leader should have. Great quotes bring clarity and put into words who we intuitively feel as leaders. They give us wisdom and insights which advance the mission and vision of our organizations. This eBook includes thoughts and insights from leaders like Warren Buffett, Nick Saban, James Clear, Dawn Staley, Jurgen Klopp, Jerry Seinfeld, and even Ted Lasso. This resource will take you about 10 minutes to read but a lifetime to apply. You will want to stop and ponder the implications of each quote. Click HERE or on the image provided for immediate download!