Let's Lead Better, Together.

Have you noticed the influx of leadership training, programs, coaching, and assessments these days? Now more than ever, leaders are under a magnifying glass with their every move as workplace norms continue to evolve. 

Why do you think that is?

I believe it’s because leaders are in a very tight spot and they need help. 

Let me paint you a picture:

You’re a mid 40’s to mid 50’s professional, you have a healthy salary allowing you to drive a nice car, live in a nice house, and are probably reading this in your nicely decked out home office or yard. No judgment here - you worked your way up in your chosen field for 20+ years. 

From being named a manager (that’s what a people leader was called back then), then a Sr. Manager, Associate, or Director, you are now likely somewhere in the VP area.

Let’s be honest, you’ve worked your ass off. You’ve earned your spot and you work hard. You have sacrificed much and yet, since about 2018, things have started getting a little disenchanting for you.

It was around that time that you began to feel a different level of stress, a new kind of stress. It began when a person on your team (quite rightly) took a leave of absence when he/she hit burnout. Their role was not backfilled, and the rest of your team held the roof up during their absence. Then, you were asked to instill a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging strategy in your segment. Hmm. You knew you believed in people being treated fairly, but what on earth is this type of a strategy and how do you even begin to roll it out?

At that stage, your superstar Director told you she was reluctantly leaving for a role with more work/life balance. The stress had begun creeping into your evening hours, and it was about 8:30pm before you set your “work phone” down to try to connect with your family.

The icing on the cake, you are copied on a back and forth email squabble between your teams about expenditures and petty squabbles that have gone on for months. The people you lead are becoming increasingly angry, emotive, or simply shutting down and not replying to the needs of others. 

Then a pandemic happened, and things got exponentially worse. George Flloyd was murdered in the United States, and the focus became clear that all people are not treated equally, at home and at work. Leadership became elevated to a type of knighthood – suddenly “Great Leadership” was table stakes, including building psychological safety in our teams, being agile with our emotions, and building a strategy for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging.

You want to make work a better place, only you were never trained to do any of this. You are an expert in your field, but you are also an inspiring leader who is tired, who has a sea of exhausted frustrated faces on Zoom looking to you for answers. 

Who do you look to? When did the wheels fall off and how did we get here?

Here’s the good news. You are not a “bad leader” if you don’t have a magic wand to fix all of this. You have been groomed in such a different time and culture state you may as well have been on another planet. 

Let me be clear, it doesn’t mean that you agree or comply with any of the wrongdoings of that time. What it does mean is there was likely a vacuum in your training and education around healthy, trusting teams, emotional agility in the workplace, and real inclusivity.

Whew.

So where does that leave you?

It leaves you with the opportunity to get better, be better, and learn what is now essential for being a leader today. This is what is expected at YOUR workplace, with YOUR team, right now.

I’ve got you. You’ve done good, now you can do better. Let’s do this together.

Where do you start?

Step One: Wrap your head around it.

Know you are unfinished. You have learning to do, and it could be a challenge. That’s okay, we aren’t here to judge – in fact, we're here to let you know you aren’t alone. Needs were different then, and now we must rise to the challenge of what leadership is.

Step Two: Commit to the fact that this is a tiered process. You can’t jump into “just train me on DE and I” without learning about how you build a psychologically safe team that knows how to manage their ever-changing emotions in highly challenging situations. That is the bare minimum learning for embarking on the move towards fully inclusive workplaces.

Step Three: Breathe. This is doable, and is designed to be done in bite-sized pieces regularly, daily, and with intention. This is not a cram the night before course. The learning comes in the living.

So buckle up and let's do this.

- Jen