Being a leader is one thing. Being a leader who understands their personal leadership style and can effectively use it is another thing. In today’s episode of Playing in the Sandbox, in the first part of a two-part episode, I meet with Chris Warnes (C.W.) to discuss how leaders can dominate their personal leadership.

Here are C.W.’s lessons to help you dominate your personal leadership:

1. Don’t be afraid to go through dark times. Be willing to struggle.
2. Be accountable and responsible for yourself before trying to lead others.
3. Don’t view mistakes as bad. View them as learning opportunities.
4. Talk with your team clearly, concisely, and directly.

Go to https://www.tammyjbond.com/podcast to learn more about dominating your personal leadership. We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Amazon Podcast, or Spotify and subscribe to our Youtube channel. This podcast is produced by TSE Studios.

If you’ve been avoiding a difficult conversation with someone in the workplace, this episode is for you. Today on Playing In The Sandbox, I’m sharing some specific, actionable tips that can give you the confidence to walk into a bold conversation from a place of strength and respect.

Great communicators are responsible for what they say, how they are understood, and listening with a sincere intent to understand the other person.

Here are 10 tips for making hard conversations productive and solution-based:

1. Recognize when a conversation is becoming difficult or unproductive.
2. Set the ground rules at the beginning.
3. Be honest and open about your feelings. Practice active listening so you understand the other person’s position and body language.
4. Stay oriented to the topic, not the other person.
5. Take notes during the conversation.
6. Ask clarifying questions.
7. Summarize what is said and make sure everyone is in agreement before moving on.
8. Think outside the box when finding mutually beneficial solutions.
9. End the conversation on a positive note.
10. Follow-up after the conversation.

Go to https://www.tammyjbond.com/podcast to learn more about How to Tackle Hard Conversations at your workplace.  We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Amazon Podcast, or Spotify and subscribe to our Youtube channel. This podcast is produced by TSE Studios.

An issue a lot of entrepreneurs and leaders face when they begin to make money is playing with that money, then subsequently losing it. In today’s episode of Playing In The Sandbox, I meet with Melissa Houston to talk about her experience with money and how you can avoid those pitfalls.

Here are some key takeaways to prevent you from losing your money:

1. Be willing to negotiate with your salary. Don’t undersell yourself.
2. Build up your financial assets instead of wasting your money.
3. Have strong financial goals.

Go to https://www.tammyjbond.com/podcast to learn more about playing smartly with your money instead of losing it. We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Amazon Podcast, or Spotify and subscribe to our Youtube channel. This podcast is produced by TSE Studios.

Leaders often wonder why their communication is failing, even though they think they’re doing everything right. The truth is, we teach people how to treat us. In today’s episode of Playing In The Sandbox, I’ll discuss how you can make sure your communication is effective.

We train people on how to communicate with us. If there’s an issue in communication, you have to find out what you’re doing wrong, and how to fix it. Here are 6 potential causes of ineffective communication:

1. A lack of clarity.
2. Poor listening skills.
3. Making assumptions.
4. Issues with technology.
5. A lack of feedback.
6. A lack of follow-up.

Go to https://www.tammyjbond.com/podcast to learn more about improving communication with your team.  We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Amazon Podcast, or Spotify and subscribe to our Youtube channel. This podcast is produced by TSE Studios.

Often times, leaders put unrealistic expectations on their team members and expect perfection. Then they become frustrated when their team falls short of this. In today’s episode of Playing In The Sandbox, I’ll be discussing why team members should focus on being better, instead of perfect.

Striving for perfection will only lead to disappointment. Here’s how leaders can focus on improvement instead of perfection:

1. Set realistic goals.
2. Learn from your mistakes.
3. Prioritize self care.
4. Embrace a growth mindset.

Go to https://www.tammyjbond.com/podcast to learn more about improving yourself instead of focusing on perfection.  We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Amazon Podcast, or Spotify and subscribe to our Youtube channel. This podcast is produced by TSE Studios.

We learned how to engage with others in a healthy way as children, but when we entered the workforce as adults, we seem to have left those rules of engagement behind. In today’s episode of Playing In The Sandbox, I’ll be discussing how to build a healthy set of rules for you and your team.

Without clear rules of engagement, you probably don’t have a healthy team. Here’s the rules of engagement in the sandbox, for healthy teams:

1. Don’t throw sand. Don’t be brazen or rude to other people.

2.            Don’t steal the shovels. Make sure everyone has access to the tools they need.

3.            Don’t knock over someone else’s castle. Don’t create problems for team members.

Go to https://www.tammyjbond.com/podcast to learn more about creating healthy rules of engagement for you and your team. We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Amazon Podcast, or Spotify and subscribe to our Youtube channel. This podcast is produced by TSE Studios.

Too often, business leaders and managers aren’t comfortable handling conflict. Although dealing with conflict can be scary, knowing how to is CRUCIAL for managing a team. In today’s episode of Playing In The Sandbox, I’ll be going over how you can effectively manage conflict.

 The KEY thing to know about navigating conflict is: Have a plan beforehand. If you have a plan before conflict arises, you’ll be FAR more successful at actually managing it. So, how exactly do we navigate conflict in our team?

1. The first thing to know about navigating conflict is: Everyone has to recognize there’s conflict. Conflict doesn’t necessarily mean arguments or fights, but could be just mistrust or a lack of cohesion. The first step to solving any problem is admitting there’s a problem.

2.            The second step to navigating conflict is: Get everyone’s input. Ask your team members what they believe the ROOT cause of the conflict is a way where everyone feels comfortable sharing. Simply allow your team to digest the information at first.

3.            The final step is: Identify what behaviors you want to replace the negative ones. Whatever is causing the conflict in your team has to be changed to something more productive. Identify what that something is with your team, and work to implement it.

Go to https://www.tammyjbond.com/podcast to learn more about how you can set goals and improve your team through the start, stop, continue method. We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Amazon Podcast, or Spotify and subscribe to our Youtube channel. This podcast is produced by TSE Studios.

Rich Acosta came from a hospitality background but currently works in a corporate environment, but has maintained the SAME level of excellent service at every level. In today’s episode of Playing In The Sandbox, I’ll be talking to Rich about how to maintain this excellence at every level as a leader.

Throughout his years of experience, as well as his experience with switching industries, Rich has continually drummed up excellence. The ways he did this were:

1. Getting excellence begins with time. Leaders can spend their time on training their team, or trying to find the unlikely perfect team member. Instead, leaders need to focus on celebrating their team members and fostering connections.

1. Next up is effort. Leaders have to put in the effort to make sure their team AND clients are happy. This comes from listening to their complaints, internalizing and interpreting the information, and evaluating the information. Leaders should only respond to complaints after putting in the effort, and by then, Rich always has a TERRIFIC solution.

1. Lastly is energy. When customers or team members are frustrated, they want to be heard and understood. Leaders have to use their energy to not only meet these complaints but use the information they’ve gathered to improve on mistakes. Then, good leaders should continually improve on their IMPROVEMENTS.

Go to https://www.tammyjbond.com/podcast to learn more about delivering excellence to your customers at every stage. We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Amazon Podcast, or Spotify and subscribe to our Youtube channel. This podcast is produced by TSE Studios.

Some people are coasters and do the bare minimum. These people are in duck and cover mode. In today’s episode of Playing In The Sandbox, I’ll be discussing how you can address duck and coverers if you are one, or one is on your team.

Operating in duck-and-cover mode is a HUGE bane for not only your work performance but your mental well-being. You’re NOT achieving the maximum results you could be. So what do we do, once we know we’re in duck and cover mode?

1. If you notice someone is in duck and cover mode, you HAVE to confront it. If you don’t actively address it, you’re allowing this anti-productive behavior to continue.

1. Get to know the person who’s in duck and cover mode. Try and learn whatever is CAUSING them to be in this mode. It may be issues back at home or personal issues. But understand these issues so you can work to correct them, and by extension the duck and cover behavior.

1. If you DON’T have this talk, you’re just allowing the behavior to continue. Whatever you tolerate, you allow it to continue. Have talks with people who are in duck and cover mode, address whatever issues they’re facing, and work to fix said issues.

Go to https://www.tammyjbond.com/podcast to learn more about how you can address people who are in duck and cover mode, and optimize your team’s performance. We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Amazon Podcast, or Spotify and subscribe to our Youtube channel. This podcast is produced by TSE Studios.

Whenever you set a goal or plan for yourself, have you ever stopped to think about what you want to start, stop, and continue? This start, stop, continue method is a FANTASTIC way to give your team valuable feedback. In today’s episode of the Playing In The Sandbox podcast, I’ll be going over this method.

The start, stop, continue method is a great feedback loop to utilize as a leader. Here are some ways you can use the start, stop, continue method with your team.

1. The start in SSC is all about goal setting. When talking about what to start, it gets your team thinking creatively. Use this creativity to strive for large, profitable goals. The start also can help start creating more positive behaviors in your team members.

1. The stop in SSC is all about efficiency. Think about what NO LONGER serves you and your team and stop it. You can then redirect this energy into starting new, positive behaviors or meeting goals, or continuing good, profitable behaviors.

1. The continue in SSC is all about Just like with the stop, think about what things generated the most success for you and your teams. What specific behaviors and processes led to the most growth. Continue doing them and carry them over throughout the year.

Go to https://www.tammyjbond.com/podcast to learn more about how you can set goals and improve your team through the start, stop, continue method. We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Amazon Podcast, or Spotify and subscribe to our Youtube channel. This podcast is produced by TSE Studios.