avenueleadership

Leader Overwhelm Assessment

Being a leader in our current times means facing change daily, being constantly connected to technology, in meetings most of the day, with too much on your plate, working too many hours, while feeling like you aren’t doing enough which can cause anxiety and stress with impact to your health and family. This is leader overwhelm and if not managed, will lead to burnout.

Take this self-assessmentto see if you are actively preventing overwhelm or if you are in overwhelm, potentially at risk for burnout.

Enroll in Overcoming Leadership Overwhelm: Time, priority, and energy management

This course is for leaders at all levels who want to make changes in how they manage their energy, time, and priorities.

· 8 one-hour weekly live virtual Zoom sessions with only 10 people per class

· Focused on implementing practices and adapting them to your reality while learning successful techniques from peers

· This program is not focused on teaching you a lot of new theories about time and priority management. Instead, it will help you implement the most important vetted practices to prevent burnout including time in each session for planning, practice, and accountability (reporting back to the group on what you are implementing).

Program Takeaways:

· Prevent burnout and devote more quality time to your family, health, and what’s important to you

· Rank order priorities to structure your day and manage your time

· Manage your commitments and triage your to do list

· Implement communication protocols to combat 24/7 connection

· Construct a self-care structure and manage your energy

· Increase your bandwidth by reducing multitasking and implementing automation

Communication, Leadership

Designing Engaging Virtual Meetings

Can virtual meetings be as engaging as those that take place in person? The short answer to this is yes! But, they require intention.

Here are some best practices for making the most of your virtual meetings.

1) Create social time. We are social creatures, hardwired to connect with one another. In person meetings provide natural space for social time at the beginning and end of meetings that is lost in a virtual space. Use check-ins, questions, and/or round tables at the beginning of virtual meetings to get people talking. “I’d love to hear from everyone, what was one good thing (or customer interaction) that happened yesterday? Who wants to start?” This also provides a less awkward approach to taking a roll call. As the leader, check off each name from the attendee list as each person speaks. Invite those left to speak or verify they are not on the call.

2) Set norms or guidelines. Some examples we’ve commonly seen are no multi-tasking, all must contribute, silence is not consent. Seek verbal commitment or use a poling tool to solicit input. Let them know they are permitted to answer “I need to think about it” or “I agree with our approach and don’t have anything else to add”.

3) Agendas are not optional. Without a roadmap (agenda), distractions will win the attention of your participants/team. In a virtual environment it is even more critical to offer overt cues about what can be expected.

4) Ask specific questions. Nothing invites more crickets in a virtual meeting than “any comments or questions?” If you are struggling for something specific, start with “what did we get right and what did we miss?” If input is required to make a decision, the question should be more specific like “what are any hesitations with this option?” Asking each participant to contribute is also a best practice.

5) Get feedback. Ask participants to share their experience of the meeting, ways to improve, topics for the next meeting, etc. Reserve the last five minutes to talk about meeting effectiveness. If your participants know you are learning together and are committed to ensuring the time is valuable, then they will more actively participate each time you are together.

Communication, Leadership

Tips for Leading Remote Teams in Times of Change

There is no better time than now to evaluate and adjust the communication practices on your team and at your organization. Communication during crisis and uncertainty is of vital importance to keeping everyone in the boat, rowing in the same direction, and calm. As your methods of work change, and for many, spending more time away from being physically together, evolving your leadership and approach to communicating will need to evolve too.

As we coach leaders through these uncertain times, they inquire about what they can do to show support to their teams during change and how their communication practices can be a vehicle of support. A few of our recommendations are:

· Communicate to your team your intention to support them and the importance of staying connected and establishing good communication practices. Add to your messaging that the practices and technology being utilized or established now for communication will likely serve the team well when things evolve to the new normal.

· Ask your team about what their needs are right now and what communication practices can support them for example, more frequent touch bases or formally scheduled time since chances to meet organically are minimized. Do this through one on one meetings, surveys/polls, and/or team meetings.

· More frequent communication is necessary during rapid change and/or crisis because day to day interactions and watercooler discussions may not be there to enable a normal pace of exchanging information. This can create a gap in team cohesion. For example, a monthly in person meeting could morph into weekly shorter meetings with some time set aside for less formal conversations on how everyone is doing.

· Gain agreement on what should be reserved for individual, versus team meetings, versus email. Distinguish between what communication methods are most appropriate for things that are not urgent, those that are urgent, and those that are an emergency.

· Use video communication as much as possible. Body language adds necessary color to the conversation and offers greater connection.

· Create digital chat-like channels for less formal or rapidly evolving communication. For example, Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Zoom chat. These won’t clog email.

We are here to support leaders and teams through this ever-changing landscape. We are happy to offer free consultation to leaders on communication practices or help them lead team discussions on establishing and refining communicating practices. Give us a call at 269 220-0053.

Leadership

The Antidote to Anxiety, Choosing Your Mindset

Uncertain times open the door for opportunity. We always have the opportunity to reset, to reflect, to reconnect, and to plan to be the leader we want to be, whatever new realities come our way.

The resilient leaders we coach and observe have mindsets that set them apart as trusted leaders and allow them to weather storms and uncertainty. Here are just some of the beliefs and attitudes of those leaders.

· As a leader, others are looking to me for guidance; my mindset and actions matter and are intentional

· Caring for myself is my foundation and enables me to care for others

· Now is more important than yesterday or tomorrow, because we only have power over this moment

· As a team, we acknowledge our anxiety, yet it is within us to be intentional and calm

· I/we chose optimism over negativity

· Emotions change and evolve – it is possible to be present with our emotions without having to react to them

· In turmoil, our team’s best practice is to pause, reflect, and plan, before taking action

· Everything eventually changes to something new; we can positively influence what comes next, no matter how challenging

· Joy exists in difficult situations; we will work to find the joy in this moment

· When in doubt, we default to kindness; to ourselves and each other

As coaches, we are here to help you navigate a rapidly changing work environment and are here to help you, your team, and your organization create a culture that thrives, even in uncertain times.

Career, Leadership

Career Sponsorship

Career sponsorship is a strategic leadership development and diversity, equity and inclusion practice that is gaining attention and being deployed in many top performing organizations.

This post is dedicated to the key aspects of career sponsorship including: what sponsorship is and how it differs from mentorship; benefits to the organization, protégé and sponsor; how to begin being a sponsor; and how to receive sponsorship.

What is career sponsorship and how does it differ from mentorship?

Developing others is a significant part of a leader’s role. Career sponsorship is another tool to aid in doing this effectively.

Career sponsorship is a practice of advocacy and support that is distinctly different from mentorship. Where mentors give advice and coaching, sharing lessons from their experience, career sponsors endorse individuals to help them obtain new career opportunities and assignments. Many refer to this as a sponsor – protégé relationship.

To illustrate the distinction in this function, think of a mentee, who is high potential. This person may be learning and growing quickly, but not quite ready for the next level. It is possible in time that he/she would become your next protégé as they grow their proficiency. Protégés are individuals who already have the skill, competency, and motivation, yet are underutilized and/or lack exposure in the organization. Mentees can become protégés, but protégés do not always require mentorship.

What are the benefits of sponsorship?

Untapped talent is a significant risk for organizations, correlating to turnover and disengagement. Career sponsorship accelerates careers, makes better use of the organization’s talent resources, and retains talent. Through sponsorship, proteges have increased job satisfaction and stronger commitment to their organization, because they feel valued. In essence, sponsors help get high potential employees noticed and create opportunities for them to advance, benefiting both the organization and the individual.

There are also benefits to sponsors. Those who take a sponsorship role experience greater loyalty and transparency from the protégé, helping the leader keep a more realistic pulse of what’s happening at all levels of the organization. Additionally, we have found that leaders feel more connected and satisfied when it’s apparent they’ve had a positive impact on another person’s career path.

How to become a sponsor

Sponsorship starts with building trust. This means finding opportunities for potential protégés to build your confidence in their potential. You can start by offering opportunities to potential protégés to see how they do. Some examples are: ask him/her to serve on a committee or cross-functional project team; connect them to a key individual in the organization and see how they are able to build that relationship — do they incorporate any insights gained into their work, and what did key the individual think about the conversation/interaction?

Look for top performers who have good ideas, demonstrate loyalty to the organization and think about long term organizational success, have an appropriate amount of candor and will provide honest feedback, and have a strong reputation with others (although this is not necessary). Keep your eye out for possibilities in meetings, gatherings, presentations, etc. Invite one or two individuals for coffee or lunch, then build a deeper relationship with them and develop rapport by find something you have in common- passion, values, hobbies. Finally, ask them where they want to take their careers and how they want to develop.

Avoid falling into the trap of picking someone who reminds you of yourself. Sponsors will learn so much more from someone whose experience is different from his/her own. Consider sponsoring women, minorities, and veterans. Studies show fewer of them are selected for advancement, which perpetuates leadership gaps.

How to become a protégé

Start by demonstrating good ideas, loyalty, candor, and honest feedback. Request a conversation with potential sponsors, offer to help where they need it, let them know about your experience and your aspirations, and ask for feedback or thought partnership on something you are working on. The goal is to over time help them want to put their name on the line for you, help them know what experiences you desire, and ask them to look out for opportunities for you.

Lead the way

Perhaps you or someone you know felt forced to switch organizations in order to move up or find a dream job. Considering the benefits for all involved, the payoff of career sponsorship is worth the investment. You can lead the way – be a sponsor and/or find a sponsor.

Contact us for career sponsorship workshops for your executive team including why sponsorship is important and how to do it.