Team Anywhere Leadership Podcast

It's a buyers market. Power has shifted to employees and now companies require the best from their managers and leaders to create the conditions for high engagement. In today’s episode we interview Scott Miller, leadership expert and podcast host of FranklinCovey on Leadership with over 7 million downloads per week and author of Wallstreet Journal Bestseller book, Everyone Deserves a Great Manager. In this episode, you’re going to learn why people quit their jobs, what they are focusing on more in the post-pandemic environment, and the six critical practices for leading a team from anywhere.

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In today’s episode, we speak with Ket Patel, a certified Change Management Master Practitioner who teaches us how to build trust in the hybrid workplace through managing change. When it comes to managing change, Ket walks us through two main areas of pain when it comes to leading a team from anywhere:  the people side and the technology side.

Change Fatigue in a Hybrid Work Environment

People experience change fatigue when they have to take a normal habit, change that normal habit with an alternative, and then have to keep repeating the alternative habit. For example, many of us grew fatigued with having to use zoom during Covid.  To avoid change fatigue, Ket recommends leaders of hybrid teams keeping things fresh by adding in different activities. One of the best things leaders can do is inject a range of alternative activities to move teams away from daunting, repetitive tasks. 

For example, Ket’s kids were feeling the weight of change fatigue while they were doing school online, so Ket came up with new activities to make learning more fun.  

Fatigue isn't just about the volume of change, it's actually about the volume of repetition. 

Control over repetition and fatigue can be gained by breaking down activities into smaller chunks.

Managing Change from the People Side
When it comes to managing change, leaders lead from two sides--the people side and the technical side. Leaders who were successful in the People Side in the office, didn’t necessarily know how to carry that strength into the virtual world. 

Prior to the pandemic, most people experienced a physical boundary between work and home. With the shut-down, work and home lives became more blended and the role of leadership changed. The true challenge for leaders and companies after the pandemic is not adapting to new technology; rather, the real challenge is putting a deeper focus on the People Side of leadership.

What a People-Focused Leader Does Differently 

When a new person enters leadership, their first instinct is to listen to and prioritize the needs of the leaders above them. People-focused leaders do the exact opposite of this. Instead of listening to the needs and desires of their leadership, people-focused leaders listen first to their new team members. 

New leaders can be successful by simply speaking to enough people, asking the right questions and getting a picture of the state of their team. By doing this, they get a systems view of the context, activities, and expectations of their team.

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What if you can measure team interactions and use that data to give memorable recognition and rewards to your hybrid team? What if you could build a culture that gives employees the one thing they’re begging for: consistent and authentic recognition? 

On this week’s podcast, we interview Dan Kasper, CEO of Wishlist, an HR tech company that focuses on engagement and culture. 

Wishlist is an app with both a marketplace and social media feed that allows employers and employees to give recognition and rewards that go beyond earning plaques and badges. Employees can choose personalized and memorable experiences as rewards that they earn through receiving workplace recognition.

Inside this episode:

• How did the pandemic fuel change between organizations and employees?
• What do your employees want when it comes to rewards and recognition?
• Ideas for meaningful work reward
• Tracking Workplace Recognition [Metrics]
• Wishlist Case Study

About Dan Kasper

Dan is a growth architect and innovator with a passion for building high-performing teams and deriving long-term results by leveraging the power of technology and challenging the status-quo.

 Dan served for six years in the United States Navy as an Officer within Special Operations (EOD) with deployments to the Middle East with SEAL Team Five.

 After leaving Active Duty, Dan began working for Airbnb where he initiated and executed global expansion for the Trust and Safety teams in the Americas and Asia Pacific.

 He is currently the CEO of Wishlist, an HR technology Organization which helps build cohesive cultures and engagement within workforces.

 Outside of work, Dan chases any and all adventures that give him a chance to tell an unforgettable story.

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Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is a commitment. It’s a way of being and a way of leading. It's a continual commitment to make it safer, have better conversations, deeper conversations, and continually raise awareness of the different experiences all of us are having. 

Today we interviewed Annemarie Shrouder, an expert on DEI shares with us how to make your organization more caring, more empathetic, and more inclusive as you Team Anywhere. 

Diversity & Inclusion Meaning

For business, Diversity and Inclusion is an organizational commitment to ensure that all employees feel included, valued and an essential part of the team regardless of background, religion, race or sexual preference. Most leaders think of diversity and inclusion as just another program, but it is more than a program - it is a commitment. It’s the type of commitment that empowers all employees to be their most authentic selves so that they can perform at their highest level. 

Diversity and Inclusion work requires two elements: a growth mindset and working from the heart - something that is extremely difficult in many corporate environments. Inside Diversity and Inclusion work we understand other people better, get to know each other more, and use that awareness to create a greater sense of belonging, connection, and community.  This is why Diversity and Inclusion is heart work. Heart work is building the skills of connection, compassion, and empathy. 

Why Diversity & Inclusion is Important

When it comes to Diversity and Inclusion, one of the most important elements of achieving strong results is ensuring buy-in from all stakeholders. Many people, especially leaders, are often not bought-in on the real value of Diversity and Inclusion work. 

A common response Annemarie gets is, “We ARE inclusive; everyone is welcome here; why do we have to talk about it?” Annemarie explains that although leaders might have this perception, they need to remember that two people can be in the same situation and have a completely different experience. 

Depending on who you are in the world, how you show up, and your level of power and privilege, it's very easy to assume that you have an inclusive environment because it's a space that's safe for you. When it’s a safe space for you, it’s easy to make the assumption that everybody else feels the same way. 

The D&I Conversation Remote Vs. In-Person
Remote Diversity and Inclusion meetings create a layer of removal that--when used well--can have positive results. Since COVID, the mission and purpose of Diversity and Inclusion remain the same, but the execution of it is now different. 

Remote conversations provide a layer of safety for some people, especially when it comes to hard conversations. When in our own environment, we can mute ourselves or turn off our video if we’re feeling strong emotions and don’t feel comfortable showing them. The remote atmosphere allows people to lean into difficult conversations - and take breaks when needed. 

Additionally, remote video meetings have allowed us to really see inside people's lives. This new information creates a level of space that allows vulnerability.

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Safety? Empathy? Comedy? To build thriving hybrid teams, leaders must create psychological safety, demonstrate empathy, and have a sense of humor. Discover what psychological safety looks like in a Hybrid Workplace.

Today we interview returning guest and author of The Human Edge, Greg Orme. Greg teaches us what we need to know about psychological safety in the hybrid environment so we can Team Anywhere.

What is Psychological Safety
Psychological Safety is the foundation of any high-performance team. This is known to be one of the biggest ideas in leadership and teams over the last 15 years. Psychological Safety creates a culture where team members feel safe speaking up on a team and gets equal time speaking.

Many people misinterpret “psychological safety” because a lot of people think about it as just a safe environment. But Psychological Safety is specifically the feeling that it’s safe for me to take an interpersonal risk. Additionally, Psychological Safety creates a space where it is okay for me to speak up, challenge, ask questions, and make myself vulnerable–without judgment. As a result, a Psychologically Safe environment is where people can express themselves and even have creative conflict to disagree with each other. This requires high levels of empathy and authenticity on the team.

How to Tell If there Is Psychological Safety
When there is Psychological Safety on a team a risky issue surfaces and team members freely oppose it. Team members challenge each other, disagree, move toward an outcome, and then act upon it. Teams that lack Psychological Safety will not fully consider disagreements.

As you get to know your team, you get to know their opinions pretty well. As a team member, you can see that a person’s silence can be a clear sign of discomfort. To encourage psychological safety, it is wise to encourage them to share their thoughts.

Disclaimer: This works well on teams that have already established strong Psychological Safety. If your team does not have strong Psychological Safety, the team member will likely share a “politically correct” response. Building a strong foundation of psychological safety needs to happen first to begin having strong discussions with competing opinions. This gives the team permission to be vulnerable and work through the issue.

Signs of Psychological Safety discussed inside this podcast:

1. Authenticity
2. Empathy
3. Humor 
   
   

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What if every leader in your company created a contract or a covenant that stated their obligations to their team? What if every team created a covenant where they shared their obligations as a team with their manager?

Certainly, the employee working 1000s of miles from the home base would feel more taken care of since he or she would know exactly what to expect from the leader. They would also have the ability to share with their leader just how the leader is doing. 

On today's podcast, you will learn how a workplace covenant will strengthen your hybrid team in a way that ensures mutual accountability and success between leaders and Team Anywhere.

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When making strategic decisions, who's supreme? Shareholders or employees? On today's podcast, Andy Alsop, CEO of The Receptionist, shares his enthusiasm for building a truly hybrid company where the focus and attention is on prioritizing employees over shareholders. 

What is Employee Supremacy?
Shareholder supremacy, a term coined by Milton Friedman in the 70’s and 80’s, was basically about decision making. Under shareholder supremacy, leaders are responsible for increasing the value of shares to each one of the company's investors, and every decision is based around that mission.

For example, under shareholder supremacy, if you're trying to determine how much to invest in  employee benefits (an expense that is seen as primarily negatively impacting  the bottom line) you naturally want to drive the cost of benefits down to the lowest possible amount. You would choose the bare minimum necessary to continue to attract employees so that you can increase profits and thus shareholder value.

Alternatively, with an Employee Supremacy mindset, you want to increase the amount of benefits that your employees have. Doing this helps your employees feel secure, feel that thecompany trusts them, and gives them a sense of ease knowing that they aren’t going to have to worry about whether they can make ends meet in the case of an emergency because those benefits are there for them.

The result: your employees feel valued, safe and have greater trust in the  company they work for. And when employees feel trusted and trust the company, they make decisions that are in the best interest of the company, allowing them to better serve their customers.  

Under the employee supremacy mindset, when leaders make decisions, they increase productivity with their company, give better service to their customers, and create trusting teams that help achieve their company’s mission and goals. In the end both methods drive shareholder value but focusing on employee supremacy drives shareholder value more quickly.

Decision Making Examples from an “Employee Supremacy” Mindset

When COVID hit, Andy and his leadership team did three things:
Implemented a COVID Family Travel Program

--The company paid to send young, single workers to fly home to their families, 
Improved Health Benefits

--They eliminated insurance premium contributions for employees, and increased the contribution towards families. 

Instituted the company’s Just Cause

--Focusing on the company’s employees and its community, they have changed how the leaders make decisions.

Because of these three decisions based on “Employee Supremacy,” they learned that making all of these decisions during a pandemic the team knew they were with a company that was focused, not on short-term results, but on the “long game.”  They created what Simon Sinek describes as “Trusting Teams.”

The Role of Company Values and a Just Cause in Employee Supremacy

At The Receptionist, their values are an acronym called FABRIC (Fun, Authentic, Bold, Respectful, Innovative and Collaborative). Andy says the important part of core values is you actually have to live them. Could potential candidates who are seeking a position at your company actually see those values being lived out? During the pandemic their company chose to fall back on those values and really focused on making sure that these values became a part of daily-life working at their company. 

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When it comes to business in 2021, we need to resonate on a human level. How many of us actually ask ourselves how well we are interacting and impacting other human beings? In today’s hybrid and virtual environment, creating human connections is something that must be strategically planned and measured.  

In today’s episode, we interview Zach Giglio, Founder, and CEO of GCM, where he creates human connections through communicating and marketing. Zach has found that companies that are leading in this new virtual and hybrid environment are clear about their identity as a company, and are deeply purpose-driven. 

Zach has been surprised by the fact that companies have not been able to more dramatically increase human connection through technology. Although we’ve done an amazing job at creating human experiences in the virtual environment, the element of interpersonal human connection is still weak. Zach believes we need to be extremely intentional in fostering human connections with our technology. Humans are hungry for connection on a level that technology hasn’t been able to fulfill yet. 

At the onset of the pandemic, we underestimated the amount of work needed to keep human connections within our teams and companies alive. Leaders have realized that they have to carve out time and create a strategic plan to deepen interpersonal connections as part of day-to-day work. 

Connecting Purpose to Company Identity 

Consumers and the general public are expecting a lot more from companies when it comes to purpose. They want to support purpose-driven companies. First, leaders need to take a step back and identify who they are as an organization and determine a purpose that goes beyond what they do. Then each leader needs to get clear on how they individually identify with that purpose. After these two things are clear, the company and the leaders are able to make purpose-driven decisions. Purpose is an action. When companies are clear on purpose, they can work towards that purpose in an authentic way. 

We are hardwired to associate our identity with what we do - but this shouldn’t be the case. 

Getting clear on your purpose as an organization or a leader has to do with “what you are about” not “what it is you do.” 

Leaders who understand the importance of having a strong organizational identity are a lot more willing to be vulnerable. When leaders are extremely serviced or product-oriented, they tend to downplay the importance of having a clear organizational purpose and value proposition. But the leaders who are brave enough to dive deep into vulnerable conversations about their organizational identity are the ones who believe that it’s their people who move the needle and make progress towards their purpose and organizational success.  

Identity Statement Example

GCM - is a family-founded global communications and marketing firm that believes in the power of human connection and business as a force for good. We get to know our clients from the inside out to create thoughtful communications and marketing campaigns that resonate on a human level.

Making an Identity Statement Come Alive

It’s important to not only create an identity statement but to also use it as fuel to make it come alive within your company. For example, let’s say inside your identity statement, you have a part that says “we’re a family.” Now you need to live that out through talking about and caring about others in your company as if they were your family. You create the energy of an ideal family on your team and in your culture.  

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Company culture and change is one of the most important discussions today. With the hybrid work challenges, and as some companies work through mergers and acquisitions, leaders need to get very clear on certain elements to help build a solid foundation so that they can Team Anywhere. 

Today on the podcast, we interview Kim Clark Pakstys, thought leader and strategic advisor on mergers and acquisitions. Kim shares with us her experience with successful leaders who've been managing difficult mergers with patience, resilience and empathy. When two company cultures are merging, Kim shares five elements that leaders need to focus on to ensure a smooth change. These elements include leading with empathy, being clear on decision making and role clarity, coming up with a common language, and listening to the needs of your hybrid team.

Some industries have made more mergers and acquisitions since COVID than they ever had in history. Alternatively, other industries have paused mergers and acquisitions all together.

Prior to COVID, the conversation around whether the company was remote or in person was not a consideration as most had an office centric culture. Now, with so many companies adopting a “virtual-first” philosophy, it’s another critical consideration as leaders move forward with mergers and acquisitions. In a virtual first environment, it is difficult for new and newly acquired employees to assess culture. Leaders need to be extra cautious about the culture of their company and the implications on leadership alignment, accretion, value creation, and fit following an acquisition. 

When two cultures are merging, there are five elements that companies need to focus on to adapt to a change.

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The way we communicate is more diverse than it ever has been. Or is it really? If you think about it, since the dawn of time, the two ways human beings have had to communicate are print and verbal communication. Today, we see those in perhaps newer ways through our email, chat groups and DM’s. Communication avenues haven’t changed much since the beginning, yet today, communication is getting increasingly more and more complicated. This begs the question, are these avenues we currently have truly enough to allow us to Team Anywhere?

On today's podcast, we interview Josh Little, a serial entrepreneur and founder of 4 remote businesses. Josh is on a serious mission to create a team communication platform that sucks less. While trying to collaborate with his remote teams, he discovered the true challenges of remote team communication. This led him to realize that it’s time to combine the richness of face-to-face interaction in an asynchronous time period, without the burnout of a Zoom Call. This led Josh to founding his fourth company, Volley.

The Volley App allows you and your team to send authentic video messages asynchronously. Think of it as having a face-to-face conversation that you don’t have to schedule. Volley can make your Daily Standups more productive, deepen relationships among team members, and make communicating remotely a lot more fun. 

Building Business Relationships Post-Pandemic

In a hybrid and virtual work environment, developing relationships with your teams, colleagues and leaders is much harder. Leaders and teams are faced with the challenge of building relationships and trust through a screen, something much easier said than done. 

The downside to a remote and hybrid work environment is the lack of spontaneous conversations that would typically occur in the office. These spontaneous conversations in the office allowed leaders to establish their leadership presence, and build trust fast. In hybrid and remote work, these conversations are now missing. Volley fills that void because it creates a more spontaneous, natural and authentic conversation you might otherwise have with someone in person. With Volley, your conversations flow more similarly to real time face-to-face conversations, allowing you to connect, communicate, build trust and deepen relationships. 

Why Conversation Is Important in the Hybrid & Remote Work Environment

The objective of communication on a remote or hybrid team is to allow communication to flow as freely, or more freely as it did in the office. 

Communication occurs two ways: through type or print (Slack, chat, or email) or verbally (in-person, Zoom, or phone call.) 

Research has shown, typing is seven times slower than speaking verbally. Because of this, we tend to delay communication until we speak in person. 

For remote and hybrid teams, this creates communication disasters. Team members end up going back and forth in Slack for way too long, write emails that could be a book, and end up realizing that they just need to talk. Before Volley, this meant that team members needed to schedule a time to talk together. This led to scheduling back-to-back Zoom meetings, ultimately creating Zoom Burnout. 

Benefits of Verbal/Video Asynchronous Communication

• More Time to Mindfully Respond
• Creates Psychological Safety At Work
• Increase Conversational Turn-Taking
• Asynchronous Communication Helps Your Introverts

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