Unlocking Leadership Through Authentic Communication

As a leader and an HR representative, I’ve lead countless investigations. At this point in my career, I know when bias might be playing into the process and impacting my results and/or my recommendation. Here, I share how I know that my investigation might be compromised and what I do to course correct or at the very least double check to make sure my results and recommendations make sense.

Every conversation is an opportunity for a win even if you decide to say no. Many times leaders have angst about not approving someone’s request. In this episode, I’m going to help you change your mindset to switch from dread to curiosity when receiving a request that you suspect you can’t grant. Then I’m going to help you find alternatives that support the employee and the business. And finally, if the decision is a no, I’m going to help you keep that door open for discussion in the future while keeping the employee engaged.

I’ve thrown out a lot of ideas over my career and have learned many valuable lessons when I didn’t get the response I was hoping for. In this episode, I give you my tried and true formula to make sure I figure out the best solution to a problem and help you tell a compelling story to get buy-in.

You don’t have to be a CEO or rich and famous to have advisors. In fact, everyone should have an advisor. Even teenagers should have advisors! These are simply people who are experts in their field that you can call upon to give you advice when you need it. In this episode, I’m going to share with you some of the many advisors I have that are my “go to” people that help make my life easier. Make a list and leverage your advisors throughout this New Year. You learn a lot and will find that calling on those who know more than you makes life so much easier.

HONEST! Really…really…honest. I get that it’s scary. I get that there’s some risk there. But I’m going to help you find words to have an honest conversation and develop rapport with your leader so when you need to have tough conversations in the future, it’s super easy. You will have developed trust between you and your leader and will be able to take honest feedback from each other like it’s second nature…because it will be! I share the systematic way I break down conversations and structure them so they’re on point, succinct and focus on what I want for the future. 

There is a time where being elected to be a part of a team feels really great and then there are times where it feels like you have to do “one more thing”. Consider how you show up to these teams when you feel like it’s a chore. You probably show up to the meeting, just counting the minutes until it’s over. I’m going to teach you how to invite talent to your project team to ensure everyone shows up feeling valued and knows exactly what their role is. Get ready, because you’re about to have the most engaged project team of your career!!

I share the number one statement a person makes that causes me to automatically disregard someone’s request or complaint. This one statement totally tanks a person’s credibility on a team. I have zero tolerance for entertaining it as a serious concern. In this episode, I teach you as a leader how you should look at this statement, how you should address it and how you can leave the door open for the person to come back to you later with a serious business request. And heaven forbid, if you say this as a leader, please stop it!

The days where people were just a number at an organization are gone. Now, people want to be treated like people. They have hobbies, personal lives, side-hustles and much more! If you want to keep them, you’re going to have to figure out your values as a leader and those values translate into how you want your team to make decisions and ultimately the decisions you make as a leader when others might not necessarily agree. If you aren’t leading your teams this way, I highly encourage you to make the change. You won’t regret it!

I’ve seen some really awful pay increase proposals and I’ve seen some really well thought out intelligent ones. I’m going to teach you how to put together a proposal for a pay increase, when to pitch it, who to pitch it to and what the follow-up commitment should look like. I’m also going to tell you some of the worst components of a pay request so you can stop doing them! Leverage these tips for yourself and your team today!

It’s really easy to let others be more knowledgeable than you on your area of oversight. Many times, the information a leader receives is part of their company’s culture and job description. But have you ever considered that not having this information on your areas of oversight isn’t doing you any favors? How will you develop? How will you understand the business? How will you be able to evoke change in areas that desperately need it if you have no access to information or resources? You can’t. Here, I tell you what things you need to know, how you can advocate for yourself to receive all things impacting your business and the mindset you should adopt to truly be firing on all cylinders with respect to your area of oversight.