In today’s second installment of Maria and Michelle’s ‘The Best and Worst Of’ series, our hosts take a good hard look at the bosses they have encountered during their careers, and the qualities and characteristics that made them either the best or worst. As they state, everyone has experience with both of these types of leaders, so please be sure to share your stories, opinions, and criteria for leaders on their social platforms where you will find that they have done the same.

In this episode, Michelle kicks things off with her best boss ever and the qualities that made her the best, and Maria quickly follows with her own example. Michelle then explores the two sides of micromanaging, and then she and Maria discuss the importance of leaders having vision, some characteristics of their worst bosses, REL Talent’s perspective on leadership, and the notion that leaders can have both types of qualities. Once again, our two experts have a great deal of experience and information to share today, and they are looking forward to hearing your views on this ever popular topic, so be sure to share!

The Finer Details of This Episode:

Quotes:

“She never had to apologize for the things she said, she used a lot of humor.”

“She would fight tooth and nail to defend us, but if she knew that we might do something, she was totally going to call us out.”

“She would defend us or correct us appropriately.”

“His, you know, emotional intelligence was really spot on when it came to his team.”

“It’s like I was speaking a different language than he was.”

“Nothing I did was ever right.”

“Leadership is ultimately you as a people leader getting a group of people that report to you to do what you need them to do the way you need it done, and, hopefully, they like it in the process.”

“I hate the idea of leadership style.”

“You will never be all of the right things to all of the people.”

“You have to start making decisions on what is okay and what isn’t okay.”

“It’s also okay for you to say ‘We have this one thing that we disagree upon or that I don’t appreciate about them’ - it doesn’t make them a bad boss.”

Show Links:

REL Talent homepage: https://www.reltalent.com/

Today, Maria and Michelle welcome listeners to their October series of ‘The Best and Worst Of’, where they share their own stories of the best and worst of what they have experienced in their roles over the years. As Michelle observes, stories can be effective for teaching, learning, blowing off steam, and to just have fun, and they have a lot of them, so buckle up! They will also be sharing these stories across all of their social media platforms, and you are invited to share your stories there as well, so don’t be shy!

This week, they look at the best and worst teams they’ve worked with, and Michelle begins with her example of one of her best and the weekly core group meetings that made it so effective. She shares the roles and expectations that were necessary to ensure success for these meetings, and then she and Maria explore the core characteristics that they have found are necessary for teams to be effective. Maria also recounts her best team experience, and, with Michelle’s input, examines such topics as the tone set by the leader, being perceived as the favorite, training for leaders, and cliques. As you will discover from this first installment, this is going to be one interesting series - our hosts are ready to rant, so join in, rant right along with them, share your stories as well, and let them know what you think is important in making an effective team.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

Quotes:

“We would have these heated debates for 30-45 minutes…then we all got up and walked out of that room, as a united team.”

“It couldn’t be about attacking someone.”

“It has to be driven by the leader.”

“We started by being really clear about what the goal was or what the vision was.”

“Eventually, we just stopped sharing, even in a constructive way, because it was exhausting to do it.”

“We’re really talking just constructive brainstorming on how to make stuff work.”

“When something isn’t working, you do have to say it.”

“Everyone knew where they stood from a performance standpoint…there was no doubt in anyone’s head.”

“I would say transparency and collaboration was really huge for me on that team.”

“If you fail, man, it is a long way to fall, and you hear about it forever.”

“You’re wondering why the hell everybody else gets away with doing half-assed work.”

Show Links:

REL Talent homepage: https://www.reltalent.com/

In this final installment of the ‘Lencioni’s 5 Dysfunctions of a Team’ series, Maria and Michelle look at the issues that arise through inattention to results within a team. They begin by discussing the role of the leader, as well as some examples of this dysfunction, the importance of focusing on clear goals and direction for teams and individuals alike, and the need for reward and recognition. They finish up the series today with Michelle’s advice for teams and leaders, and precisely how REL Talent can help those teams experiencing any one or more of Lencioni’s 5 identified dysfunctions. Once again, this is yet another episode filled with valuable information and even more valuable advice to help listeners through the inevitability of team dysfunction.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

Quotes:

“What you might find is that an individual is achieving some success, but the team isn’t necessarily moving forward.”

“All roads lead back to the leader.”

“When a leader isn’t really clear, it results in people going about their own thing.”

“When you are personally not attentive to the results that are happening with your team, you’re going to see some misdirection.”

“Everything needs to be measurable, you need to follow up.”

“You have people that are working twice as hard to try to achieve the same results for the company this year, and we need to stop and pause and acknowledge and recognize what’s transpired.”

“You have to set the tone that results are expected.”

“We’ll be there to help you create the best team possible.”

Show Links:

REL Talent homepage: https://www.reltalent.com/

Today marks the fourth installment of the ‘Lencioni’s 5 Dysfunctions of a Team’ series, Maria and Michelle’s weekly look at these components and their suggestions about how to avoid them. In this episode, they concentrate on the issue of avoiding accountability.

Michelle begins by sharing her experience of peer-to-peer accountability and why it worked so well with her Kinko’s team. She then goes on to discuss how accountability is all too often defined these days, what it really means at its core, and the importance and impact of building a culture of support. She and Maria also explore the role of the leader in establishing accountability while maintaining a foundation of respect within the team, and the problems that arise when they don’t do this. Michelle concludes the episode with a quick review of the components necessary to avoid the dysfunctions covered in this and previous installments in the series. Once again, the knowledge and experience of these talented HR professionals shine forth in the podcast today, helping both employees and leaders to ensure success for themselves and their teams.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

Quotes:

“It’s the problem with our culture is we’ve turned the word ‘accountability’ into equaling, ‘I’m going to write you up’.”

“When accountability in a team environment is done well, it feels like teamwork.”

“We would protect each other…and we would do it so gracefully that no one knew.”

“It is truly about how do you show up for each other to make sure that we are all doing the right thing.”

“It does start with the leader.”

“Can’t have any of this shit if you don’t have trust.”

“Perception is reality.”

“You need all parts of the team working as one.”

Show Links:

REL Talent homepage: https://www.reltalent.com/

In this third installment of the ‘Lencioni’s 5 Dysfunctions of a Team’ series, Maria and Michelle take a look at how the lack of commitment can cause dysfunction within a team as well as some ways to ensure that doesn’t happen.

They begin by looking at the traditional notion of ‘getting buy in’, explaining what ‘being heard’ really means and how important it is, and Michelle explores one component of The Leadership Challenge. They also discuss the importance of employees feeling ownership and involvement within their team, allowing them to be part of the process, ensuring clarity in communicating decisions with them, and the correlation between commitment and staying with a company. Once again, our HR experts from REL Talent demonstrate their expertise by sharing knowledge and experience about a potential pitfall, and offering the effective and practical advice necessary to ensure that you and your team successfully overcome it.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

Quotes:

“They don’t get to decide what our goals are…the company decides what our goals are.”

“All of a sudden, people had tons of input on how to achieve their goal.”

“When we don’t give people the feeling that they own something, they’re part of something, they will always treat it like a rental car.”

“Lack of commitment manifests as a fake ‘Yes’.”

“When I don’t own it, I am less likely to be as proactive as I need to be.”

“In the absence of information, people will fill in the blanks, and usually they fill in the blanks with their past experience.”

“Commitment is extremely important. It builds layers upon layers, and it, literally, takes a whole team in order to understand that foundation.”

Show Links:

REL Talent homepage: https://www.reltalent.com/

Today’s episode marks the second installment in the ‘Lencioni’s 5 Dysfunctions of a Team’ series, where each week Maria and Michelle explain one of the dysfunctions and offer advice on how to avoid it with your team. This week, they look at one that is quite tough for a lot of people - the fear of conflict.

Their conversation begins by stressing the need for trust within the workplace especially in creating environments for healthy conflict, and in questioning everything without coming across as a disgruntled employee. Michelle describes the positive impact of the ‘Dare to Disagree’ TED Talk to which she was introduced, and, together, she and Maria discuss the leader’s responsibility and the options available to employees when dealing with healthy conflict. While this is definitely a tough dysfunction for many to overcome, our hosts’ valuable experience and advice here today can help you navigate your way out of this all too common fear of conflict.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

Quotes:

“If you lack trust you will never be able to accomplish unfiltered passionate debate about the things that matter.”

“We create environments where you can’t just openly talk about what you disagree with.”

“She hired a person whose only job was to try to prove everything she found to be wrong.”

“You can be uncomfortable with conflict in your personal life, but it’s not going to work if you can’t do it in your day to day with your team members.”

“The biggest concern for any organization should be when your most passionate people become your quietest.”

“Sometimes you just have to have a good bitch session.”

“You need to be quiet first and allow your direct reports to speak up before you say something.”

“Don’t have a debate if you’re not going to let the debate matter.”

“All you can do is try and continue.”

Show Links:

REL Talent homepage: https://www.reltalent.com/

Maria and Michelle are super excited to be starting their new series on ‘Lencioni’s 5 Dysfunctions of a Team’. This is a book that many organizations employ to help generate a more successful and well-rounded team within their organization, and each week, our hosts will break down each of the 5 dysfunctions and look at ways to achieve their opposite within your teams. This week, they start the series by looking at the most critical of these dysfunctions, the absence of trust.

They begin by identifying the root cause of an absence of trust, reviewing the critical role that trust plays in a team, and offering some symptoms of this absence. They discuss the long history of the ‘failure is not an option’ atmosphere and how to fix it, Michelle shares her ‘aha moment’ from the book, and they emphasize the key role that the leader plays in establishing trust. They finish up with some of Michelle’s positive work experiences involving trust, as well as some examples of team building, vulnerability, and trust building activities. As the first installment of the new series, today’s episode is a highly important one, delving deeply into one of the essential building blocks of a successful organization. Whether you are an employee or a leader, you will definitely find the information and advice offered today extremely valuable.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

Quotes:

“As peers or as teammates, we start to believe that it is unacceptable to show our weaknesses or to be vulnerable with one another.”

“Really, from early in our lives, we are taught that when you take risks and fail, that there will be negative consequences.”

“You will get leaders that purposely help you critique out the mistakes, because…work doesn’t want you to fail.”

“Absence of trust with organizations…it starts with leaders.”

“People will teach you how to react or respond to them based on the way they respond to what you do or say, right?”

“All successes and all failures lead to the leader.”

“Everybody plays a part in the whole process.”

“We were really allowing our self-talk to impact our ability to trust our team and be vulnerable with our team.”

“You can’t do it alone, you can’t do it without your leader, and you have to have buy-in from all of your peers. Trust is hard.”

Show Links:

REL Talent homepage: https://www.reltalent.com/

The “I Hate My F*n Job’ series draws to a close today with this episode which looks at a couple more of the top reasons why people hate their jobs: lack of growth and challenging customers. The bright side to these topics is that there are things that you and/or your company can do to improve them, and Michelle and Maria share that all with you today.

Michelle begins by relating some interesting findings from a Gallup Survey of employees about staying with a company, and then she and Maria discuss what different generations of workers consider growth, and the importance of defining career progression for employees as well as providing them with career pathway information. They also provide ideas for companies to invest in employee growth and for employees to promote their own growth. Moving onto the second topic, our hosts look at the concept of managing ‘customer wrongness’, share their own experiences with challenging customers, and explore those moments when a customer’s behavior becomes unacceptable including the importance of having their leader’s support when addressing it. As Maria and Michelle note, there are many reasons for employees to hate their jobs, and this series covers just a few of the top ones that you may have experienced yourself. Each episode in the series has presented valuable advice about the steps to take if you find yourself in this position, and today’s final installment is definitely no exception.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

Quotes:

“The ‘Me’ questions were the ones that had the biggest impact.”

“What companies are finding is, if they’re not ready to be at least a little more flexible, that they’re going to lose people.

“It is clear to the employees how they get to the next step.”

“Where industries are lacking right now is creating that growth and creating a clear career pathway.”

“Best thing I ever did was put together a business case for why I needed to go to the conference.”

“The more information you have the better empowered you are to do your job.”

“The customer is usually wrong. Your job is to figure out how to make them happy before they leave.”

“I believe you need to be able to fire a customer.”

Show Links:

REL Talent homepage: https://www.reltalent.com/

Welcome to the third installment of the ‘I Hate My F*n Job’ series where Maria and Michelle not only delve into some of the reasons that people can come to hate their jobs, but also offer some sage advice about what can be done to help rectify the situation. While the first two installments dealt with the topic of working with toxic bosses, this week, the focus is on the issue of dealing with toxic co-workers.

Our hosts begin by identifying the different types of these co-workers, finding out whom you can and cannot trust, and why Michelle feels it’s easier to deal with a toxic co-worker than a toxic people leader. Michelle continues by reviewing her experience with Kinko’s peer accountability culture, Brene Brown’s ‘It’s okay…not okay’ advice, and the necessity for tough conversations, complete with examples from her own past. She and Maria continue by sharing how to identify a lack of teamwork and/or signs of volatility, and also how HR professionals and companies such as REL Talent can help remedy such situations. Throughout their conversation, the need to take action and the dangers of not addressing such situations is emphasized. Whether you are an employee, employer, or people leader, today’s podcast offers valuable information and advice to assist you in working through the ubiquitous issue of dealing with toxic co-workers.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

Quotes:

“I literally personally left an organization because of an abusive co-worker.”

“I do tend to plant seeds to find who I can trust.”

“If I’m not willing to say what I need to say, I’m going to get run over.”

“I need you to show up different in the future than you’re showing up right now.”

“Nothing’s going to change if you do nothing.”

“They don’t have to be buddies…but they do have to work together effectively.”

“There’s a lot of stuff we can do from a team perspective, but, frankly, sometimes it is just coaching a person.”

“Our only goal is to get you what you need so that your work becomes a great place to be.”

Show Links:

REL Talent homepage: https://www.reltalent.com/

Today’s episode is the second installment in the ‘I Hate My F*n Job’ series, and Maria and Michelle continue their dialogue from last week’s episode all about working for horrible bosses. While there is so much to cover under this topic, today our hosts focus on managing the ups and downs of the abusive boss cycle.

They begin by looking at the possibility that you may have set expectations for your boss that are unrealistic and impossible for them to achieve, and then they analyze the different types of bosses and their own experiences with them. They emphasize the importance of communication between yourself and your boss, and share some of the services that REL Talent offer that may prove beneficial to you. Given that finding a new job may be a possibility, they also share their advice on the steps to follow in this search. Terrible bosses are a fact of life – how you respond to working with such a person is where Maria and Michelle’s expertise can provide support and guidance, and that’s precisely what they do in this episode today.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

Quotes:

“People don’t leave companies, people leave poor leadership.”

“I set the bar so low that if they slightly exceed my expectations, it’s actually a win for me…that way I never get let down.”

“When you are micro-managing at the right time, people don’t actually call it ‘micro-managing’, they call it ‘support’.

“When you have someone who isn’t quick, who is waiting…for that alignment with everyone…those Type A’s in the world get really frustrated by that.”

“If your full time job isn’t the place that you should be, then you should make looking for a new job your full time job.”

“What people are looking for now is your experience and your ability to talk through those experiences.”

“Make sure that social footprint mirrors what you are trying to brand yourself as.”

Show Links:

REL Talent homepage: https://www.reltalent.com/