Things you need to do as a people leader

• Putting out fires
• Budgeting time and money
• Managing customers
• Juggling resources and people
• Meetings, meetings and meetings
• Dealing with conflicts

Are we good at managing the things above.

Work Co-dependency - when employee and managers need each other to do their work Work Interdependent Relationships - when you can rely on things getting done without having to lean on each other to get them done.

Old School Way of thinking of catch up

• Focus on tasks
• Reactive (fire fighting)
• If I have time I will catch up with you
• Employee needs to drive your own development
• I tell, you do
• Feedback to employee / team member
• Transactional relationship

New school way of thinking of catch ups

• Focus is task + career + KPI’s + professional development + feedback
• Proactive (spot fire + bush fire prevention)
• You are my time and a priority
• Driving employee development is driven by both
• I ask, you learn
• Feedback is both ways
• Relations relationship

Maslows Hiercachy of Needs

Physiological safety (being in a place where you are physically safe) Physical and Emotional Safety (feel safe, no emotional violence, having enough money to live) Social (Our need to belong, feel seen and heard and connected to people around us)
Esteem (Our need to feel accepted, respected and valued by others) Self Actualization (When we have all our needs met)

Check list on your catch ups Q) I focus on task and to do list items Q) I am well prepared before I step in to them Q) I regularly have them and rarely cancel Q) I am fully aware how it builds our relationship Q) I give constructive and useful feedback Q) I discuss their 12 month KPI’s and career goals Q) I prefer to ask more questions than tell the answers Q) I consider myself “present” and listen well

Ask More, Tell Less

While telling seems simple, it often feels really demotivating. To get the best out of our people we need to get better as asking questions. Don’t assume what worked in the past will work in the future. Stop telling people, rather ask and listen POW Framework - Problem, Options, What Next

Knowing that a manager is better at asking than telling

Career Conversations

• People don’t know how to self manage their career
• Don’t understand how they know what is in their way of progressing

Simple and powerful questions to help them manage their own careers

Why don’t we have them? Managers feel uncomfortable and managers avoid them, or don’t know how to approach them.

Transform your career conversations

• It’s not unusual for people to come to us and say they think they are ready for the next step

There are 3 components to a Kich Ass Career Conversation 1) Current State - where are they at in their current role 2) Future State - where would they like to be in a future role 3) Plan to get from Current to Future State

Current state, what are their strengths, what are they good at. Future state, show an interest in their future, their ideas, dreams and ideals Plan to get from Current to Future State, advice on what they should do to get there

Questions to ask to get the current state

• What are you enjoying about your job?
• How satisfied out of 10?
• What’s working for you? What isn’t working for you?
• What are you good at? What are your strengths?
• What do previous Managers and reviews tell you?
• What activities do you enjoy the most?
• What motivates or energises you?
• What skills do you like to use?
• What are you passionate about that you’re not pursuing?
• What else?

Questions around the future

• What type of work would you like to be doing?
• Where would you be working in terms of location?
• Who would you be working for?
• What does success look like to you?
• Where do you see yourself in 1-2 years and beyong.
• What kind of activities would you be doing on a daily basis?
• What kind of things would you be responsibile for?
• What problems do you like to solve?
• What issues do you like to deal with?
• If money was not an issue, what would you be doing?
• Where are you playing it too safe?
• What else?

Current to Future State

• Are there any roles internally that you can pursue
• How can you raise your profile to be more visible
• What can you do outside of the orga that would give you satisfaction?

Your Presence is your Present

Listening to people makes them feel valued and respected, and interested in them. Being present requires focus.

Mindfulness is about

• Being conscious of what YOU are thinking, feeling, doing, and saying.
• Being ware of what THEY are saying and doing.
• Observing what is going on in YOUR world… and THEIRS

When was the last tie you had the solution to their problem before they shared their?o How many spot fires are we missing because we are not focussing on individuals and their needs

Ted talk on Mindfulness

Feedback Both Ways

Have you ever…

• avoided conversation because you don’t have all the facts
• avoided conversation because the conflict or emotional reactions
• avoided conversations because you didn’t want to damage the relationship
• delivered harsh feedback in the name of ‘being honest’

What makes feedback great?

• It is helpful and has a “because”
• It has a balance of positive and negatives
• Nips issues in the bud
• Is well prepared (opinions are not facts)

Read Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott

Think about an issue, problem or person

Preparing the conversation

1. State the issue (the purpose or thing). This should have no opinion or feeling in it. Hey, can we chat about X
2. Share your intent (do not problem solve yet).
3. Provide some examples or facts (high level only)
4. Share your opinion/feeling
5. Discuss the stakes/consequences (what are the consequences for them)
6. Identify your contribution to the problem
   6a. Repeat your intent, if appropriate
7. Ask them for their thoughts/perspectives

10% of conflicts are due to difference of opinion, 90% due to tone or intent.

Getting feedback

1. Be specific about what you want feedback on
2. Frame it; What’s working? What could be better?
3. Give them time to gather their examples and think things thorugh and set a date when you will get the feedback.

Relationships Matters

When we work with people we like we give our discretionary effort

People say relationships at work don’t have to be personal. We can collaborate and get things done without having to be friends.

Business is personal because people are involved. You are dependent on others for success

Personal relationships don’t mean you need to know each others deepest fears, or childrens birthdays or what you did on the weekend.

False belieds about relationships

• If I have a tough conversation, the relationship will suffer
• I need to keep distance to maintain respect
• I can’t be friends with people I lead

Five pillars to healthy relationships at work 1) Show them respect (show how to act with integrity and treat them well) 2) Sit in their shows (listen to understand)
3) Make it feel safe 4) Check your ego (Don’t have an overinflated sense of self)
5) Don’t take it personally (How people treat us is a measure of their character, how we react is a measure of ours)

4 types of relationships we have 1) Adversary - publicly or subtly seek to undermine you 2) Rival - competes with you for promotions, resources, others attention 3) Supporter - on your side until the going gets tough 4) Ally - they have your back no matter what

(see the power of winning relationships” by Morag Barrett

Identify relationships to upgrade, sit in their shows, have the conversation, repeat

Designing Your Catch Up

Quality of catch ups count Quantity of catch ups count

How do you ensure high quality?

• Practice, review and tweek
• Get feedback from those being in your catch ups

How do you get the right quantity?

• Some want weekly
• Some want fortnightly
• Some want monthly
• None at all is not an option

Allow employees to pick how often their catch ups would be

When checkins are done more reguarly, engagement increases

7 Components to consider

1. Get present
2. Start POW with “What’s on your mind?”
3. Discuss task list (previous actions, todo’s)
4. Open up career conversations
5. Touck on KPI’s & long term goals
6. Give and receive feedback
7. Plan a way forward