Making Shift Happen - 180 Seconds @ a Time

After a few weeks of hiatus to listen to others' perspectives, Brad Smith and Kristy Braden from Inflection Point Leadership, Inc. are back to talk about inclusion.  In particular, we discuss what it means to "feel safe bringing my whole self to work" and what's our role as leaders to understand how our employees interpret this question, and how we best support an environment where everyone can thrive.

We greatly appreciate your comments on our episodes.  Please provide whatever feedback you have so we can make these 180 seconds as valuable as possible.

For more information on Inflection Point Leadership, please go to our website: http://www/iplshifthappens.com.

In this episode, Brad Smith from Inflection Point Leadership, Inc. shares his perspectives on the sacrifices each one of us needs to make to make real, lasting shift happen (especially during these times of COVID-19 and the social strife that has again raised to the surface).

We greatly appreciate your comments on our episodes.  Please provide whatever feedback you have so we can make these 180 seconds as valuable as possible.

For more information on Inflection Point Leadership, please go to our website: http://www/iplshifthappens.com.

In prior episodes, we discussed the first two Maxims for leading disruption with resilience: Double-Down on Purpose, Values & Culture, and Normalize Constructive Challenge.

In this episode, we discuss the third Maxim: Care Courageously.  

Disruptive change is an experience that can be traumatic to many, and such trauma can’t just be swept under the rug.  Also, it’s easy to burnout during times of disruption, especially for those who lead large virtual teams.  There is a fine balance between normalizing constructive challenge, to get perspectives and ideas out in the open, and caring courageously so that each person feels valued, supported, and as productive as possible.

Those effective at leading disruption:

• Keep track of how others are progressing through the transition, and adapt responses accordingly (they CARE, CREATE, and STICK)
  
  
• Practice trauma-informed leadership
  
  
• Demonstrate their own vulnerability and welcome others’ vulnerability
  
  
• Are on the lookout for burnout and exhaustion, and role model self-care practices
  
  
• Address resisters and the disengaged by offering a path out (rather than waiting for them to opt-out of the way forward)

For more information on Leading Disruptive Change and the Resilience Maxims, go to our website -> http://www.iplshifthappens.com, or contact us at [email protected] or [email protected].

Also, WE NEED REVIEWS!! Please give us your feedback on any episode (or this series as a whole) on whatever platform you use to listen to our broadcasts.  Thank you!

It was another very difficult week, filled with sadness, anger, demonstrations, destruction, words of war, and words of hope. 

In this episode, we offer you space to reflect on these events, the history of how we have, and haven't addressed the fundamental issues that underlie these events, and what you can do to contribute to making real shift happen.

We also would like to suggest other podcasts that can provide you with different perspectives than what you may typically encounter in your personal and professional life.

 https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch

 https://crooked.com/podcast-series/pod-save-the-people/

https://aapf.org/all-episodes

Please provide your comments on this episode (and on any of our prior episodes).  To learn more about Inflection Point Leadership, visit our website at www.iplshifthappens.com.

In our last episode, we discussed the first of 3 Maxims for leading disruption with resilience: Double-Down on Purpose, Values & Culture.

In this episode, we discuss the second Maxim: Normalize Constructive Challenge.  

Disruption is naturally confusing and uncomfortable, but leaders that set up an environment where constructive challenge becomes the norm have the opportunity to turn what otherwise could become chaos into ongoing competitive advantage.  These leaders recognize that inclusion, curiosity, and diversity of ideas are a leader's friend, not foe. 

Those effective at leading disruption:

• Model the behaviors they need from the team:
  • Willingness to listen and be influence
  • Solution-orientation to relieving the “right now” pain points
  • “We over Me” perspective
• Create spaces for radical candor, productive conflict & new ideas
  
  
• Are willing to “kill their darlings” – things they created that got the team here but that won’t move it through the disruption
  
  
• Iterate “safe to try” solutions

For more information on Leading Disruptive Change and the Resilience Maxims, go to our website -> http://www.iplshifthappens.com, or contact us at [email protected] or [email protected].

Also, WE NEED REVIEWS!! Please give us your feedback on any episode (or this series as a whole) on whatever platform you use to listen to our broadcasts.  Thank you!

In our last episode, we discussed our point-of-view that Leading Disruption is the new normal.  This week, Kristy and Brad share the first of three Maxims for leading disruption with resilience: Double-Down on Purpose, Values & Culture.

During this pandemic (as in any disruptive change), it's easy to focus on short-term survival at the expense of staying consistent to what you actually stand for as an organization. However, a key pillar to effectively leading through disruptions is placing even more emphasis on the foundational elements of why the company exists in the first place, and the Values that are supposed to guide decisions.

For more information on Leading Disruptive Change and the Resilience Maxims, go to our website -> http://www.iplshifthappens.com, or contact us at [email protected] or [email protected].

Also, WE NEED REVIEWS!! Please give us your feedback on any episode (or this series as a whole) on whatever platform you use to listen to our broadcasts.  Thank you!

We're a few months into the disruption, sadness, and anxiety caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and besides all of the facts and theories that have emerged, there's one additional fact that's emerged:  It's time to say farewell to "change management."

In this episode, Kristy Braden and Brad Smith outline their points-of-view on why traditional change management approaches are no longer effective in a world of continual, disruptive change.  Inflection Point Leadership (IPL) has adopted a new, more proactive approach for Leading Disruption.  Kristy and Brad give an overview of this approach, as well as an an offer for companies to get a free diagnosis of their team's "transition health" and practical actions for equipping the team to thrive in the midst of widespread change.

For more information about IPL, or the special offer, please visit our website at: http://www.iplshifthappens.com, or contact Brad Smith at [email protected].

In this special quadruple-length episode (12 minutes), Brad Smith and Kristy Braden of Inflection Point Leadership, Inc. talk shift with Susan Finerty.  Susan is founder of Finerty Consulting and the author of three books that focus on cross-functional influence and collaboration.

• Master the Matrix - Essentials for Getting Things Done in Complex Organizations
• Cross-Functional Influence
• Cross-Functional Influence Playbook

Susan discusses her observations of the behaviors surfacing during this pandemic that hopefully will be a positive residual of this crisis, and what leaders can do to ingrain these trust-building behaviors into the "new normal."

To read Susan's blog series on "Hope for the Residual" go to: https://bit.ly/2yLqYGw   

For more information on Finerty Consulting, go to: finertyconsulting.com.

For more information on Inflection Point Leadership, go to iplshifthappens.com

In this special "double-episode" Kristy Braden and Brad Smith discuss the phases of personal transition that are under the surface of any change, and what leaders can do to help themselves and others navigate through these phases in the context of the current pandemic.

COVID-19 has caused a major disruption to all of our professional and personal lives.  Without knowing how long these conditions will last, or what a "new normal" might look like, leaders can't provide the level of clarity that employees seek during a change.  What leaders CAN do, is recognize the three phases of transition that everyone goes through in reaction to change, and take some simple actions to address the issues and opportunities that typically arise within the Ending, Neutral Zone, and New Beginning.

Brad and Kristy review these transition phase (as first described by William Bridges in his book, Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change), what these stages look like in the context of the current pandemic, and tools Inflection Point Leadership has crafted to help leaders make shift happen within each phase.

To request the Navigating Transitions tool, email [email protected].

To learn more about how IPL can help organizations, teams, and leaders at all levels lead what's next, visit our website at iplshifthappens.com.

It's been another chaotic week.  COVID-19 has caused dramatic shifts to our personal and professional lives, making it difficult to think beyond getting through the day.

But it's in the midst of such an inflection point that it becomes even more important to devote some time each day to thinking about what's next.  

In this episode, Brad Smith offers some tips for how you can both navigate today's shifts AND lead what's next by devoting 3 minutes every 3 hours of your work day to "what's next thinking."

For more information about Inflection Point Leadership, and how we help organizations, teams, and leaders at all levels make shift happen, please visit our website at iplshifthappens.com.