It’s time for another leadership challenge! 

 Today, we’re looking at a real-world scenario where a leader feels they are clearly communicating their expectations, but team members just aren’t quite getting it. 

 We should warn you though, any possible solution to this type of problem ultimately involves having a conversation that could make everyone feel a bit uncomfortable. 

 On the bright side, we’ve got a whole lot of practical advice for you!

 In order to solve a problem like the one we have here, you first need to understand the reasons behind it. These could be any number of things including simply not understanding your instructions, not understanding the need—or the why— of your instructions, disagreeing with your instructions or disagreeing with your authority to give said instructions. 

 There are different ways of dealing with each possibility, but at the end of the day, people just want to be heard and know that they are supported. 

 Tune in today for helpful tips on how to navigate disagreements when it comes to giving and receiving instructions, and create a kinder, more harmonious work environment. 

 To listen to more episodes, head to Apple Podcasts here!

 Connect with me:
 
 Facebook

Instagram

LinkedIn

 Go to kindleadershipchallenge.com/conversations and enter your email to start having the conversations that will impact your community for the better. 

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To listen to more episodes, head to kindleadershipchallenge.com!

Ready to Take Today's Challenge, but not sure where to start? Download the free Next Steps Checklist!

Want a likeminded community of leaders who'll have your back through thick and thin? Learn more about the Kind Leadership Guild.

Let’s just go ahead and get right down to it: your team at work is not your family, and believing otherwise will lead you down a disastrous path. 

 It makes sense that people often compare the two because a cohesive family and team both operate in similar ways. However, how many functional families do you actually know? The two differ quite clearly when it comes to their purpose. This makes for completely different power dynamics and interpersonal challenges. 

 A good, kind, leader knows when, where, and how to draw the line and set the appropriate boundaries. These can be complex situations to manage and is why leaders have a tendency to confuse their teams with their families. We’re all fallible, mistake-making human beings, so it’s completely understandable!

 Tune in today for practical tips on how to navigate these different dynamics, what warning signs to look out for and how to (mostly) leave your family baggage at home, and out of the workplace. 

 To listen to more episodes, head to Apple Podcasts here!

 Connect with me:
 
 Facebook

Instagram

LinkedIn

 Go to kindleadershipchallenge.com/conversations and enter your email to start having the conversations that will impact your community for the better. 

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To listen to more episodes, head to kindleadershipchallenge.com!

Ready to Take Today's Challenge, but not sure where to start? Download the free Next Steps Checklist!

Want a likeminded community of leaders who'll have your back through thick and thin? Learn more about the Kind Leadership Guild.

Workplace drama is unnecessary and quite frankly, annoying! Do we really need to bring melodrama into the workplace? 

 Of course, where there are humans, there will be some sort of conflict, but there are usually solutions to at least diffuse the constant emotional unloading. The question is, is the person who is in the drama wanting a solution to their problem, or do they want to be comforted? 

 This question is very important, and it is something we will be exploring in today’s episode. First asking this question, then what to do when you receive the answer. 

 As a kind leader, your first instinct is to want to move on from the drama so everyone can get back to work in a healthy environment, but these are real situations that happen. So having the tools in place before they come up is very important to diffuse the situation as it comes up. 

 Tune in today for helpful tips on how to move on from workplace drama and cultivate a kind work environment for everyone!

 To listen to more episodes, head to Apple Podcasts here!

 Connect with me:
 Facebook

Instagram

LinkedIn

 Go to kindleadershipchallenge.com/conversations and enter your email to start having the conversations that will impact your community for the better. As well as for a chance to win a copy of Joan Gallo’s and Lee Bolman’s ‘Reframing Academic Leadership’.

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To listen to more episodes, head to kindleadershipchallenge.com!

Ready to Take Today's Challenge, but not sure where to start? Download the free Next Steps Checklist!

Want a likeminded community of leaders who'll have your back through thick and thin? Learn more about the Kind Leadership Guild.

You’ve heard me say it many times, “stay kind now”. This phrase sounds like a simple pleasantry, however it is so much more than that. This phrase is quite powerful, and each word on its own can be broken down to convey what we are trying to achieve with this podcast. 

 In today’s episode you will be hearing me break down “stay kind now”, word for word, so you can get a better understanding of its magnitude and maybe inspire you to use this phrase in your own life. 

 Together we can start to create a better, kinder, world. One “stay kind now” at a time.

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To listen to more episodes, head to Apple Podcasts here!

 Connect with me:
 
 Facebook

Instagram

LinkedIn

 Go to kindleadershipchallenge.com/conversations and enter your email to start having the conversations that will impact your community for the better. You'll also have a chance to win a copy of Joan Gallo’s and Lee Bolman’s ‘Reframing Academic Leadership’.

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To listen to more episodes, head to kindleadershipchallenge.com!

Ready to Take Today's Challenge, but not sure where to start? Download the free Next Steps Checklist!

Want a likeminded community of leaders who'll have your back through thick and thin? Learn more about the Kind Leadership Guild.

I’m going to warn you up front, today’s episode is one of those “podcaster, heal thyself” situations. Because despite how confident and with-it I may sound on these episodes, I’m an introvert who stinks at networking. However, to fulfill the potential of both the university I serve and this side project, it’s time to suck it up and start more intentionally making connections. Today I’m going to share 3 steps I’m taking to become a better networker, partly for accountability, but mostly because I think my struggles might resonate with a lot of my listeners. So with that, let’s all get comfortably uncomfortable!
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Master Challenging Conversations (and get a chance to win a copy of Reframing Academic Leadership!)

LinkedIn's Social Saturday Squad (and you cann connect with me on LinkedIn right here!)

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To listen to more episodes, head to kindleadershipchallenge.com!

Ready to Take Today's Challenge, but not sure where to start? Download the free Next Steps Checklist!

Want a likeminded community of leaders who'll have your back through thick and thin? Learn more about the Kind Leadership Guild.

From July 24th to 29th, I had one of the most amazing professional experiences of my entire life at the Leadership Institute for Academic Librarians at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.  And I kept a journal of sorts, in the form of livestreams and posts I shared with the Kind Leadership Challenge Facebook community. Today I’ll be revisiting those recordings to share what I learned, and how you can implement those lessons in your own leadership practice as well.   
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Master Challenging conversations--and enter to win a copy of Reframing Academic Leadership by Joan Gallos and Lee Bolman! 
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To listen to more episodes, head to kindleadershipchallenge.com!

Ready to Take Today's Challenge, but not sure where to start? Download the free Next Steps Checklist!

Want a likeminded community of leaders who'll have your back through thick and thin? Learn more about the Kind Leadership Guild.

My fellow library and educational leaders, I come to you today with an uncomfortable truth.
 
It’s time to listen to your shadow.

We all have things about ourselves we don't like, or try to ignore. And we leader types just tend to find a big ol’ black box, shove those shadows in, and slam the door tight.

But what would you say if I told you that your dark side might just hold the secret to becoming the kind leader you're meant to be?
(Originally released 3/28/2022)
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Resources:
Master Challenging Conversations
Kind Leadership Challenge Community
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To listen to more episodes, head to kindleadershipchallenge.com!

Ready to Take Today's Challenge, but not sure where to start? Download the free Next Steps Checklist!

Want a likeminded community of leaders who'll have your back through thick and thin? Learn more about the Kind Leadership Guild.

As I mentioned back in episode 10, I am the proud owner of a Peloton. One of the big reasons I bought a Peloton was because I have to exercise first thing in the morning or it never happens, and there’s not really any better way to ensure I exercise first thing in the morning than to have a $2000 spin bike sitting 5 feet from the edge of my bed. There’s probably an episode on establishing good leadership habits in there, but that’s a topic for another day. Today’s topic instead is an epiphany I had in a class I took this morning, and how it might help you reframe your next leadership breakdown.
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Coaching and Speaking inquiries: [email protected]

Master Challenging Conversations

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To listen to more episodes, head to kindleadershipchallenge.com!

Ready to Take Today's Challenge, but not sure where to start? Download the free Next Steps Checklist!

Want a likeminded community of leaders who'll have your back through thick and thin? Learn more about the Kind Leadership Guild.

I have a big vision for the Kind Leadership Guild. I think I’ve mentioned it in passing here and there, but my long term goal is to create the Kind Leadership Academy, a membership community where dozens or even hundreds of educational and library leaders can safely and privately discuss their challenges. Where leaders like you can take part in live monthly training on real-world leadership topics, and engage in small group or even 1 on 1 coaching experiences tailored to your unique situations. Where different levels of support are available at different prices, so that no leader will be excluded from learning Kind Leadership simply because their organization can’t pay them what they are worth. And where, by working together collectively, we can build the better world each of us envisioned when we became educational or library leaders. 

But I also have a vision for my life that involves a somewhat demanding day job, quality time with my spouse and friends, regular exercise, something resembling 8 hours sleep, and above all a promise I made to myself around the time I founded the Kind Leadership Guild in late 2019: That I will never burn myself out for a vision again. 

So, how am I squaring that circle? By employing the second of the three skills of Kind Leadership: Managing effectively. Keep listening for a case study, and for the scoop on my next baby steps toward the Kind Leadership Academy.
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Email me to learn more about the Kind Leadership Academy: [email protected]

Master Challenging Conversations

Join the Kind Leadership Challenge Community

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To listen to more episodes, head to kindleadershipchallenge.com!

Ready to Take Today's Challenge, but not sure where to start? Download the free Next Steps Checklist!

Want a likeminded community of leaders who'll have your back through thick and thin? Learn more about the Kind Leadership Guild.

How can you grow your leadership skills, regardless of your job title? My Guest Alvina Peat and I will be talking about this in the first interview episode of the Kind Leadership Challenge. It’s a little longer than our usual episodes, but filled with a lot of value for anyone who wants to be more effective, humane, and collaborative in their work building a better world.
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Resources:
More about Alvina Peat
Register for the HER 2022 Retreat (July 30, 2022)
TCBWomen Community
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Join the Conversation in the Kind Leadership Challenge Community

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To listen to more episodes, head to kindleadershipchallenge.com!

Ready to Take Today's Challenge, but not sure where to start? Download the free Next Steps Checklist!

Want a likeminded community of leaders who'll have your back through thick and thin? Learn more about the Kind Leadership Guild.