Stop throwing your status around

Careful throwing your status around.

Leaders in organisations, wherever they go, wherever they walk, sit, stand, eat ... come with status attached. It can't be hidden.

At a client workshop, the senior leader tip-toed in after about two hours, trying not to disturb the session. But really? They couldn’t be missed. Their status comes in the door first! At other sessions, leaders have said, ‘ I’m not participating today, I’m just observing’.

What's that caper!?

Now even more status is pouring out of you. Stop making yourself even more separate, different and higher. Make a decision: either be IN it with the team in the room, or get OUT of it and leave them to do the work of the workshop.

Why and what are you 'observing'? Why not get involved? I don’t see any need for leaders to be 'on the fringes’ of a workshop, doing this watching, checking, observing, judging. Participate, do the work, connect and listen to people, get your hands dirty, hear their stories. Your special title isn’t special when it comes to working with the team in a practical session.

Remove yourself and your status completely. Or reduce your status and sit at the table. How else do leaders throw their status around, perhaps unknowingly?

The 4 words that show no - or low - empathy

We know that empathy is a key way to build connections with people, deepen a conversation and strengthen trust. But I wonder ...do we too often confuse similarity for empathy?

When someone shares a story or situation with you, and you’ve experienced it too, what do you say?

We can too often rush in to sharing our story, our experience and our situation...because it’s happened to us too! Sharing similarities, finding common ground - sure, yes it builds rapport, connection. But don’t kill the opportunity for deeper connection and empathy in the rush to say your bit.

These four words can kill empathy dead :

Been There Done That.

If you think it helps people feel better that you’ve done it too... pause...because it may not. That’s because it’s not validating their story or their situation they’ve just shared. It’s switched the focus to you.

Empathy is not about being better, bigger, quicker, cleverer, the ‘winner’ or having done it or experienced it before them. Quieten down. Listen. Respond to what they’re saying without making it about you.

Start with shy

In meetings, sessions or workshops, why not start as if everyone in the room is shy?

The MC at the conference who declares after opening housekeeping announcements that everyone needs to ‘go and meet someone you don’t know’ makes me cringe.

The socially anxious, awkward, introverted, fearful ... and others may just want to run and hide.

'Don’t make me meet someone just yet.’

‘Don’t make me break into a group.'

'Don't make me look silly.'

'I just want to run away! (Or at least slip out of the main room and go have a coffee).

We need to build the safety and engagement in rooms, groups, gatherings and meetings and do it better than we are. Stop the rush. Build safety bit by bit, step by step. If the goal is to network, then build towards it. Don’t start with it. It’s all too much, too soon.

Extroverts and social folks love to get talking, and they will, but plan to start with shy. Start with the shyest person in mind to design your agenda, activities & program.

Cater to the most introverted people and you'll build the greatest safety from there.

Pssst, are you shy? How do you like to be engaged and involved in meetings? Like and let me know below.

This is the era of ease

This is the era of ease.

The world of work has changed. If you're a leader, you need to be more collaborative, able to help a group of individuals play to their strengths and get great work done.

You need to be able to make the workplace safe for them to be themselves. And to be able to bring them together, to remove barriers, roadblocks and obstacles to their progress - not create them.

This is a bigger role than just you and your title, your package, ego or status. You'll need to bring empathy, great listening skills, clever questioning capabilities and the ability to chill the %$#& out - to stop being so driven, anxious and intense.

'Facilitation' means ease, to make easier. Today's world of work needs you to be a leader who makes things easier. That's making progress, meetings, problem-solving, conversations, influence, starting and finishing things - all easier.

Help make it all easier. This is the era of ease.

The 'triple threat' work skills for the future

Trying to make sense of the ongoing changes in the world seems like a tough ask sometimes; as soon as you’ve got your head around one shift or change ... ‘thud’, along comes another, and then another. This is the world of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity (VUCA) after all. 

So what are we to do? 

And the emphasis is on ‘do’. We can’t just sit and wait things out. Mind you, pointless ‘doing’ isn’t too helpful either. 

With the big world, your work world and your own world undergoing constant shifts, tweaks, adjustments and aftershocks, there are some critical work skills that will do you well - both now and the future. There's machine learning, artificial intelligence and more VUCA so you’ll need something that’s sharp and has staying power in your backpack or the often-quoted “toolkit” to ride this out ...and keep on riding. 

The Institute for the Future and the World Economic Forum release details on what they think you’ll need for the future. Add to that what I’m thinking and seeing when I’m working with business, and yes, there’s a dose of Sensemaking capability needed.

What’s the triple threat?

The ‘triple threat’ isn’t about the world’s demise - though with some changes recently, it could well head that way sooner than we were planning! 

Triple threat: it's the three powerful skills I think will make you a sure thing for better thinking, more useful solutions and a stronger bias for action… no matter what happens with the evolution of work. 

Why a triple? 

An actor who’s known as a triple threat is a threat because they can do more than just act. They can sing and dance and act. They’re more of a threat to succeed and get a wider range of gigs than the single domain expert who’s a great singer but… or acts well but can’t do much more. Nothing wrong with focusing on acting -- or any domain -- but having a couple of other domains of expertise in your kitbag will simply take your further, for longer. 

Football players (catch, pass and kick) or cricketers (bat, bowl and field) or netballers (shoot, pass and defend) who are triple threats are indomitable. They’re everywhere. They’re higher profile. They deliver greater value. They’re truly indispensable. And they’re probably feeling super-fulfilled too. Imagine using all that talent in so many areas and doing all much good, bringing that much value. 

Distributed -- not diluted

While deep expertise is ace, some transferability or ‘neo-generalism’ as Kenneth Mikkelsen and Richard Martin in 'The Neo-Generalist - Where you go is who you are’ explain... is the thing. It’s my favourite book of the moment. It speaks of the ability to be a specialist and a generalist. To ‘traverse multiple domains’ and ‘live between categories and labels’; now that’s a winner in my eyes.  

With triple threat work skills under your belt for the future, you’re more able to cross disciplines and blend opportunities that might have passed the single domain expert by. You're able to combine, mix and cross-pollinate what you learn from one area/gig/field/job/contract/experience... and apply it in another.

Steven Johnson in ‘Where good ideas come from’ calls this looking for ‘the adjacent possible’ ... and it has a dose of his ‘serendipity’ about it too. As he unpacks seven of the innovative spaces and places where good ideas come from, you can see how having more than one domain of expertise is like capability on steroids! 

The triple threat of work skills for the future

The triple threat work skills for the future? 

I think you’ve got to wonder, think and then do something with what you find out. 

Sing, dance and act. 

Bat, bowl and field. 

Shoot, pass and defend. 

At work, it's curiosity, ingenuity and creativity.

It looks like this... all bright and breezy: 

Curiosity is to wonder.

It’s about questioning. What’s going on? It’s a facilitation of a diverse conversation and dialogue. It’s about scanning, listening, reading, absorbing. Hmmmmm!

Ingenuity is to solve.

It’s about thinking. More deeply. It’s connecting dots. What does this mean? It’ssensemaking. Looking back, working out what’s needed next. Coming up with plausible solutions and ideas. Ahaaaa!

Creativity is... to create.

Of course it is! But not arty painting - unless that's what you're doing! This future work skill is for making, shipping, delivering, doing. It’s about the hack. Get it done. Tick! 

The Triple Threat of Work Skills for the Future are: Curiosity. Ingenuity. Creativity

These are a triple threat because they are adaptable, flexible and transportable.

They encourage you to be open to different perspectives and they create conditions to wonder what the heck is going on… and to respond, to work out 'what are we gonna do about it.' Oh, and then actually do it!

Don’t just wonder. Don’t just think.

Finish the game, the play, the third act and get into action.

Do.

Then you’ll be able to wonder again, think some more and put some more things into practice. 

Go you triple threat you!