On Connection

Conflict resolution and the valuable management of differences are leadership skills that continue to be identified as critical areas of development across organizations and industries. While conflict is something we all tend to avoid or leave unresolved, the way we choose to engage with it can either hurt our goals and working relationships or increase our access to trust and new insights.

In this episode, Emma Rose, Mickey, and Robin share

Resources:

Gartner Future of Work Trends 2024

TEDx Talk: Rediscovering Connection & Belonging | Mickey & Emma Rose Connolly

Bioreactive Styles Assessment

Leading others has its challenges, and for the most senior leaders of organizations there are some challenges that weigh heavily.

What gets elevated to senior leadership isn't the easy stuff. It's often the complex, messy, challenging things that couldn't be resolved by others. Those leaders, however, are just human beings - people that have personal lives and responsibilities that draw on their emotional bandwidth. Because they have powerful influence, this means they have to be conscious of how their own emotional quality impacts those they lead. Practicing emotional leadership, however, is a tough charge - and an uncommon one.

In this episode, Mickey and Robin join Emma Rose to share what they've learned from working with senior executives around the world (and from leading organizations themselves) about why it matters to develop emotional leadership, and how to do it.

A new year brings opportunities for reflecting on our hopes and intentions for the year ahead, both personally and professionally. In organizational life, we set strategic plans and priorities, schedule milestones and deadlines, and put together development plans for ourselves and others. Most know that no matter how great the plan, we often get derailed as circumstances inevitably shift.

So how can we align our intentions with reality? And how can we care for that alignment throughout the year so that our efforts lead to successes worth celebrating? Whether you have goals for yourselves or for those you lead, we have some uncommon advice to help you launch a year of valuable achievement.

We know that influence is not limited to those with tenure, title, or hierarchy. Every member of an organization has the capacity to influence those around them, the quality of work, the collective understanding of challenges, and much more.

Choosing to develop influence as a skill is a worthwhile investment not only for senior leaders but also for leaders and contributors of all levels. We recently released an episode devoted to that topic, and this one expands on that conversation with a focus on non-executive audiences.

Conversant consultants Katie Mingo and Patrick Kennedy join Emma Rose to share what they've learned from their personal experiences and those with other leaders about developing influence and growing your impact without tenure or role-related authority.

A leader’s ability to influence others, the quality and trajectory of work, performance, and results is integral to organizational success, and an indicator of the value that leader provides. What things are made better by their contribution? What do they uniquely contribute that people can count on them for?

We are all influencing all the time, whether we’re aware of it or not. Becoming conscious of that influence is the first step in becoming more reliable for influencing purposefully and valuably.

Robin and Mickey join Emma Rose to share essential principles for developing influence that impacts personal and organizational success.  

The Art of Conducting, Beshara Magazine

A challenging part of work (and life) is addressing the disappointments and challenges that come up in our relationships with others. It could be performance or collaboration issues, delivering disappointing news or feedback, or anything else that's difficult or uncomfortable to bring into conversation.

Mickey and Robin join Emma Rose to share what makes this so hard, and the key principles that can reliably help you engage with these challenges in ways that lead to stronger relationships and surprising results.

Belonging is the B in DEIJB, one of the initials less understood or talked about, though not any less important. In fact, some consider belonging to be the outcome or indicator that diversity, equity, and inclusion are being addressed successfully.

What has us feel like we belong? What value does that experience afford us? As individuals and as a collective. Why should leaders and organizations care about belonging, and how does it help the bottom line?

Performance reviews and feedback can be some of the most valuable tools in growth and career development, though they can also be some of the most dreaded employee experiences. As of 2022, 95% of managers are dissatisfied with their organization’s review system – a statistic that shows not only is there room for improvement, but managers would likely welcome a change.

What makes a feedback conversation valuable and supportive? What makes it so painful? Robin and Mickey join Emma Rose to share their ideas for improving the performance review process that any manager could start practicing today.

Show Notes:

The Performance Review Problem, HR Magazine 2023

Project Oxygen

There are times we all feel stuck, held back, or inhibited and often we aren’t clear or confident about what we can do to change it. Not only is this a source of frustration, but over time it can devolve from decreasing engagement and motivation to hopelessness, resentment, or despair.

How people engage with this experience and what they’re looking for is what leads to stuckness becoming a dead end or an opportunity for new insight and action.

Mickey and Robin join Emma Rose to talk about what they've seen are common characteristics and causes of “stuckness” and to share some best practices for turning those experiences into an opportunity to generate value.

Show notes:

7 Signs of Waste

Our ability to influence people and the course of events starts with the level of credibility we have. It is a foundational leadership skill, one that we've found is generated, not granted.

It’s especially common for us to see credibility as a point of development focus for those looking to elevate their presence and influence within an organization. Over years of working with senior executives from around the world, we've learned what helps and hinders our capacity to gain credibility, and we've found it has more to do with how you listen than what you have to say.

In this episode, Emma Rose is joined by Robin Anselmi and Roger Henderson. Both have a long history with our Credibility, Influence, and Impact program, and of engaging with the art and science of credibility.