On "Sharers", Radical Candor, and Unhelpful Thinking Styles
As always, I hope everyone is travelling well enough and finding opportunities to connect with others in meaningful ways. Personally, I've had a super duper busy month of delivery! While yet another long awaited holiday has been cancelled, I'm nevertheless looking forward to an opportunity to recharge during some upcoming leave. Given that we will still be in lockdown, we might have to get creative with our 'staycation' plans!
Now, onto this month's content - there is plenty for you to read below! Be sure to sign up for the newsletter if you enjoy this kind of content :-)
How do you handle your emotional 'struggles' at work?
This article is an interesting exploration of the different approaches leaders might take when experiencing anxiety, fear, or some other kind of 'difficult' emotion at work. Based on a qualitative analysis of some journal entries, the authors identified three distinct leadership styles, exploring the impact and relative pros and cons of each.
They concluded that one specific approach was more effective in creating connection, building empathy, and making it feel 'safe' for team members to also share their struggles. These types of leaders - labelled as "sharers" - were deemed more successful in building cohesive, high performing and resilient teams. The article also explores some of the potential reasons for this, many of which align with existing research around emotional agility and self-awareness. Finally, some tips are provided for those who want to become a "sharer" - but aren't sure where to start or worry about oversharing.
You can find the HBR article by following this link.
Could "one virtual, all virtual" increase psychological safety?
In this article David Rock shares his views on how to best design meetings and interactions when operating in a hybrid environment. He proposes that having a simple rule of "one virtual, all virtual" can make meetings faster, more inclusive and less biased. In turn, this can help to create psychological safety by ensuring that everyone can contribute in the same way.
An important caveat is that to gain the full benefits of creating an "even playing field", technology does need to be used effectively. Rock also acknowledges that some people might hate this idea given that we are all so tired of virtual interactions - perhaps seeing it as the "lesser of two evils"! For me, some of the key messages definitely resonated with what I've heard from clients as we've bounced in and out of virtual and hybrid settings over the last 18 months - as well as my own experiences as a facilitator.
You can read the Forbes article via this link - let me know what you think!
What does a good manager look like to your team members?
This short article includes a simple and practical suggestion for learning more about what motivates your team. Of course, the exercise may need to be adapted to accommodate remote meetings - but I personally think the many online collaboration tools could make this even more effective.
I think the reason I liked it is because ultimately, the key objective is to open up conversations between leaders and their teams, and create opportunities for individuals to talk about what matters most to them. And of course, a lot of my work relates to this central idea of leaders having great conversations with their people :-)
For those interested in taking a look, you can find the brief article here.
Do you care personally and challenge directly?
For those who haven't yet discovered the Radical Candor philosophy, this podcast interview provides a good overview of some of the key concepts in the book. You'll hear Kim Scott talk about the two dimensions that sit within the Radical Candor framework (Care Personally and Challenge Directly), and some of the reasons people tend to shy away from both of these behaviours (e.g. repeatedly being told to "be professional" and "be nice"!).
Personally, I'm a fan of the central idea that "clear is kind", having witnessed wayyyy too many examples of what Scott describes as "ruinous empathy". This topic was front of mind for me this month - I've just finished creating a series of videos commissioned by a client, to use in an on-demand program on giving and receiving feedback using the Radical Candor philosophy. This means I've been talking about this topic for weeks - to my video camera!
You can listen to the podcast episode here via the HBR website, or find it here on Spotify or Apple podcasts.
Are you demonstrating enough empathy?
This inspirational talk from Simon Sinek was quite popular when it first came out, and again feels relevant given the current environment.
You'll hear Sinek talk about the real job of a leader, the challenges many face when transitioning into this role, and the fact that many organisations are still suffering the "side effects" of outdated business and management theories. He also talks about one of my favourite topics - empathy, emphasising the idea that we all crave a work environment where others genuinely care about us as humans (not just the work we deliver).
My favourite part is the question Sinek says leaders should be asking themselves. Instead of "How do I get the best out of my people?", they should be asking "How do I help my people be at their natural best?".
Is your brain doing any "unhelpful" thinking?
It was a total accident that I stumbled across this great little infographic capturing some of the unhelpful thinking styles that often emerge as a result of our brain's tendency to take "mental shortcuts".
Indeed, I talk about several of these in my workshops and programs when encouraging participants to challenge their own assumptions and biases - and letting them know that it is perfectly normal and human for these to occur in the first place! As you check out the infographic, consider whether any of these unhelpful thinking styles might have shown up for you lately.
You can download the resource via this link.
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