Your Future Realized

Find the full transcript at yourfuturerealized.com/11.

Everyone doubts themselves from time to time. But for some, it takes the form of a constant uphill battle.

When you lead cross-functional operations, your attention is always pulled in different directions. It’s easy to get over-stimulated and take the stress out on yourself.

A Director of People Operations recently said to me,

“I internalize a lot of what goes wrong. I tend to think that when things are going wrong it’s because there’s something wrong with me.”

Does that hit close to home?

It’s common for leaders to struggle with this, especially in high-pressure roles like that of an operations executive. You bear a lot of the weight of responsibility for the success of the org and the people in it. 

So, in this episode, I’ll talk about what the big deal is about self-trust. And I’ll share a practice you can use to trust yourself more.

Find the full transcript at yourfuturerealized.com/10.

Nothing stretches us as leaders like someone shining a spotlight on our blind spots.

And as an operations executive, you are no stranger to the feedback process. You probably get it regularly through review cycles and 360s.

A client recently said to me:

“I don’t mind feedback, I’ve learned how to deal with it. But it’s so hard to get clear feedback that I can do something about.”

Can you relate?

The fact is that some people are just less likely to give clear, direct feedback. This is particularly true when there are power dynamics at play. When worries about job stability are there, truth-telling is harder to come by.

That means you could be missing out on vital intel. But you can get an edge here.

In this episode, I’ll share six common places to get jammed up around feedback. I'll also share how to un-jam the environment, so it feels safe for others to give you powerful feedback.

Find the full transcript at yourfuturerealized.com/9.

Have you been overcompensating for your operations team’s weaknesses? Then listen up.

When you live and eat operations, you know how things work and the best, most efficient ways to do them.

And your team is busy. You’ve likely built guard rails for them to minimize burnout because you take good care of your team.

So, when a crisis hits, if you sense your team lacks the time, resources or urgency to get it done right, you might have trouble keeping your hands off the wheel. Sometimes it's easier to handle problems yourself instead of guiding someone else to do it.

How close to home does this hit?

In this episode, I’ll talk about breaking that habit so you can slow down to speed up. And I’ll give you eight steps to boost your team’s capacity to navigate crises themselves.

Find the full transcript at yourfuturerealized.com/8.

Every high-achieving operations executive I spoke with this year named work-life balance in their top three challenges.

One SVP of Global Operations said:

“Sometimes I finish at 11:30 at night and am back online at 8 am. I lose sight of what’s important to me, including eating well and working out. I almost never log off before 8 pm and feel good about it.”

Are you in the same boat?

Succeeding doesn’t mean that you have to sacrifice your well-being. It does require you to apply a bolder, sharper strategy to maintain a sustainable pace.

If you seem to be able to streamline processes for everyone except yourself, this episode is for you.

Listen in as I share six pro moves that you can put in place today so you can end the day without feeling burnt out. Time to find a better way.

Find the full transcript at yourfuturerealized.com/7.

Interviewing a diverse group of operations executives this summer, one item popped up on many wish lists:

Gaining an edge in dealing with different personalities and styles.

Some wanted to build greater trust with the CEO. Others wished for an easier path through sticky situations with cross-functional partners. Many could do with more leverage in holding reports accountable for results.

With operations, you're touching such a broad realm of stakeholders. There will inevitably be some people who are easy to ride with, and some with whom it seems it's a road full of potholes.

Who is coming to your mind as I say this?

What I know for sure is upping your communications game starts with self-awareness.

In this episode, I’ll share my go-to resource for insight into relationship mechanisms.

Find the full transcript at yourfuturerealized.com/6.

Compared to other function leads, as an operations lead, you are less likely to connect with people outside your organization.

By design, you are focused internally. You keep a finger on the pulse across the system. You’re nurturing relationships, optimizing resources, and carving efficiencies to keep progress rolling.

That doesn’t leave much opportunity to focus on professional networking, so it's not unusual to get caught in your own echo chamber.

That hinders creativity and dampens your potential for growth and advancement.

Does this sound familiar?

In this episode, I’ll help you think about what keeps you caught in your own operations bubble. I’ll also talk about what it takes to burst out of it so you can recharge and infuse your thinking with possibility.

Find the full transcript for this episode and more resources for ops execs at yourfuturerealized.com/5.

When I interviewed a bunch of ops execs earlier this year, I was listening for what was most important to them.

One theme that bubbled up was the joy execs get watching their team collaborate and grow as they march toward common goals.

And Ops never stops! The Ops team is the backbone of your org. It’s fun to watch them achieve great things by connecting the dots that make it all work. Isn’t it?

Unfortunately, ops often doesn't get enough props. Creative, sales, and other client-facing teams get acknowledged more publicly simply by the nature of their role.

It’s likely Ops doesn’t get noticed until something goes wrong. That can drain and demoralize, and lead to disengagement and retention issues.

Sound familiar? 

This week, I’ll explore a simple habit that can keep your unsung heroes feeling supported and connected to the rest of the org.  

Find the full transcript for this episode and more resources for ops execs at yourfuturerealized.com/4.

How often do you get to the end of the workday unable to recall what you accomplished?

You know that you were busy, lots of important info was exchanged, maybe some problems solved. But no big stones really got moved.

Sound familiar?

Operations heroes often find themselves drained and unable to pinpoint what they’ve accomplished.

Now, there’s a lot of moving parts in your day and a lot of ways to handle it. You wouldn’t have gotten this far without already being pretty efficient.

But there is one almost invisible trap that may drain your energy. With a little strategy shift you can make better use of your team’s time, insight and skills.

Today I’ll share an elegant solution that shifts your approach to meetings so you can get out of the weeds and regain some white space on your calendar.

Find the full transcript for this episode and more resources for ops execs at yourfuturerealized.com/3.

This past summer, I interviewed a slew of operations executives to learn about their most common problems and their best practices for them.

Challenges followed clear patterns regardless of company size or industry, age, gender, location, or number of years in their role.

And I was surprised by the most pervasive challenge. One highly successful COO for ten years with over 1600 people reporting to him summed it up like this: ‘I’ve constantly got a low-key tape playing in my head saying things like:

I’m not doing enough. I’m not going fast enough. Did I do that wrong?’

What? To look at this guy’s CV you would not at all expect him to struggle with confidence.

Does this sound familiar to you too?

In this episode, I’ll share the quick mindset shift and 3 tips that cultivate confidence. 

Find the full transcript for this episode and more resources for ops execs at yourfuturerealized.com/2.

Ops execs make the world go round! You oversee all the cross-functional teams, systems, and workflows, so your org hits its goals.

That means there are a lot of plates spinning. And you are the one in the center of that orbit, making sure all those teams and systems make sense and create the right results.

It’s easy to get lost in the sauce of day-to-day activities – especially when your time and attention are called for from so many angles.

I often hear from ops execs who sense something’s just off the axis. They need time for strategic planning, so they think they need to upgrade their time management skills.

But that’s like trying to squeeze blood out of a stone because they’re already running full tilt.

Does this resonate with you?

In this episode, I’ll share three lessons that are the magic key to reaching the next level.