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Three Reasons Why Leaders Need a “PAUSE” Button

I’ll get to the point and if this resonates with you, I implore you to read on:

  1. Leaders need to STOP what they’re doing and confirm if they’re still on the the right track
  2. Leaders need to assess their energy and if they’re dreading certain activities, it’s a sign you’re applying it in the wrong way.
  3. Leaders need to check in with themselves to see if they’re still passionate about the work they’re doing and if they’re still up for the challenge…it’s okay, because sometimes you might need a change.

Having spent so many years trying to support others and giving them the tools for success, I have to be honest and transparent with you…I have hit the PAUSE button. No one likes to admit that, especially to my community of supporters and who I support willingly and with all my passion. But I too occasionally have to evaluate my strategy, goals and objectives. It’s what leaders do and I’m no exception. Today I am pausing for the reasons above and I simply wanted to share a bit with you in hopes it inspires you to also PAUSE if and when it makes sense. 

Fractional Leadership & Crisis Management

There are so many small & medium size businesses that are going through rapid change and may exceed capacity & capability to keep up with the changes. That’s where I drop in. Every client I’ve served has become so much more. We have become fans of each other’s work for which we sustain long term partnerships. What I’m seeing is that companies are still facing many crisis in supply chain, stable operations and finding talent that they don’t have the appetite for reach out for additional support. I’m okay with that, but as a business owner, that too presents challenges. So, then I ask the question is Fractional Leadership what these businesses need or is it something else? I’m open for suggestions and your thoughts. Great leaders leverage the collective input of their teams and I consider you part of the team!

Leadership & Skills Development

You’ve heard me say over and over again, there is a demographic of aspiring C-Suite Leaders who don’t have a support system and also are overwhelmed with work and commitments and don’t have the time to invest in themselves. I then wonder if I should pause on reaching out to this group of people and try to reach those leaders or HR business partners who realize they want to develop their people, but don’t have the capacity, capability or have the courage to bring on additional resources to help. I know in my gut, this is an underserved market, yet I’m struggling to find a way to connect. Again, as a leader I know I’m stuck and realize my community may have the answers. 

How do I find the people who have the ability to invest? Who do I need to connect with that may want to invest in their people? What kind of offers should I offer that would be more attractive or consumable for this group of leaders I so care about? I’d love to hear your thoughts and again, please respond to this email or message me at deborah@coviellocm.com 

What have I missed?

Many of you consume my content and I’m grateful for those who have shared how much they enjoy it. But as someone once said to me, I’m inside the cookie jar and may not see what is outside. Where else can I be of service? What skills do you see that could be used in a different way? What role can I play in order to impact more than I can imagine? I turn my attention to you and value your feedback!

As I return to the three reasons to pause, I feel I’m on the right track, but need your input to make any course corrections. I love the work I do and invest a lot of time, but at times I feel drained and wish to take back some of that energy and invest in myself, my family and in the community I serve in the best way. I am also open to any new possibilities of support you or others. 

While this article was about asking for some feedback from my community, it is also meant to serve you. Ask yourself – do you need to hit the PAUSE button? And if so, what are you seeking? If you have hit the PAUSE button in the past, I’d be eternally grateful to hear your story and perhaps bring it forward to inspire others. 

If this article resonated with you, I’d love to share other resources with you:

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I’m excited to share that The CEO’s Compass: Your Guide to Get Back on Track is getting into the hands of many C-Suite Leaders of Today and Tomorrow. This valuable resource asks you challenging questions about your leadership and why you lead. It then takes you on a journey around different compass points with practical advice on where you can make small but impactful course corrections. If this is you, consider getting your copy of the book and then schedule a complementary conversation to discuss what resonated with you and how to evolve your journey. 

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Recently we offered the Drop In C-Suite Academy to our C-Suite Leaders of tomorrow. We heard from many of you that work and personal commitments keep you busy and make it challenging for personal development. I hear you and I know it’s hard to keep it all together.

I’d love to hear from you about what kind of investment in your personal development makes sense. Reply to this email or send a note to deborah@coviellocm.com with a note about any of the following options:

  • Drop In Mastermind – drop in when time permits and glean new insights from topics presented and the opportunity to engage in conversation with others to solve real issues
  • Drop in C-Suite Academy Self Paced – consume the content when you have time.  No instruction needed
  • Drop in C-Suite Academy Self Paced + -consume the content when you have time but would like some coaching midway or at the end to evolve the skills
  • Drop In Conversations – I just need someone to align with periodically to coach through challenging situations, no packages, but spot support when needed.
  • None of the above – here’s what I need…. 
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Why Authoritative Leadership is Killing Employee Retention

It pains me to realize that Authoritative Leadership still exists in corporate culture; I once experienced this and it absolutely suffocated my creativity. However, taking the high road, I am grateful for having the opportunity to feel it first hand and now share my insights with you. While I seek to help C-Suite Leaders of tomorrow and give you tools to navigate such challenges, today I turn my focus to the C-Suite Leaders of today who may be in such an environment and have the power to make a difference. 

Seek to understand why Authoritative Leadership exists in your organization.

Whenever I’m befuddled to understand a situation that is misaligned with my values, I seek to understand why it existed in the first place. We can’t change the future unless we study history and understand the past. In my situation, the industry was highly regulated and risk averse. The business had been burnt many times for which strict adherence to protocol was imperative to survival. Given this insight, I ask you – how you can maintain strict protocols while maintaining employee engagement and creativity?

Educate and guide when to stay in the lines and when to go outside.

When I came to the new opportunity, I was full of ideas on how to improve the situation. My enthusiasm was quickly dampened when I was told to “stay within the lines.” I was shocked and dismayed to know I could not bring my creativity to the situation. I was simply a warm body to execute a transaction. This is frustrating to an employee and may quickly lead to their exit. Consider instead to share where there is freedom to bring new ideas. This helps people to understand the important protocols for business survivability, but also those where people can contribute to growth. The heavy fist should be replaced by education and guidance for the employee.

Feedback, Feedback, Feedback

Did I mention feedback is important? When I was in meetings, I constantly heard people present proposals, but with a tone of uncertainty in their delivery. It was as if, individuals were afraid to voice their opinion for fear of being taken off line and admonished. If they presented everything as a question, they would be safe. Instead, I propose that we provide feedback to individuals on how to present information in a way that is positive and how they can improve while staying within the guidelines that keep the company safe. Employees will grow to respect the company because they cared and will protect it in how they navigate the landscape.

So I turn to you if you are a leader in a highly regulated or authoritative organization; do you provide a safe environment for people to thrive and contribute? Your behavior can make the difference between stability or high turn-over. If your leadership is not authoritative, but you see it in your peers, could you have a conversation with them to evolve the culture to one that is not authoritative. Are you ready to make a difference in the company culture to make a lasting impact on the company and on individuals in your care?

I’ve shared my story with you, now I ask you, will you share your story? I’m here to listen. 

My wish is for every C-Suite Leader of today and tomorrow to navigate their careers with confidence. If this insight was helpful, share this article with others. If you have a unique challenge and wish to have a complementary conversation, please reach out to me. 

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Your time is valuable, so I wanted to share a few quick links so I can be of service:

P.S. The C-Suite academy enrollment is open. This experience starts August 22nd. Enrollment ends August 15th. 

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3 Essential Skills for the Opportunistic Leader

Being the optimist that I am, I like to focus on the positive vs. the “pain” or “crisis” of the moment. And while sensationalism “sells” I always felt a pit in my stomach when having to market my capabilities to the crisis that leaders are feeling. What if we elevated the Opportunistic Leaders who embrace every challenge they are faced with as an opportunity to stand out and make a difference in their businesses and in the people they lead? I love partnering with these leaders and these are their stories:  

Invest when others are retreating

A leader needs to see the opportunity to invest in the business, invest in your brand messaging and invest in people development. This CEO that I know (and I might add myself as well) has invested heavily in having the right people in their business. They know that when others are retreating and cutting back their budgets, these leaders see the writing on the wall and choose to spend money to secure a front position when the economy opens up. They call these leaders “crazy” or “poor business leaders,” however, by not investing consistently, they will actually spend more money in the long run. 

The same philosophy goes for career advancement; the best time to look for a job is when you don’t need one. Same for business loans; when cash flow is good, this is the best time to secure loans. No one wants to lend you money when you don’t have it. So I ask you, do you follow the pack and retract or invest in the opportunity?

Focus on your core competencies and outsource the rest

Outsourcing can look very different for every organization, but fractional leadership and professional services that compliment your core competencies are always the most effective. Mid-size companies try to do without a resource for as long as possible before they’re in crisis and then have to pay more to get back on track. Gone are the days of trying to do it yourself or having internal resources for every functional area. Why not have highly experienced fractional leadership when you need it and at the rate you need it? 

For example, you may not need a full time Quality Leader, but when there is a need to grow the capability in that area, bring in someone for the time you need them. It may look like a large short term expense, but a savvy leader sees the cost benefit of not having a full time resource year round. One such client only brought me in when they needed several 3 month projects. They saved a significant amount of money, but received high value results in return. It was only when the business grew significantly did they finally evolve the role into a full-time position. 

When supplies are scarce and money is tight, invest in people development

People development may seem counterintuitive when the business is stressed and people are working long hours. But investing shows the team that leadership still care enough to allocate time for development. These are the times where people need to be agile, learn new skills in order to manage the complexity. Think about the capability of your people once you come out of challenging times if they manage difficult situations and you’ve developed their competencies at the same time. Investing sets your business up to thrive during the challenges. Your people will serve you better because you invested in them.

One such leader I worked with saw an opportunity to invest in the problem-solving capability of their people. They realized that time is their most precious commodity and if they could help their people solve problems more effectively, they’d get time back to do the work needed to expand the business. When the training was done, the capability was realized and also the teams came together as one; the greater outcome of investing in their development. 

Do you have the courage to be the Opportunist in your organization? 

One of the hardest things for a leader to do is to have the courage to do something that may be unpopular. What I find is that we’ve not given them the framework to influence others. I’ve shared this framework many times, as it’s my best tool to help you get what you need to invest in the future:

  • Describe the current state and the gap
  • Show how the trend is increasing or decreasing
  • Make the proposal for the change needed to close the gap
  • Describe the opportunity of making the change or the risk of doing nothing
  • Show the result or impact it will have on the organization

When we practice these skills, you become the leader others will follow by seeing the opportunity and influencing the change needed for long term success.

If you need more convincing that this is a better approach to being an Opportunistic Leader, Harvard Business Review discusses the Tactics of Strategic Opportunism which you may find interesting (originally written in 1987.) My recent blog post about What Peanut Butter Can Tell You About Your Business also shares about pressure testing systems to avoid a crisis. 

My wish is for every C-Suite Leader of today and tomorrow to navigate their careers with confidence. If this insight was helpful, share this article with others. If you have a unique challenge and wish to have a complementary conversation, please reach out to me. 

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Your time is valuable, so I wanted to share a few quick links so I can be of service:

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Is Technology an Asset or a Detriment to Your Team?

When I see my daughter texting her friends, I would often say, “why not pick up the phone?” To that question, she would share with me it’s a group chat and far more efficient to organize their evening plans. Who can argue that technology can be an asset to help with productivity and communication? However, when I reflect on workplace culture and breakdowns in communication such as “I sent you an email,” or “they haven’t responded yet to me in Slack,” I wonder if technology is an asset or detriment to progress and efficiency? 

Recently, I stopped doing Zoom video calls for my networking; deferring to a lesser form of communication; the ancient telephone! I find by eliminating the visual distraction, I can more deeply focus on the words and intonation of the words exchanged to deeply understand the person and try to connect with them. My advice to you is to consider this old school way of communication. 

On a side note, if you are one of the many that I’ve recently spoken to by phone about your career journey, both opportunities & challenges, I can’t wait to bring your insights into my podcast and my “C-Suite Moments” as we kick off each episode!

…and now back to another story: 

In my last corporate job, I remember receiving emails from the sales team about how frustrated our customers were about quality and also the lack of responsiveness from the plant managers to their concerns. To that, I would pick up the phone, address their concerns and proceed with setting up a regular 1-2-1 schedule to build a collaborative relationship. They were sincerely appreciative of my approach as others would hide behind emails and texts rather than to confront adversity head on and resolve issues in real time.

Don’t get me wrong, technology is a time savings and highly effective in a culture where the team already has a high performing work ethic. But for teams that have not established trust and respect for one another technology, in my opinion, will be the demise of the community and result in more inefficiency.

If this sounds familiar and would you like to change the trend, here are a few suggestions: 

  • Be the change you want to see in others. Others will model your behavior. Stop with the technology and meet face-to-face or pick up the phone. If your colleague is in another country, WhatsApp is a great tool to also converse.
  • Use the rule of three. If there are more than three electronic exchanges (email, text, slack, chat) and the issue is not resolved or clear, meet face-to-face or pick up the phone!
  • Conquer confrontation. If you’re afraid to confront a difficult person for which technology has been a buffer to adversity, meet face to face or pick up the phone. At times like this, there is no better time to learn new skills to close gaps in understanding or reaching goals. My Drop In C-Suite Academy & 1-2-1 Coaching help you to manage challenging topics such as this.

When technology is doing more harm than good, resulting in inefficiencies and creating more division, it’s time to stop with technology and find ways of connecting with humanity. 

If you need more convincing, Business Insider shares additional insights about 9 Subtle Ways Technology is Making Humanity Worse. I also discuss in almost every chapter of The CEO’s Compass: that human connectivity and development is at the core of every change you need to get back on track. I’ve learned that once you build connections with people, then the use of technology can be an asset to exponentially create value. This too, can be evolved with support of a guide through my leadership and competency development offers. 

My wish is for every C-Suite Leader of today and tomorrow to navigate their careers with confidence. If this insight was helpful, share this article with others. If you have a unique challenge and wish to have a complementary conversation, please reach out to me. 

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Your time is valuable, so I wanted to share a few quick links so I can be of service:

P.S. C-Suite Academy enrollment is now open. This experience starts August 22nd, but enrollment ends August 15th. Message me for more information.

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Three Warning Signs Your Team Needs Emotional Support

It pains me to see talented people succumb to the challenges of dynamic work environments without a support system. I was once one of those people for which there was no support in my environment except my poor husband who listened for hours.  I know everyone reading this article knows at least 1 or 2 people who are distressed and need some level of emotional support. However, leaders don’t always see the signs. If not dealt with early, they become potentially performance issues as shared by my recent podcast guest Anthony Casablanca.

The early signs may manifest in the individual: 

  • Pulling away from engaging
  • Having low or no energy or
  • Having unexplained delays or deflection

I implore you to not turn away and say it’s not your problem, because we rise and fall together. One weak link may not affect you today, but perhaps tomorrow when the person does not show up for work… ever.

Emotional support is becoming a conversation to have at the table and not behind closed doors. If you can help your team with their emotional support, more than likely a few individuals will highly benefit from simply starting the conversation. It all starts with you as a leader simply asking how people are feeling. Ask deep open ended questions about what challenges are they having and what is the impact. I often find that with increasing pressures, people don’t have good prioritization skills. In my article How to make better decisions we give our team better tools to prioritize their work and navigate complexity with confidence. 

If you see that the team collectively is in need of support, there is good advice from Brittney-Nichole Connor-Savarda, editor of in Emotional Intelligence Magazine and also a past guest on my podcast, The Drop In CEO. She shares insights from the work of Laurence Lee in How to Release Built-up Emotional Energy  we need to engage in more: 

  • Physical activity, like running, going to the gym, dancing, etc.
  • Creative release, like writing, painting, playing, or listening to music.
  • Time in nature: nature walks, grounding, time outside
  • Surrounding yourself with positive people
  • Meditation or prayer

Consider these leadership changes to get people more emotionally engaged vs. drained:

  • Change the work environment for a meeting to standing in a new location or taking walks while meeting.
  • Do something creative like having fidget toys or arts & crafts for people to use during ideation sessions. 
  • Consider changing the environment of where you meet 
  • Bring in guest speakers 
  • Engage people in thinking time before starting some meeting with a question prompt. 

My wish is for every C-Suite Leader of today and tomorrow to navigate their careers with confidence. If this insight was helpful, share this article with others. If you have a unique challenge and wish to have a complimentary conversation, please reach out to me. 

Your time is valuable, so I wanted to share a few quick links so I can be of service:

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P.S. The C-Suite Academy enrollment is now open. This experience starts August 22nd. Enrollment ends August 15th. Message me for more information.

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The Formula for Marketing Your Leadership

Great wisdom comes when you reach out to your network and ask two simple questions:

  • What were the opportunities you had that supported your career growth? 
  • What were the challenges and how did you manage them?

I started on a journey to curate the best insights from industry leaders and bring them forward to you so you don’t have to struggle. Both leaders of today and tomorrow have the same challenges; just at different levels of evolution. To my surprise, connecting professionals has had a significant impact for me on many fronts. 1) It gives me the opportunity to stay current on the issues facing leaders of today and tomorrow. 2) It also allows me to build relationships with people I sincerely care about.  I am pleased to share the insights I’ve gained from a corporate leader who I recently spoke to. 

Why do you lead and what is the value you provide to people in your care?

Leadership, if one chooses, is a pursuit that continually evolves with a positive attitude and a thirst for knowledge. Whether through being a lifelong learner, having a mentor or investing a mastermind, we always need to develop these skills to have the best impact on the people we serve and lead on our journey. The first step is to check yourself and ask if you want to lead and what type of leader you want to be.

I find this step is the first in determining Who you are, Who you serve, How you will serve and what problems you can solve. This simple exercise getting crystal clear on your “elevator pitch” is the key to practicing and then coming forth as this leader. After all, being a leader is about marketing a vision and inspiring others to follow and elevate their capability to achieve. Learning marketing as part of your toolkit is a key step in messaging who you are. If you can say it and see it, then you become it!

Evolve your value in an environment that cultivates your passion and skills.

Find a job you are passionate about, consider a rapidly growing / changing company and one with opportunities to interface with customers. When you love the work you’re doing and throw in a fast paced environment, learning is at its highest level both the good and bad. You learn from this process and iterate rapidly to hone your technical and leadership skills. I found when I work in startup companies, you wear a lot of hats, you have broad responsibilities and you see the impact of your work much faster. 

“Pursue excellence in everything you do and give up on perfection.”

Once you’ve honed your value and expertise, you must be able to apply your skills with speed and agility. People need to see your value and also be brought along in the process. We must have grace when it’s not perfect and acknowledge our humanity. With leadership comes the responsibility to have an impact, but also be mindful of any risk of not doing things right. Leadership is about gaining respect of the people in your care and when they understand this style of leadership, they will follow and have your back. 

Be a student of people – this is how you connect and have greater impact. 

When you take your technical knowledge and add the art of reading & engaging with people, you perfect your impact. You need to read their body language, their engagement and how they look at people. I might also add you should focus on what is said, but more importantly what is not said. Sometimes the silence speaks volumes and a wise leader will study this deeply. 

Invest in learning vs training.

Leaders need to assure that the training of their people achieves a greater outcome by coaching the skills needed until competency is achieved. Through an iterative process of asking questions about their training and how they apply it to what they do and how they think, we transcend the spectrum to a learning environment. Companies that simply check the box of training as a matter of compliance miss an opportunity to communicate a message that they care. By showing people you care about them as humans vs. a transaction we build trust in your leadership and might I say, your brand. 

Always ask for feedback.

Great companies engage with people as part of consumer insights and market research to ensure the products and services provided meet their needs. Leaders that recognize that while we are in service to the needs of external customers, investing in the feedback of your internal customers provides you insight into what people are thinking. Create a culture of always asking for feedback. If you know me, I teach a workshop in providing a positive framework for soliciting feedback: What should I continue, what should I start doing and what should I change. All constructive and actionable for which leaders leverage these insights and make interactive improvements. People respect this action and continue to solidify your position as a leader worth following. 

Learn what you will do and not do.

Great wisdom can be gained by modeling the behavior of leaders you admire and have succeeded. Even more powerful is knowing what you will not do as a result of a leader you have worked for. Taking the time to qualify your values and ways of working also add to your marketability as a leader. Yes, I am inserting the concept of marketability, because after all, people are loyal to great brands or great leaders. Being consistent in the leader you want to be and leading with your values will resonate with the people who are attracted to you and will support you. 

Embrace the 70 / 30 Rule: be the leaders you want to be and it will happen.

We are required to deliver results and our employees, the business and our customers depend on us to execute consistently. However, you must continue to invest in yourself and evolve your impact by seeing and acting at the next level. This is the key to being seen and recognized for the next level. This wise leader shared that the formula is to be 70% in your current role and 30% performing at the next level. Take some time to look over the work content you do on a daily basis. Pick areas where you can improve your skill. One example I had was in the way I did presentations. Most leaders at my level did powerpoints in bullet form and spoke to their talking points. At the next level of leadership presentations, visuals and pictures were used to communicate messages and only supplemented by a few talking points. The presentation moves from a place of disseminating information to one that communicates powerful messages for influence. 

What does all this mean?

In a Center for Creative Leadership Article, self promotion can be an asset to both yourself and your team. Leadership comes down to your value and marketing of who you are and how  you will lead. When we establish our core values, be clear and consistent on our ways of working along with continually learning and evolving to the future needs of the market (your people, the business and customers), we evolve into the leader we want to be. We don’t often think about marketing ourselves as it can be seen as “showy”. However, we need to own how we show up in the market and become a person worthy of loyalty and followers; that’s marketing plain and simple. 

Many thanks to the leader who inspired this article. I’m forever grateful to know this person and to share their insights with you. 

If this insight was helpful, share this article with others. If you have a unique challenge and wish to have a complementary conversation, please reach out to me. I love helping C-Suite leaders of today and tomorrow reach their career goals. 

Your time is valuable, so I wanted to share a few quick links so I can be of service:

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3 Questions to Mitigate a Future Crisis

I was tired, stressed and burnt out. I would come home each night and tell my husband something has to change. I would share what happened that day, what I had to do that night and then the next day; rinse and repeat. The challenges of managing a crisis, or shall I say multiple, were immense. I mustered all my energy and that of others to get through it and ultimately we did. I often reflect, was there a better way? 

I wish I had a support system that would have advised me better during a series of crises in my last corporate role. But given that is in the past, I can only pass on some wisdom to help you to avoid a crisis or to come out better in the end. While I and my team weathered the storm of a quality issue, I wonder if we’ll ever get back the weeks & months of our lives. We were stressed and spent so many hours away from the things we love such as family, community and activity; all in the name of managing through a crisis.

According to a Forbes article report, 72% of those who came out whole in the end sought advice from their outside counsel. This is what makes leaders stronger, while for others, it can be their demise.

 The formula comes down to three simple principles of what to do in a crisis:

  1. Ask yourself what to do
  2. Ask your team what to do
  3. Ask someone from the outside

Ask yourself what to do: You are the leader and either through past experience or having the skills to navigate, you already have 80% of the answers in how to manage the situation. It’s served you in the past, but sometimes you need more input in order to succeed.

Ask your team what to do: If you’ve build a trusting relationship and they have your back, the team can fill in the blanks of managing through a crisis because of their depth of experience in their area of expertise. Their input enriches or course correct the experience you already have. They will validate your approach and bringing them along, they will work the crisis with you. You’ve gained another 15% of knowledge to navigate, but there is still something missing.

Ask someone from the outside: The missing 5% of how to manage a crisis can make or break a leader. Those that seek outside council are confident in themselves and recognize their strengths; but also where they don’t have all the answers. Some see this as a weakness or moreover, they can’t see it as a weakness because they’re heads down muscling through the crisis. This is where leaders fail because they look like they have it all figured out, but the outcome is quite different resulting in burnout. 

The most important question a leader can ask is what else do they not know. Those that ask for outside counsel are seen as the strong leaders and those worth following into the next crisis. It ultimately comes down to: how do you know what you don’t know? By asking yourself, asking your team and asking someone from the outside, you build the confidence you need to be the leader of today and also model the behavior for those who follow you. And now I turn to you… will you ask for help? 

The Drop In CEO is here to help; all you have to do is ask. 

If this insight was helpful, share this article with others. If you have a unique challenge and wish to have a complementary conversation, please reach out to me. I love helping C-Suite leaders of today and tomorrow reach their career goals. 

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Your time is valuable, so I wanted to share a few quick links so I can be of service:

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How to Prevent a Crisis with 7 Principles of the CEO’s Compass

According to Pricewaterhouse Cooper (PwC) 2021 Global Crisis Survey, 62% of businesses used their crisis plan in response to the pandemic and 95% of the businesses reported their crisis management plans needed to be improved. Is Crisis Management a compliance activity neatly tucked in the corner until you need it or an integrated conversation into our daily / weekly / monthly operational conversations? Based on that 95% statistic, I think it’s time to wake up leadership to the harsh reality that their job is not done until they apply the 7 Principles of The CEO’s Compass. 

When I’ve dropped into Crisis events over the last 20 years, I have found a common theme amongst leaders. They have a false sense of calm because they can check the box on their compliance activities. They’re getting results (most of the time) and their team is loyal (or perhaps complacent). This calm before the storm is common and those that don’t respond quickly to a changing landscape (loss of a leader, changing customer requirements, changing customer perception), they find themselves moving down the Crisis Scale from being in Control, down to Chaos and finally Crisis. When I’m finally called into bring things back into Control and move them up the scale to Continuous Improvement and further into a Competitive Advantage, The CEO’s Compass provides you the direction of where you’re off track and how to make course corrections: 

Framework of The CEO’s Compass to Navigate to Peace of Mind

  • Purpose – test the landscape and ask if people understand the purpose of the company in the context of their job function. This is an indicator that cascaded communications are effective
  • Performance – no longer the lagging indicator of results (quality, service, safety, sales), but leading indicators of closing the capacity, capability & confidence gaps of your team to meet the purpose of the company. 
  • Past – if you or your direct leadership team cannot articulate the deep culture that each individual brings to the table, go find out now. In doing so, you pay respect to the individual and their unique qualities that made them special and the right to be part of the organization
  • Pride – building on understanding one’s past and their culture, you need to go the extra mile and understand their unique gifts and intellectual property they have. Whether you use them or not, by asking the question, you pay respect to the individual, they tend to be more loyal and you never know when you may need to leverage those gifts. Leaders that skip Past & Pride simply have a transactional workforce and they leave their minds & hearts at the door to your business.
  • People – developing the mindset & skills of your people fall on you to remove any barriers to enable them to reach their full potential. Ensure you have a robust program that starts with strategic investment in your people through 1-2-1’s and capability development. 
  • Process – the dynamic between individuals and functional groups is as important as people development. Without coaching team dynamics and leveraging each other’s skills, you will fall victim to wasted time and lost revenue due to process inefficiencies. 
  • Platform – a leader who has an evolving team and moving towards high performance needs to provide them with tools to assure they can maintain high performance. Often tools that enable good decision logic, prioritization and accountability are critical when your people are taking on more work and need to increase their efficiency & effectiveness else they’ll burnout. 77% of people surveyed in a Deloitte survey say they’ve experienced burnout. 

I can assure you that most leaders are off track on 2-3 of these guiding principles to prevent a crisis. There is nothing in here about a crisis, communication or risk mitigation plan as typically developed by your Crisis Management Officer. If you’ve not shored up the compass, you become the 95% statistic of the company not being prepared and needing to make improvements. For the team that is navigating towards Peace of Mind, the 8th compass point, the Crisis is the opportunity for which their fullest potential will be realized. 

If this insight was helpful, share this article with others. If you have a unique challenge and wish to have a complementary conversation, please reach out to me. I love helping C-Suite leaders of today and tomorrow reach their career goals. 

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Is Your Team Loyal or Complacent?

The worst thing that can happen to a leader is to have a complacent workforce. You may be getting your results and the team is perceived as loyal and dependable. However, underneath the tip of the iceberg is a crisis brewing. The crisis becomes the inability for you as a leader to navigate, should anyone leave the organization or possibly become obsolete because your team simply doesn’t care to grow. You’re lulled into a sense of calm when in actuality you’re doing a disservice to the people in your care and the organization you lead. For my audience that may not be a leader of others, the content in this article can be valuable tips for you to take action before you become obsolete. 

Planning for a crisis instills a sense of urgency and a risk mitigating mindset. When it comes to a complacent workforce, it is a crisis in the making. It is a matter of time before the planets line up and you have challenges in achieving your results.

Let me refresh you on the Crisis Scale so you understand my reference: 

  • 5 – Crisis: You’re losing customers, resources, competitive advantage
  • 4- Chaos: You’re not losing customers yet, but you’re in fire fighting mode and trying to survive another day. 
  • 3- Control: You have everything in order and achieve your results.
  • 2- Continuous Improvement: You continually seek new ways of performing
  • 1- Competitive Advantage: Your customers are asking you to share your best practices. 

Framework to ensure your team is loyal vs. complacent:

  • Challenge them with Breadth or Depth – For the subject matter expert, give them a project in a new area for which they have less expertise. For the generalist who knows a lot in many areas, give them a project where they need to increase their knowledge & impact in a specific area. 
  • Push them out of the nest – Make it part of their development plan that they need to move to a new role every 1-2 years. It forces them to prepare for the change and capture their tribal knowledge to share with the next person. It also builds new skills in anticipating change. 
  • Create a sense of urgency – Start the dialog to let them know they’ll need to grow in breadth and depth and ask them to come with suggestions on where and how they’ll do that. It creates more value for the organization and it makes them more valuable. Without creative input brought to the conversation can be a condition of employment and a good review. 
  • Where a career ladder is not established suggest alternatives – If someone is at the top of their career position (i.e Director of procurement), suggest areas where they can work in different areas of the business that are downstream. This may include working in Operations or Quality where the output of their current role in procurement has an impact on those other functions for which they can add value as well as learn. 
  • Help them discover opportunities before they experience a crisis – This is especially important to the less senior employee who has a thirst for knowledge. Often they leave the company because they become bored. However, if you create an “apprenticeship” model for which they rotate every 6 months, you keep them interested and engaged. 

The impact of this framework is creating a workforce that is loyal to you or the company because you simply cared. You cared about them as a person to seek additional value from them and invested in their learning. They become loyal to you and will bring their “A” game to the challenges and even more important, you will leave a legacy in the minds of people in your care. After all, the loyal connections we make are far more important than simply the results of a complacent workforce.

If this insight was helpful, share this article with others. If you have a unique challenge and wish to have a complementary conversation, please reach out to me. I love helping C-Suite leaders of today and tomorrow reach their career goals. 

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Is it Time to Empty Your Silos?

A video message from Deb (and Reagan) about Silos, Watch now 

When President Reagan said in 1987 “Tear down this wall” it made all the sense in the world. Let communities interact with each other towards a cause greater than our own. And then there is John Knotts who wrote Overcoming Organizational Myopia who said, “Silos must exist for an organization to operate–we want them to exist.” Given these two messages, I wonder if it is time to empty your silos… or not? And while I continue to ponder this question, my dog Reagan in the back is digging a hole to find the mole. While breaking down the dirt barrier, will the resolution be a good one or an untimely demise for the mole?

This begs the question, why do we have silos in an organization and how do they help or hinder us towards our goals? Independent functions who audit other functions or compliance need to be a “silo” to provide valuable information back to the business. We are often “scared” of audits for fear of what they’ll expose. We have firewalls to defend data integrity so that nothing bad happens. We have closed-door meetings that are necessary to allow confidentiality when discussing critical business matters. Walls exist and over time have gotten to be mysterious, secretive and constructs for which information may or may not flow. Given this conundrum of what is necessary vs. what is not, let me provide a framework for you to decide whether you should empty your silos?

How to decide if you should empty your silos: 

You should empty your silos when:

  • information flow is late, incomplete or inaccurate.
  • time is wasted waiting or extra meetings to clarify needs.
  • the customer is negatively impacted by poor performance (internal customers included.)

You should NOT empty your silos when:

  • checks and balances are necessary to confirm compliance standards are met (i.e audits.) 
  • centers of excellence, innovative groups or areas of high creativity need to work independently to achieve high impact results in alignment with predefined inputs from other “silos.”
  • where Legal or Regulatory requirements are necessary to be independent as a risk mitigation control. 

There is a theme in the first section; all the activities that result in Waste. If you’re a student of the 8 Wastes, you’ll know what I mean! I love this funny video from Paul Akers. 

When it comes to not emptying silos, it relates to all the activities that help you sleep at night. You may not always understand what they do and how they do it, but are grateful that they do the critical work they do and are independent of other functions. 

The leadership lesson is this: We talk about breaking down silos, but we need to ask better questions to determine what functions & processes serve the business and how we benefit from them.  

In the case of the mole that Reagan was after; he has lived to see another day due to the dirt barrier. It may not make sense to us why there are holes and mounds in my lawn. If we ask the mole, he may impart great wisdom why he exists and the silo that separates him from Reagan… but that’s for another day.

Building new skills takes practice and I want to be there for you. We cover this framework in our Drop In C-Suite Academy which is still accepting students for enrollment. If you would prefer a 1-2-1 approach, I can also offer my coaching services. I can also create a custom approach to come into your organization and provide & mentor the skills as your partner. 

One more resource for you – my Drop In CEO Podcast episode on “Powerful Words for Influence” you may find helpful in messaging big ideas. 

For more information about The Drop In C-Suite Academy (CS)  dedicated to the aspiring C-Suite leader, simply register to get on the waitlist, email me or connect with me for a quick chat. I can’t wait to help you be successful and reach your goals!

For more resources, you can listen to The Drop In CEO Podcast or check out my book The CEO’s Compass will help you get on track in days not months.

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Resources

Good Reads

Quit Repeating Yourself: How Today’s Leaders Are Using Systems and Processes to Grow Their Business The Right Way by Jaime Jay

Sometimes we need to be reminded that what we build can only thrive if we give it wings. Starting a new business, evolving a new team or department can only be yours for so long. It is on us as leaders to develop the processes and systems to be able to hand off to the leaders of tomorrow. A great read by Jaime Jay and for more great content listen to our podcast interview. 

Good Music

Keith Merrill – A New Age – Today’s inspiration comes from a piece that gently guides you down the path of new journeys. I am on a journey to connect with as many C-Suite leaders of today and tomorrow. LI Navigator has given me a huge network to connect with and interview. During these interviews, we discuss what has / has not worked for them in their career journey. Those insights are now coming to you in my weekly solo podcasts. If you have a topic you’d like discussed, reply to this email or message me on LI. We can chat and then I can create content for leaders. I am grateful for everyone’s support. 

Good Advice

A funny coincidence that after writing my LF post and recording my solo Ep228 that is coming out Friday 5/20 regarding Silo’s, my interview with Chuck Cooper had a 3 minutes segment on the same topic! 

“There has been a growing chasm with a lack of trust between management and the employees. It’s upon us as leaders to reach out to our teams to start to build that relationship and build that trust.” 

–Chuck Cooper

For more inspiration, Listen & Subscribe to The Drop In CEO Podcast

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