Accelerate Your Performance

Rural communities are inspiring places to live - people are always there to lend a hand and support one another through challenges and disasters. Rural communities also face unique challenges - the outmigration of talented workers, aging infrastructures, and consolidation into larger, less local systems. A Huron senior director, Tad Hunt, who oversees the rural and critical access segment, discusses with Janet how we can collaborate to overcome the challenges facing rural America, ultimately creating stronger communities for people to live and work.

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• In what ways do education and healthcare have the greatest opportunities to work together to strengthen the community? 
• What makes rural communities unique?
• What best practices support cross-community collaboration?

Recommended Resources: Anticipating Change, Corporate Social Responsibility, Focus Groups and Strategic Planning & Build Strong Board Relationships

Recommended Podcasts: The Intersection of Healthcare and Education, Innovation for the Whole Child, Service in the Relationship Business & Purpose, Worthwhile Work, and Making a Difference P3

People in leadership and government roles, teachers, and sports coaches have one thing in common: their roles are positions of power. People look to leaders like these for inspiration and to provide guidance and direction. Just like leaders in society, if we say one thing and then do another, we may lose our team's trust in our organization. Today, Dr. Janet Pilcher reflects on the importance of organizational values and operationalizing these values into standards of excellence.

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• Why do values and standards matter in organizations?
• What are the effects of witnessing people in power living double standards?
• How can leaders build a strong culture that inspires and guides individuals? 

Recommended Resources: Why Do Values Matter?, Define Guiding Actions to Live By, Walking the Halls & Culture: The Foundation to Withstand Disruption
Recommended Podcasts: Creating a Culture of Shared Leadership, How Do We Achieve Team Success?, Build Strong Leadership Teams & Can You Fix My Culture?

In rural areas and small communities, we often find health and school systems are the largest employers. These industries are more alike than different in several ways. Today, Quint Studer and Janet Pilcher discuss the intersection between healthcare and education, and how these two industries have the power to transform their communities into successful, thriving places filled with talented workers.

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• What is the symbiotic connection between healthcare, education, and communities?
• What can healthcare and education leaders do to strengthen rural communities?
• Why is it critical to support small businesses - and what is their place in this equation?

Learn more about Quint and our other Strengthing Rural America virtual conference presenters at www.studereducation.com/events. We hope to see you and connect with you on April 20th, 2021.

Recommended Resources: Vibrant Community Blueprint, The Basics: A Strategy for Whole Communities, Developing Aspiring Leaders & Collective Willpower to Succeed
Recommended Podcasts: Purpose, Worthwhile Work, and Making a Difference P2, Purpose, Worthwhile Work and Making a Difference P3, People Deserve Support & Service in the Relationship Business

As we progress through phases of transitioning back into something that resembles life before the pandemic, people will need their leaders to lean into the emotional side of the workplace more than ever. This change won't happen overnight, rather we will move through stage after stage - each requiring us to build energy into our workplaces. To help teams thrive on the other side, Janet shares 5 lessons for leaders to carry into the future.

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• What virtual leadership lessons support the emotional needs of employees? 
• How can leaders support people as we move into phases of returning to normal?
• Why is it important to use a combination of hope and honesty about the brutal facts when communicating?

Recommended Resources: Motivate with Recognition, 4 Tips to Become a More Vulnerable Leader, Anxiety & Leadership, & Drive Team Success with Consistent Communication About Results

Recommended Podcasts: Blending the 80% Emotional 20% Rational, How Can We Build Strategic Agility for Continuous Change?, The Ritual that Keeps People Aligned, Take off the Armor & Are We Energizing Others?

Inspiring an entire organization of people to commit to continuous improvement and service excellence is an admirable goal - one that will also pay off through challenging situations. Returning from episode #158, three leaders from the School District of Menomonee Falls share how a foundational culture of shared leadership and consistent communication empowered people to collaborate and transform their school system.

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• What does it look like when people are deeply committed to service? 
• How can we strengthen the culture of our organizations?
• What matters most for organizations practicing continuous improvement?

 To hear the first part of this interview, listen to episode 158: Listen to People to Continuously Improve.

Recommended Resources: Why Service Excellence is our Most Important Value, Use Standards of Service Excellence, Excellent Service from the Inside Out & Cascading the Building Blocks of Service Excellence

Recommended Podcasts: Listen to People to Continuously Improve, Transform Culture with Communication, The 5 Behavioral Traits for Sustaining Improvement & Service in the Relationship Business 

Change is continuous, and in our organizations, leaders have the responsibility of balancing employees' emotions with the rational side of work. This past year has taught us that it's easier to lead with agility to manage change when we hardwire leadership fundamentals in our organizations. Today, Janet shares the foundational tools and tactics to advance our leadership and provides the framework we use to do just that - the Nine Principles for Organizational Excellence give teams an opportunity to thrive and truly accelerate performance. 

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• What tools and tactics support the emotional needs of employees? 
• What tools and tactics support the rational needs of employees?
• What tools and tactics blend the emotional and the rational needs together in the workplace?

Recommended Resources: Motivate with Recognition, Rounding: The Most Important Questions to Ask, Measuring What Matters & Drive Team Success with Consistent Communication About Results

Recommended Podcasts: Transform Culture with Communication, The Ritual that Keeps People Aligned, Questions for Continuous Improvement & Words Have Power

What happens when an organization committed to improvement has to transform everything they do in 5 days? People let go of being perfect and rely on their relationships, values, and communication to achieve results. Joining Janet today are three leaders from the School District of Menomonee Falls; Casey Blochowiak, Tina Posnanski, and Sue Lee. Listen as they share how their team has remained agile, aligned, and committed to SDMF's values, from the district, school, and classroom perspective.

 This episode addresses questions, such as:

•  Why is it important to create a culture of problem-solvers? 
• What can leaders do to empower people to overcome barriers? 
• How can teams stay committed to accountability during disruption? 
• What is the first step towards improvement?

 Recommended Resources: Listening to Customer Feedback, Organizational Feedback Loop, Improvement and Innovation & Set Aligned Goals 

Recommended Podcasts: Emotional Bank Account of Trust, Make Decisions that Sustain People and Build Relationships, Building an Army of Improvers & Continuous Improvement: Where do you Start? 

What makes employees engage, commit, and connect with their organization? Leaders that listen and use feedback to transform the culture of the organization. Today's guest, Tim Hire,  Superintendent of Schools, Tulare County Office of Education reminds us that there will always be plenty of work to do - make sure it's the right work. If your organization doesn't live by its values - that's a great place to start. Listen as Tim shares the process their team used to develop core values and break down silos to truly engage employees.

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• How can we increase organization-wide commitment to our core values? 
• What work is the right work for leaders to prioritize?
• How do feedback and communication play a powerful role in defining values? 

Recommended Resources:  Lead Your Work, Why Do Values Matter?, Are Your Employees Being Heard? & The 4 Most Important Questions to Ask While Rounding
Recommended Podcasts: Shifting Workplace Culture, How Can We Build Strategic Agility for Continuous Change?, Employees are Waiting to Hear from You & The 5 Behavioral Traits for Sustaining Improvement.

How can we leave our workdays feeling less stressed and exhausted? This is a common question for many leaders. After days filled with meetings and unexpected interruptions, there is often little time left over for deep-thinking or other critical tasks that contribute to our organization. In today's episode, Janet reflects on this challenge, sharing her own exhaustion and desire to manage time efficiently and productively. With gratitude for the advice from Mark Murphy, Janet shares the research and technique behind "time batching" to help us balance our lives and feel energized.

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• What are the effects of time management on mental wellness?
• How can we manage our time to reduce exhaustion? 
• Why does time batching increase efficiency? 

Recommended Resources: If You Haven't Tried Time Batching You'll Be Shocked at How Quickly it Improves Productivity & Happiness, Time Tracking Tool, Time Management Grid & This Script Will Nicely Stop People From Interrupting You When You're Trying to Concentrate