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A crystal-clear vision, coupled with well-defined goals and boundaries, forms the cornerstone of a thriving workplace. A compelling vision acts as a guiding light, inspiring employees and aligning their efforts toward a common purpose. However, without specific goals, this vision risks being irrelevant words. By setting three or four key goals, leaders can direct focus onto the vital 20% of tasks that yield 80% of desired outcomes. When goals are communicated clearly, ensuring that all team members fully understand expectations, having a clear vision and goals fosters efficiency and prevents wasted effort on non-essential activities. However, as Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges point out in their book, Lead Like Jesus, leaders often conclude that “they have been “perfectly clear” in their initial instructions about what they want, and then they hold their listeners accountable for perfect comprehension and perfect retention.” In reality, being a leader who helps employees and the organization succeed requires two-way conversations to check for understanding and frequent repetition of the goals to keep everyone focused on priorities. Additionally, establishing clear boundaries provides employees with a framework within which to operate, empowering them to make decisions confidently and autonomously. These boundaries serve as guardrails, ensuring that actions remain aligned with organizational objectives while allowing room for creativity and innovation. Blanchard and Hodges explain that “Boundaries channel energy in a certain direction. It’s like a river. If you take away the banks, it wouldn’t be a river anymore; it would be a large puddle, devoid of momentum and direction. What keeps the river flowing are its banks.”  Together, clarity of vision, goals, and boundaries creates a roadmap for success, guiding both individual and collective efforts towards organizational success. Leaders have the responsibility to ensure that vision, goals, and boundaries are established, frequently communicated, and fully understood and followed by all team members.

Workplace drama can be like a dark cloud looming over an otherwise sunny organization. Cy Wakeman, a renowned expert, describes workplace drama as emotional waste—a drain on energy that could be better spent on positive endeavors. It’s that negativity that pulls focus away from productivity and towards unproductive mental processes. Instead of fostering a harmonious work environment, drama can disrupt workflows and hinder progress. To tackle workplace drama, it’s vital to question our initial thoughts and stick to the facts. Drama often arises from misunderstandings or assumptions, so taking a moment to reassess can prevent unnecessary conflict. Instead of jumping to conclusions or engaging in gossip, seek out factual information and consider different viewpoints. Clear communication with all involved parties can help gather accurate perspectives. Distinguishing between facts and opinions is key. While opinions may differ, facts provide solid ground for decision-making and conflict resolution. By focusing on facts rather than emotions, we can prevent drama from escalating. Creating a positive work environment also involves addressing issues promptly and directly. Ignoring problems allows them to worsen, leading to more drama in the long run. Encouraging transparency and accountability among team members fosters mutual respect and understanding, reducing the likelihood of drama.  Ultimately, combating workplace drama requires a collective effort. By questioning assumptions, sticking to facts, and fostering open communication, teams can create a more harmonious and productive workplace were drama takes a backseat to collaboration and success.

Earning the respect of your employees

They are more apt to jump ship!

There is a lot of evidence that the biggest potential for growing your organization’s top line, bottom line, or mission impact this year is through leadership development! Lack of strong leadership skills and behaviors impacts the bottom line. “For every year a company delays leadership development, it costs 7% of their annual sales.” - Blanchard – “Making the Business Case” Report Lack of strong leadership skills and behaviors impacts retention. “1 in 2 people state that they’ve left a job at some point to get away from a bad manager.” - Gallup Lack of strong leadership skills and behaviors impacts engagement and productivity. “Managers control 70% of the factors that impact employee engagement.” - Gallup In 2024, for the first time, managers and supervisors are more disengaged than frontline workers. - Gallup “There aren’t a lot of tools that promote leadership development.” - Bravely The need for leadership development has never been greater. With few people applying to your job postings, you don’t want a right-fit hire to become disenchanted and leave in 3 to 6 months. Managers of remote workers have to be more intentional about communicating with their employees because they can’t touch base in the break room or drop in as they are walking past their office. Today’s employees want a positive workplace culture but 90% of leaders aren’t focusing on building rapport, increasing engagement, and providing the various types of support team members need to become high performers. Yet, there is very good news in the leadership development space! Culture Impact has developed a stellar management training course which helps leaders: realize the need for trusting and inspiring employees, learn about effective leadership practices, develop the foundational skills for engaging and empowering team members, and build confidence to regularly use these effective leadership practices to support employee and organizational success. If you have been losing sleep at night, or pulling your hair out, over low employee morale and productivity, it will be well worth your time to investigate the highly effective Conversational Management training. Click here for more information and to register for a 2-hour interactive workshop experience. Attending a remote Test Run of this highly effective leadership development program could transform your work and personal life – and the workplace reality for everyone on your team! When you decide to offer Conversational Management to your people leaders, the training can be delivered in-person or via Zoom.  I look forward to seeing you at one of the upcoming Test Drives! Register Now! Please reach out with any and all questions about leadership development or Conversational Management. Contact Cathie Leimbach of Agon Leadership at 440-320-3113 or cathie@agonleadership.com .

Leading with Collaboration, Trust, and Inspiration

Empathy, often considered a soft skill, plays a pivotal role in fostering a positive and productive work environment. Yet, this ability to recognize, understand, and share the thoughts and feelings of another person, is often undervalued. In the workplace where deadlines and targets dominate, understanding and connecting with colleagues on a personal level may seem secondary. However, research and workplace dynamics suggest otherwise. Empathy is not just a natural trait but a skill that can be cultivated. Actively practicing empathy can enhance one’s ability to comprehend and share the feelings of others. In the workplace, this results in improved communication, collaboration, and a sense of belonging among team members. When employees feel a genuine connection with their colleagues and managers, the benefits extend far beyond the emotional realm. Increased empathy correlates with higher efficiency and productivity. Managers who invest time in understanding the personal lives of their team members create an environment where employees feel valued and supported which, in turn, leads to greater job satisfaction and a stronger sense of loyalty to the organization. In a fast-paced and competitive workplace, showing empathy might be the most efficient use of a manager’s time. Taking a moment to inquire about an employee’s well-being not only builds trust but also fosters a culture of mutual respect. Ultimately, a workplace rich with empathy becomes a breeding ground for creativity, innovation, and sustained success.

When employees receive regular feedback on their performance, their productivity and morale, as well as the organization’s retention and bottom line, improve. Once leaders have set and communicated clear expectations and monitored employee progress and results, it is important to let them know how well they are performing. When you catch employees doing something right, tell them so they know which tasks they are doing correctly. Their stress level falls because they know they are on the right track. This gives them more confidence in their work. When you see that an employee is not meeting expectations, it is important to have a conversation with them, identify the bottleneck, and determine a corrective action. Employees may lack appropriate equipment and tools, not fully understand expectations, or need more training. Nobody likes negative feedback, so few people underperform intentionally. Many are afraid of being fired if they approach their manager to ask for help. Studies show that most employees are very thankful for negative feedback if it is followed by a plan to correct their performance, helping them be successful. So, it is important that leaders have the courage to address underperformance in a calm manner which helps the team member become a valued employee.  The frequency of praise and corrective feedback varies with the employee’s competence and confidence. When an individual is new to a task, it is appropriate to provide feedback every few minutes initially, dropping back to hourly, and then daily. As people become more familiar with a task, positive and corrective feedback can become less frequent. However, to build and maintain an engaged and productive workforce, it is important that managers acknowledge even highly competent individuals at least weekly.

Once you have shared expectations with a team member, it is important that you monitor their progress, compare their work with your expectations, and provide appropriate feedback. Depending on the individual’s development level and the nature of the task, the frequency and method of monitoring progress varies. During the initial stages of learning a task monitoring may take place every 5 minutes or hourly and move to daily. A highly skilled person may be asked to provide their manager with weekly or monthly progress reports. Before comparing an employee’s results or progress-to-date with your expectations, it is important to review the written description of your expectations. We often don’t tell others or put in writing exactly what we were thinking when we assigned the task. If the individual’s progress is not in line with the written expectations you provided, then providing guidance for them to make changes is appropriate. However, if the work they are doing is in line with written expectations but not in line with what you really wanted, it is important that you acknowledge having left out key elements of your written expectations and revise them promptly. The third part of monitoring employee progress is to communicate successes and areas for improvement. Provide specific positive feedback on parts of the task your team member is doing well. Communicate areas for improvement in a calm manner. Discuss how they can improve their work towards meeting your expectations.  Your role as a leader is to support employees for success. This requires that you monitor their progress, compare progress to stated expectations, and provide both positive feedback and corrective action that helps them become high performers.

A crystal-clear vision, coupled with well-defined goals and boundaries, forms the cornerstone of a thriving workplace. A compelling vision acts as a guiding light, inspiring employees and aligning their efforts toward a common purpose. However, without specific goals, this vision risks being irrelevant words. By setting three or four key goals, leaders can direct focus onto the vital 20% of tasks that yield 80% of desired outcomes. When goals are communicated clearly, ensuring that all team members fully understand expectations, having a clear vision and goals fosters efficiency and prevents wasted effort on non-essential activities. However, as Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges point out in their book, Lead Like Jesus, leaders often conclude that “they have been “perfectly clear” in their initial instructions about what they want, and then they hold their listeners accountable for perfect comprehension and perfect retention.” In reality, being a leader who helps employees and the organization succeed requires two-way conversations to check for understanding and frequent repetition of the goals to keep everyone focused on priorities. Additionally, establishing clear boundaries provides employees with a framework within which to operate, empowering them to make decisions confidently and autonomously. These boundaries serve as guardrails, ensuring that actions remain aligned with organizational objectives while allowing room for creativity and innovation. Blanchard and Hodges explain that “Boundaries channel energy in a certain direction. It’s like a river. If you take away the banks, it wouldn’t be a river anymore; it would be a large puddle, devoid of momentum and direction. What keeps the river flowing are its banks.”  Together, clarity of vision, goals, and boundaries creates a roadmap for success, guiding both individual and collective efforts towards organizational success. Leaders have the responsibility to ensure that vision, goals, and boundaries are established, frequently communicated, and fully understood and followed by all team members.

Workplace drama can be like a dark cloud looming over an otherwise sunny organization. Cy Wakeman, a renowned expert, describes workplace drama as emotional waste—a drain on energy that could be better spent on positive endeavors. It’s that negativity that pulls focus away from productivity and towards unproductive mental processes. Instead of fostering a harmonious work environment, drama can disrupt workflows and hinder progress. To tackle workplace drama, it’s vital to question our initial thoughts and stick to the facts. Drama often arises from misunderstandings or assumptions, so taking a moment to reassess can prevent unnecessary conflict. Instead of jumping to conclusions or engaging in gossip, seek out factual information and consider different viewpoints. Clear communication with all involved parties can help gather accurate perspectives. Distinguishing between facts and opinions is key. While opinions may differ, facts provide solid ground for decision-making and conflict resolution. By focusing on facts rather than emotions, we can prevent drama from escalating. Creating a positive work environment also involves addressing issues promptly and directly. Ignoring problems allows them to worsen, leading to more drama in the long run. Encouraging transparency and accountability among team members fosters mutual respect and understanding, reducing the likelihood of drama.  Ultimately, combating workplace drama requires a collective effort. By questioning assumptions, sticking to facts, and fostering open communication, teams can create a more harmonious and productive workplace were drama takes a backseat to collaboration and success.

Earning the respect of your employees

They are more apt to jump ship!

There is a lot of evidence that the biggest potential for growing your organization’s top line, bottom line, or mission impact this year is through leadership development! Lack of strong leadership skills and behaviors impacts the bottom line. “For every year a company delays leadership development, it costs 7% of their annual sales.” - Blanchard – “Making the Business Case” Report Lack of strong leadership skills and behaviors impacts retention. “1 in 2 people state that they’ve left a job at some point to get away from a bad manager.” - Gallup Lack of strong leadership skills and behaviors impacts engagement and productivity. “Managers control 70% of the factors that impact employee engagement.” - Gallup In 2024, for the first time, managers and supervisors are more disengaged than frontline workers. - Gallup “There aren’t a lot of tools that promote leadership development.” - Bravely The need for leadership development has never been greater. With few people applying to your job postings, you don’t want a right-fit hire to become disenchanted and leave in 3 to 6 months. Managers of remote workers have to be more intentional about communicating with their employees because they can’t touch base in the break room or drop in as they are walking past their office. Today’s employees want a positive workplace culture but 90% of leaders aren’t focusing on building rapport, increasing engagement, and providing the various types of support team members need to become high performers. Yet, there is very good news in the leadership development space! Culture Impact has developed a stellar management training course which helps leaders: realize the need for trusting and inspiring employees, learn about effective leadership practices, develop the foundational skills for engaging and empowering team members, and build confidence to regularly use these effective leadership practices to support employee and organizational success. If you have been losing sleep at night, or pulling your hair out, over low employee morale and productivity, it will be well worth your time to investigate the highly effective Conversational Management training. Click here for more information and to register for a 2-hour interactive workshop experience. Attending a remote Test Run of this highly effective leadership development program could transform your work and personal life – and the workplace reality for everyone on your team! When you decide to offer Conversational Management to your people leaders, the training can be delivered in-person or via Zoom.  I look forward to seeing you at one of the upcoming Test Drives! Register Now! Please reach out with any and all questions about leadership development or Conversational Management. Contact Cathie Leimbach of Agon Leadership at 440-320-3113 or cathie@agonleadership.com .

Leading with Collaboration, Trust, and Inspiration

Empathy, often considered a soft skill, plays a pivotal role in fostering a positive and productive work environment. Yet, this ability to recognize, understand, and share the thoughts and feelings of another person, is often undervalued. In the workplace where deadlines and targets dominate, understanding and connecting with colleagues on a personal level may seem secondary. However, research and workplace dynamics suggest otherwise. Empathy is not just a natural trait but a skill that can be cultivated. Actively practicing empathy can enhance one’s ability to comprehend and share the feelings of others. In the workplace, this results in improved communication, collaboration, and a sense of belonging among team members. When employees feel a genuine connection with their colleagues and managers, the benefits extend far beyond the emotional realm. Increased empathy correlates with higher efficiency and productivity. Managers who invest time in understanding the personal lives of their team members create an environment where employees feel valued and supported which, in turn, leads to greater job satisfaction and a stronger sense of loyalty to the organization. In a fast-paced and competitive workplace, showing empathy might be the most efficient use of a manager’s time. Taking a moment to inquire about an employee’s well-being not only builds trust but also fosters a culture of mutual respect. Ultimately, a workplace rich with empathy becomes a breeding ground for creativity, innovation, and sustained success.

When employees receive regular feedback on their performance, their productivity and morale, as well as the organization’s retention and bottom line, improve. Once leaders have set and communicated clear expectations and monitored employee progress and results, it is important to let them know how well they are performing. When you catch employees doing something right, tell them so they know which tasks they are doing correctly. Their stress level falls because they know they are on the right track. This gives them more confidence in their work. When you see that an employee is not meeting expectations, it is important to have a conversation with them, identify the bottleneck, and determine a corrective action. Employees may lack appropriate equipment and tools, not fully understand expectations, or need more training. Nobody likes negative feedback, so few people underperform intentionally. Many are afraid of being fired if they approach their manager to ask for help. Studies show that most employees are very thankful for negative feedback if it is followed by a plan to correct their performance, helping them be successful. So, it is important that leaders have the courage to address underperformance in a calm manner which helps the team member become a valued employee.  The frequency of praise and corrective feedback varies with the employee’s competence and confidence. When an individual is new to a task, it is appropriate to provide feedback every few minutes initially, dropping back to hourly, and then daily. As people become more familiar with a task, positive and corrective feedback can become less frequent. However, to build and maintain an engaged and productive workforce, it is important that managers acknowledge even highly competent individuals at least weekly.

Once you have shared expectations with a team member, it is important that you monitor their progress, compare their work with your expectations, and provide appropriate feedback. Depending on the individual’s development level and the nature of the task, the frequency and method of monitoring progress varies. During the initial stages of learning a task monitoring may take place every 5 minutes or hourly and move to daily. A highly skilled person may be asked to provide their manager with weekly or monthly progress reports. Before comparing an employee’s results or progress-to-date with your expectations, it is important to review the written description of your expectations. We often don’t tell others or put in writing exactly what we were thinking when we assigned the task. If the individual’s progress is not in line with the written expectations you provided, then providing guidance for them to make changes is appropriate. However, if the work they are doing is in line with written expectations but not in line with what you really wanted, it is important that you acknowledge having left out key elements of your written expectations and revise them promptly. The third part of monitoring employee progress is to communicate successes and areas for improvement. Provide specific positive feedback on parts of the task your team member is doing well. Communicate areas for improvement in a calm manner. Discuss how they can improve their work towards meeting your expectations.  Your role as a leader is to support employees for success. This requires that you monitor their progress, compare progress to stated expectations, and provide both positive feedback and corrective action that helps them become high performers.