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1. What do you need your people to know? This is about business strategy and leadership. To lead a safe, productive, growing business, what do your people need to know from you, or from leadership more generally? What information is going to help align and engage them with the company vision and direction? What will make the work environment safer, more engaging, and deliver happier customers? This is all about you knowing from the top of the organization what you need your people to know to stay aligned with the direction, understand priorities, and deliver to your customers. 2. What do your people want to know? Knowing what your people want to know and delivering it is crucial to engagement. It’s different than just what you want or need them to know. It’s about culture-building and empathy – and it starts with listening and knowing your people. What do they want to hear from their manager? From the CEO? Who else do they want to hear from? What questions or concerns do they have? Do they want updates on the market, business strategy, acquisitions? Do they care about overall performance and the success of the business so they feel a part of something bigger? Strategic internal communication must be two-way and engage the wants and needs of both your people and company leadership. 3. What do your people want/need you to know? To reiterate, communication is two-way, not just in the nature and value of the content exchanged but also in who gets to initiate it. So, in your company, who gets to share information? Request information? Seek/give feedback? Report on or provide updates on success stories? Challenges? Who listens? Your people need avenues to communicate with leadership, to know they have been heard, and to know it matters. If they are going to own the vision and mission of the company and the execution of the strategy, your people have to feel like they matter and their perspectives are heard and respected. 4. What are you willing to change? Poor communication leads to low engagement. Low engagement leads to communication problems. It’s a self-reinforcing spiral. So, if that’s what is happening, something has to change. What is it? What are you willing to stop that you know isn’t working? What communication workflows need to be evaluated? What roles and expectations of leaders and managers must change? Communication both creates and is a function of organizational structure and design. So, if you want to change communication, then you should be willing to change these. Another new channel, a new meeting, new FTE, or new piece of technology on top of the same old practices probably won’t do it. 5. Why does it matter? If you are going to invest in change and expend your leadership capital to do so, you need a plan to articulate and promote “why” and then capture and report on the results. Can you reduce the volume of emails? Can you eliminate technologies or practices you know aren’t working anyway? Can you create new feedback channels? Communication impacts everything you do. So, pick short-term metrics that you and your people value and strategically align your communication change efforts to improve them. In the mid and long terms, you can then track lagging metrics like reduced turnover, increased engagement, higher productivity, increased safety and the like.

Trust is an essential ingredient to an optimized workplace—a core part of every relationship we have. When we trust, we feel safe to share our thoughts, our ideas, our worries, and our hopes. When others trust us, they do the same. ‍ Trust doesn’t mean we must always agree. It simply means that we listen with respect and value the other party’s point of view. Trust allows us to debate and challenge one another’s points of view as we seek to solve problems and find solutions.  When trust is present, we get better results with far less stress. ‍ For leaders, trust frames both our obligations and responsibilities to our team because of the authority and power we have within the organization. Our behavior within these 4 domains defines our own trustworthiness. ‍ Trust is the collective of these domains: ‍ Sincerity - The assessment of the one’s honestly. It’s the belief that the other individual means what they say, says what they mean, and their actions align with their words. When we express our intentions, beliefs, values and plans, we aren’t just describing ourselves, we are setting expectations of our future behaviors based in the minds of those who hear our words. The greater the scope of responsibility within the company, the more closely others watch to determine if our actions match our words. If they do not align, we cannot earn trust. ‍ Reliability - The assessment of the other person’s ability to follow through with the commitments they make. If the other individual promises you a report “by Friday” - it will indeed be delivered by Friday (not an excuse on Friday and a report on Tuesday). How we handle requests, make offers and voice commitments will determine if others find us reliable or not. If we are not reliable, we cannot earn trust.\ ‍ Competence - The assessment of the other person’s capacity, skill, insight and knowledge to do a particular task or job. The degree to which they are capable of executing a task well. Being competent does not mean being perfect. It means knowing our limits, acknowledging when we cannot complete a task, and asking for help or guidance. If we lack skill and knowledge but charge ahead anyway without engaging someone with expertise, we cannot earn trust. ‍ Care - the assessment of the other person’s capacity to think of someone other than themselves - that they have considered what is in the best interest of everyone (including the company) when they make a decision. It is virtually impossible for a team to collaborate to solve problems if some members do not believe other members do not care about the collective interest of the group. When we show up for the little things of our co-workers (meeting for coffee, asking about a sick child, staying late to help with a task), we demonstrate that we care about the interest of others. Saying we care without any demonstration of showing up for others is complete hypocrisy - and we cannot earn trust. ‍ Summary: ‍ The degree of the team’s trust in their leader drives employee satisfaction, loyalty, and work commitment. Trust in the leader is directly tied to productivity and profitability. It creates a sense of belonging and purpose for our work. ‍ The absence of trust (distrust) manifests as fear - and fear destroys idea sharing, innovation, and collaboration. Individuals who lack trust in their leader tend to spend more energy on protecting themselves. They engage in strategies to document their decisions should they need “evidence” in the future. ‍ Occasionally, I hear a leaders speak as though their team members should earn their trust. That’s a perverse inversion of the leadership model. ‍ If you are the leader - take a hard look in the mirror. And evaluate the trustworthiness of the person looking back at you. Your own sincerity, reliability, competence and compassion for others defines your own trust quotient. It’s well worth the investment of your time to discover yours. Without it, you cannot lead.

Having difficult conversations is…well…difficult. This is especially true if you need to have a difficult conversation with a supervisor or someone else at a higher level in your organization. I was recently coaching a young executive who had been struggling with a direct report, who had a history of creating challenges among the team even back to a previous manager. But, this person was also highly valuable because of their skills and experience, and no one wanted to lose them. The young executive with whom I was speaking had sought advice and support from his superior to deal with the issue. In an attempt to help, his boss said that the problem employee could just report directly to him and he would deal with it. Even with the best intentions and that positive sense of collective required in the hustle of a startup, this attempt to help created far bigger problems for the young executive. Now, the rest of his direct reports believed that if they disagreed with him or if they didn’t like what he said then they too could go around him and directly to his superior. The workaround intended to relieve this young executive had accidentally neutered his ability to lead the rest of his team and as a result multiplied his stress. We were talking through how he might have this conversation with his boss. Sparing additional detail, here were some key principles we landed on: Approach with gratitude: We talked about how he could acknowledge the good intent of his supervisor’s move and open the conversation with that appreciation. This would ensure that nothing came across as complaining or personal or ungrateful, which were things he was really worried about. He valued and wanted to protect his positive relationship with his boss. Appeal to common interests: This young executive was hired because of his own skills and the belief that he could lead this team and the company to a new phase of growth and maturity. He knew that he and his boss could agree on this premise. With that out in the open, he needed to describe the unintended consequences of changing the reporting structure. Clearly, neither of them wanted this young executive to not be able to perform the job he was hired to do. Focus on outcomes, not people: We talked about making sure the conversation with his boss never became about the valuable, but problem employee. It couldn’t become personal. It had to be about process and performance. So, this young executive needed to show with examples how his leadership was being undermined with other direct reports and how that was impacting performance. Define an agreeable path forward: This was not a situation that could linger. This young executive was losing authority and credibility by the day and as a result was also developing a lot of frustration and anxiety about his role and the work and so forth. So, he needed to use steps 1-3 to make sure the conversation was primed for: so what do we do now? Within a few hours of our conversation, I got an email back. The young executive and his boss had agreed that an announcement would be made to the team about the change in reporting structure, so it no longer looked like a workaround that others could also take. They also defined specifically when that announcement would be made. This path forward not only would help solve the authority problem but would also relieve the stress valve for the young executive who now knew something would happen. This wouldn’t linger. Perhaps most importantly in the long run, I suspect that this young executive’s approach and willingness to have a difficult conversation with his boss only reinforced why he was hired in the first place. I have a feeling his opportunity and authority will only grow as a result of the experience.

Leaders play a crucial role in shaping the mental health and wellbeing of their employees. A positive and supportive work environment can improve job satisfaction, increase productivity and decrease absenteeism. However, a negative or unsupportive work environment can lead to burnout, stress, and even mental health issues. The Workforce Institute at UKG surveyed 3,400 people across 10 countries to spotlight the critical role our jobs, leadership, and, most of all, our managers play in supporting mental health in and outside of work. Key Insights from the Study: Leaders impact employees’ mental health (69%) more than doctors (51%) or therapists (41%) — and even the same as a spouse or partner (69%). 28% of employees believe that their manager has a direct impact on their mental health and wellbeing. More than 80% of employees would rather have good mental health than a high-paying job. Two-thirds of employees would take a pay cut for a job that better supports their mental wellness — and 70% of managers would, too. Work stress negatively impacts employees’ home life (71%), wellbeing (64%), and relationships (62%). 40% of the C-suite says they will likely quit within the year because of work-related stress. Managers are more often stressed out than their team members and senior leadership (42% vs. 40% and 35%, respectively), and 25% say they are “often” or“always” feeling burned out. This “middle layer” is the most at risk in many companies and feel the greatest day-to-day stress. But the C-suite is not immune to challenges, either. A surprising 33% ofC-level leaders say, “I don’t want to work anymore,” and the younger the leader, the more they agree with that statement. In fact, a whopping 40% of theC-suite says they will likely quit in the next 12 months due to work-related stress. Being overwhelmed consumes human energy and impacts retention, performance, innovation, and culture. Employers can be the anchor of stability for their people by giving them the support and resources they need. ‍ 7 Behaviors to Positively Impact theTeam’s Wellbeing: Here are seven good behaviors that managers can exhibit to positively influence the mental health and wellbeing of their team: Lead by example: Managers who take care of their own mental health and wellbeing set a good example for their employees to follow. Communicate effectively: Regular communication with employees can help managers understand their concerns and issues. Encouraging open and honest communication builds trust and promotes a supportive work environment. Provide clear expectations and feedback: Providing clear expectations and feedback can help employees feel more confident and reduce stress levels. Recognize and appreciate employees: Recognizing and appreciating the hard work of employees can boost their confidence and motivation. It can also create a positive work environment where employees feel valued. Support professional development: Providing opportunities for professional development can help employees feel valued and increase job satisfaction. Address conflicts and problems: Addressing conflicts and problems promptly can prevent stress from escalating and creating a toxic work environment. Foster a positive work culture: A positive work culture that promotes respect, inclusion, and collaboration can improve job satisfaction and mental health. Summary: The research makes it clear that many people are suffering in silence. Leaders need to avoid burying their heads in the sand and instead make mental health a global topic of discussion within their teams. Don’t force a discussion, but make it ok for people to have one. Pause to checkin with employees, even if you’re uncomfortable asking how someone is. That’s what leadership is. By exhibiting good behaviors such as leading by example, communicating effectively, recognizing and appreciating employees, and fostering a positive work culture, managers can positively influence the mental health and wellbeing of their employees. It is important for managers to prioritize their employees' mental health and wellbeing to create a supportive work environment that promotes job satisfaction, productivity, and overall wellbeing. References: Workforce Institute. (2023). Mental Health at Work: Managers and Money. Retrieved from: https://workforceinstitute.org/the-impact-of-work-on-mental-health/ Workforce Institute. (2022). 2022 Workplace Predictions. Retrieved from https://workforceinstitute.ck.page/2022predictions American Psychological Association. (2022). Ways to Improve Employee Mental Health. Retrieved from: https://www.apa.org/topics/healthy-workplaces/improve-employee-mental-health

Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. (Lao Tzu) About 20 years ago, Peter Salovey and John Mayer defined Emotional intelligence (EQ) as the collection of abilities used to identify, understand, control and assess the emotions of the self and others. Since then, both researchers and business leaders have studied this concept and it’s profound impact in the workplace. ‍ Research by the Center for Creative Leadership has found that the primary causes of problems in executive leadership involve deficits in emotional intelligence. One study of executive leaders found that how well leaders handled their own emotions determined how much people around them engaged with them and the level of effort the team put into their work. ‍ Emotional intelligence is that intangible “something” in each of us that affects how we manage our behavior, navigate social complexities, and make decisions that achieve positive results. While hard to define - we all know how easy emotional intelligence is to actually “see.” We have all experienced working for a leader who is neither self-aware nor able to “read the room” and understand how the team is both thinking and reacting to their message. ‍ Our emotional intelligence is the foundation for a host of critical leadership skills. It impacts most everything we say and do each day. Over the past 20 years of research, we are learning that emotional intelligence is the single biggest predictor of performance in the workplace and the strongest driver of leadership and personal excellence. ‍ WHAT MAKES UP EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE (EQ)? ‍ Emotional intelligence is made up of four key skills - and while there is much research in this area, I’ve simplified the findings down to a few basic qualities. These four skills are structured in two two domains: personal competence and social competence. ‍ The first domain involves our personal competency: 1. Self-Awareness: Do I understand how I am seen? Do I fully realize how others view me? ‍ 2. Self-Management: Do I have control of what I say, what I do, and how I behave? Can I keep my thoughts and emotions in check, even if I’m upset or angry? ‍ The second domain involves our social competency: 3. Social Awareness: Do I really see others (the whole person) and their point of view? Do I know how to “read the room” and gauge the level of engagement, stress, etc? Do I choose the right time and place when I choose to share my thoughts? ‍ 4. Relationship Management: Do I know how to engage others for in mutually beneficial relationships? Do I try to understand another’s view before pushing my own agenda? Do I actively listen or am I just waiting my turn to talk? ‍ The fusion of these four skills - and the degree to which we master them - determines our level of emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence goes far beyond our trying to gauge an employee's mood -- it allows each of us (as leaders) to carefully examine business situations and approach them appropriately. Our EQ largely determines the degree of employee engagement and our ability to work through others to get things done. ‍ Our self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills are key factors in defining our level of emotional intelligence as leaders. If we look around and no one seems to be following - it is likely we have no real emotional intelligence. ‍ Emotional intelligence is an understanding of what it means to be human. By recognizing that everyone has a personal story and by actively listening and showing empathy; we can connect and build relationships based on trust. When we learn to better identify and manage our own emotions, build our own social awareness and invest in building meaningful relationships with others — our business decisions will become easier, interpersonal relationships will improve, and we become the leader our team wants to rally behind.

A couple of years ago, I was working with a multi-billion dollar, global financial services company that had (pre-Covid) a vast network of on-location staff as well as remote online and call center staff to provide direct support to their customers. As we talked about growth and change in their company and their market, we explored if and how they were, or could be, learning from these front-line employees spread across the globe. What were these people hearing directly from customers that the company really needed to hear and understand? ​ We’ve all heard the saying about the importance of having “an ear to the ground” so we can sense imminent changes in our work environments and markets, but how well do we do it? Who has their ears to the ground more than those meeting our customers where they are? Dealing with their problems? Frustrations? Who has the potential to positively or negatively impact our customers minute-to-minute on a daily basis? Too many of the people on the front-lines of our work think they are too “low on the totem pole” to speak up in our companies or don’t have the power to create change in their own work. And, too many companies think the same way. As a result, many of us are really missing the opportunity to become more resilient, adaptable, and creative organizations. When we don’t listen to our customers and the employees who interact directly with them, we run the risk of missing indicators of emergent change in our markets, products, and even broader society that can lead our products and companies toward their next iteration. Through a simple, facilitated reflection process, this company - which thought it did a good job listening to its people because they could reel off some good anecdotes - realized that their listening to front-line employees across the organization was far spottier than they would like. They recognized that their anecdotes were about specific leaders or departments that carried this value of active listening rather than a reflection of a systemic approach or strategy by the firm. The implications from this kind of company self-awareness became pretty vast as they then considered who they needed to train, how they needed to adjust professional roles and expectations, and how a better process of listening could improve their product offerings. To cultivate a powerful culture, people at all levels of our companies need formal and informal outlets to provide feedback, ask questions, and share ideas and solutions. This is just strategically smart. It’s not about being nice to our employees. Not only will listening to our employees make our company more resilient and adaptive, it will also make for happier employees and better products and services for our customers. When they know their ideas and insights are respected (even if not always acted upon), our people will more actively and critically identify customer patterns and frequent issues that we may never see, and solve them in ways we may never have thought of. They will own their work and the whole company will perform better because of it. Powerful cultures don’t happen by accident. They result from powerful leaders, powerful relationships, and organizations that understand and leverage the power of their people at all levels.

The Latin phrase "ex nihilo" means "out of nothing," and it is most often associated with the concept of creation. This phrase perfectly defines the journey of the entrepreneurial leader. Entrepreneurial leaders are a relentless, seek-and-solve breed of innovators. They are the ones forever craning their necks, trying to “look around the corner” for the next evolution of the business. They relentlessly pursue “a better way.” These entrepreneurial leaders are the real money multipliers: turning $1 of capital into $2, then $2 into $10, and $10 into $100. ‍ Over the past 20 years, I’ve developed my own entrepreneurial ventures, taught entrepreneurial concepts, and mentored individuals in venture growth. Those experiences have helped shape one of the hallmark courses in Vanderbilt’s Executive MBA program—Creating and Launching the Venture—offered in both the Executive Edge and Global Immersion Tracks. The course is centered on the three distinct phases of business growth: Phase 1: Question. Design. Do. Discover. Disrupt. Phase 2: Build. Delegate. Iterate. Adjust. Learn. Phase 3: Adapt. Grow. Scale. Think. Phase 1: Question. Design. Do. Discover. Disrupt. ‍ Those who choose this less-traveled path create new businesses, new products and new markets largely out of nothing. They frame problems and seek innovative solutions. They test concepts with early-adopter customers. The first business model, the first customer of a new product, the first employee in a new market - none of it is easy. ‍ This phase is all about bringing something new to the market. Leaders imagine how the solution solves a real problem – and they work hard to communicate that message of relevance to prospective customers. Leaders must have thoughtful curiosity and vision to thrive in this first phase. ‍ Phase 2: Build. Delegate. Iterate. Adjust. Learn. ‍ It's not long until most leaders find themselves spending their day working "in" the business – holding all the pieces of the business together. However, once a business reaches a certain size, trying to be at the center of every decision and approving every move becomes the leader’s downfall. ‍ This phase involves a personal change and the humility to recognize the need for others. Leaders must spend their time hiring the right people, developing the team, and ensuring each team member fully understands the company strategy. ‍ Phase 3: Adapt. Grow. Become. Scale. Think. ‍ There are only so many hours in the day, and even entrepreneurial leaders only have a certain amount of capacity. As the business grows, focusing time for maximum impact becomes paramount. ‍ Regardless of the industry, transforming the business while growing – its people, processes, business model and enabling technologies – is the most difficult work of all. ‍ This phase of business requires incredible foresight and strategic planning. Leaders mentally live 6-9 months ahead of where the business is – planning for upcoming quarters, predicting resource needs, and looking for opportunity. The day-to-day will be managed by the team. ‍ Leaders must grow faster than the company grows ‍ Through each phase of growth, the leader’s skill and professional development must outpace the growth of the organization. The success gained through vision and creativity in Phase 1 will not necessarily translate to the most important skills needed in Phase 2 – team development and working through others. And the leadership traits that define success in Phase 2 become limiting without the communication and strategic skills required for scale and margin creation in Phase 3. ‍ As part of this entrepreneurial journey, there is another “ex nihilo” that occurs for the leader. The learning that occurs – through visioning and design; introspection and investment in the team; and thoughtful communication and strategic thinking – transforms the entrepreneurial leader. And seemingly “out of nothing,” one learns to turn dreams into reality.

Power is at the core of your organizational culture whether or not you accept or even recognize it. In fact, if you don’t accept or recognize it, it’s likely that you are the one benefiting from it. You’re “in power”. Regardless of whether you do or not, I promise that others see it, and they see you through it. So, the question is: are you building a powerful culture or a culture of power? Understanding the difference and how your people interpret your culture, and your position as a leader in it, will determine the nature and effectiveness (or not) of your leadership over the long term. Here are a few distinctions that might help clarify: A powerful culture believes in its people. A culture of power believes in the system, structure, and organization. A powerful culture grows power. A culture of power consolidates and organizes it. A powerful culture believes that knowledge and ideas are everywhere in your organization. A culture of power believes that knowledge and ideas come from the top. A powerful culture celebrates people at all levels. A culture of power celebrates a select few. A powerful culture focuses on relationships, responsibility, and accountability. A culture of power focuses on accountability. A powerful culture seeks transparency. A culture of power keeps secrets. A powerful culture communicates. A culture of power distributes information. In a powerful culture, our people feel a sense of ownership for their work. In a culture of power, work feels directive and even compulsory. In a powerful culture, there is joy. In a culture of power, there is fear. In a powerful culture, everyone feels responsible for leading and following. In a culture of power, there are a few leaders and many followers. In a powerful culture, everyone teaches and learns. In a culture of power, some are teachers and others are learners. In a powerful culture, leadership is emergent. In a culture of power, leadership is constructed. In a powerful culture, change is both bottom-up and top-down. In a culture of power, change is top-down. In a powerful culture, people naturally create. In a culture of power, people wait for others “above them” to create. In a powerful culture, people are proactive. In a culture of power, people are reactive. In a powerful culture, people seek truth. In a culture of power, people seek affirmation.

One of the more important strategies of business communication is the finely honed sense of when not to talk. Especially as a executive, I can tell you (humbly, even) that the greatest business lessons I’ve learned have occurred during the times that my own mouth was shut. Here are 5 Times When Silence is Golden: ‍ ‍ 1. A comment about another person’s flaws. A good reputations can be tarnished when it’s just too tempting to blare your negative opinions of another person’s flaws. If you think good news travels fast, just see what this inopportune tactic will do. Worse for the speaker, it will create this certainty in the mind of anyone listening: it’s only a matter of time till you’ll be talking about their flaws too.‍ ‍ 2. A question or comment unrelated to the agenda. I’ve watched aspiring leaders lob questions or comments in a meeting that have nothing to do with the agenda. It’s a sure way to show lack to tact and an inability to focus. A rousing discussion may ensure, but afterwards, attendees will remember the speaker’s lack of focus. They’ll also mark you as someone who has no respect for an agenda nor the meeting organizer. ‍ 3. The clever parting remark. Learn to resist the clever (or off color) parting remark. Lack of sensitivity to others will dog your career. While no one may say anything - those who overhear such things learn over time to avoid direct interaction with such a person. You might get the last word, but not the last memory.‍ ‍ 4. Simply sharing an opinion with no data. Unless specifically asked for an opinion - remember they have limited value in important business decisions. Do your homework. Know the industry. Know the facts. It’s better to remain silent than open your mouth and confirm you’re not prepared for the discussion. Anytime someone begins a statement with “I think…” remind yourself it’s simply an opinion - with likely no real facts to back up the claim.‍ ‍ 5. When emotionally charged. If you do not have enough self-disciple to have full command of your emotions, resist the urge to speak out until you have cooled off and gained some level of self-control. Lasting harm can be done when you speak in such instances. You may be forgiven for the event, but no one will forget.

A leadership team I support was struggling with a particular employee and the issues had been lingering for several months. This employee had been a positive team member and quality contributor until recently. But lately, the employee’s performance simply hadn’t been good enough. The quality wasn’t there. Her work was often incomplete. It lacked depth and insight. And, it was starting to impact the team as the other members had picked up the slack and, as a result, was feeling the tension with management. The management team had already let the employee know improvement was necessary. They had started to meet more frequently and to dial up the necessary feedback and micromanagement. But, the more time they spent together, the more the employee seemed to pull back. In other words, as they ratcheted up their formal communication to try to course correct, the informal and discretionary communication all but stopped. The managers didn’t want to fire her, but they didn’t know what else to do. They felt stuck. In a session with one of the managers, we discussed the simple-but-powerful 5 Whys process created decades ago by Toyota to help them drill down to root causes of problems in their manufacturing. The process is so simple, however, that it really works with any problem. Just ask “why” five times, each time asking “why” of the previous answer such that you create a sort of cascade of deeper and deeper problem statements. If nothing else, it can deepen your understanding of the variance and dynamics of a problem to know what part you have the time, energy, and resources to address. In other words, you may not always have the capacity to address the root cause but at least understand that you aren’t addressing the root cause. In this case, the manager took the 5 Whys back to her colleague and they agreed to use it as a structured conversation guide in a meeting with their struggling employee. They introduced the process and the three of them worked together to dig deeper into what was behind the employee’s poor performance. This was the manager’s message back to me: “I tried the 5 Whys in my conversation with this person. My boss was with me as well. So, I just introduced the process and put {the performance problem} up on a whiteboard and started asking why. It was so helpful keeping the conversation focused and not so emotional. And after all of this time where we thought the employee was the problem, we discovered she actually didn’t have all the information she needed to do what we had been asking her to do. It was us! It was our problem! And here we were thinking we were going to have to fire her! Anyway, we left the conversation so much clearer and in a much better place. It was great! Thank you!”

I was on a recent coaching call where a mid-level leader of an independent business unit within a rapidly growing company was dealing with the following realities: 1. Her team was entirely remote. 2. She was entirely remote from her supervisor and company leadership. 3. Her team was acquired over two years prior but still felt little connection with the acquiring company. She and her team were performing and performing well, but without much distinction from how they worked prior to the acquisition. The autonomy was good on some levels, but the challenge for this leader was that she was being asked questions about the larger organization, its vision and direction, and even what would happen when it exited. She didn’t have any of the answers. She felt as disconnected and uninformed as they did. There was a slow but growing sense of fear and uncertainty within her team and a developing anxiety within her as their leader. So, what should she do about it? How should she present her concerns? Here are some things we came up with: 1. Start with you. We talked about her just having some open conversations with her manager and/or peers at similar levels or situations within the organization as a way of asking how others were managing this better than her. Instead of looking up at the organization and starting with “you need to fix this”, this approach takes ownership and starts with “how can I do better”. No one is going to shut you down, marginalize your concerns, or get defensive when you start with “how can I do my job better?” 2. Speak on behalf of your team. As you explore how you can do better, frame it with what you are hearing from your people. Share their stories. Share the questions they are asking you that you can’t answer. Give a sense of their fear and frustration. Paint that picture. Then, frame your needs as it relates to your ability to effectively lead them. If you don’t feel informed and connected, you can’t help them feel informed and connected. So again, you are asking to be better equipped to do your job well – which everyone should be pretty well in favor of. 3. Show you are thinking big picture. Provide your supervisor the strategic context for your concern. Talk about the health of the team and the related health of the company. Talk about company growth and the challenges of retaining and attracting talent. Talk about the cost of losing some of the specific people who are asking you the questions you can’t answer. Talk about how this problem only gets bigger the more the company grows if it’s not addressed. 4. Listen for how others see, understand, and prioritize the issue. You don’t have to jump straight to solutions. In this case, the first goal is to raise the issue and get a conversation started. So, in alignment with #1, stay focused on tactical next steps and where they can start with you, but involve others where necessary. Rapidly growing companies have innumerable competing priorities. Raise your issue and better understand where it fits in the mix. This will help align expectations for action or lack thereof. Working with remote teams requires an entirely different level of intentionality when it comes to communication and culture. Problems like the one this leader was presenting don’t naturally get seen by company leadership and don’t organically surface in their day-to-day. Leaders in these situations must recognize this reality and find ways and forums for bringing these issues to light. They can’t just let them stay quiet. That’s clearly not in anyone’s best interest. Sometimes it’s hard to find the words or the process where none seem to exist. But, that doesn’t make conversations like these any less imperative. In order to effectively lead through others, you often have to manage up to get what you need.

How do we find the humanity in business? We don’t. It is already human—an organism made up of real people with real stories, real dreams, and real pain. Some call it culture—but it’s deeper than company slogans, mission statements, and props. ‍ As leaders, our job is to not kill the humanity of business. We destroy the human element of our business with our distractions of self importance, with insensitive comments, or through our endless drive for facts and figures that replace empathy and problem solving with impersonal efficiency. ‍ A spreadsheet cannot enhance the customer experience. Humans do that. And they come to work knowing that perfection is impossible. Often scared to death that the end result won’t be enough - they aim to be the best they can be. And they seek both a sense of belonging and needing to feel they matter. It’s really that simple. ‍ A business is a human story - a vision that we have to communicate to everyone: our team, our clients, our community, and our investors. The story of the business is the collective stories of the people who are bartering away their most precious asset (their time) to be part of our vision. ‍ A business is human relationships - a means of conveying the non-technical to the technical and back again. Through these relationships we translate customer pain (or desires) into operational solutions. And never forget - it’s the people that add value. These human relationships are a tapestry of talent woven together to make meaning. ‍ A business is human creativity - the fusion of art and science. It is the process of combining the disparate pieces of business know how and the insights gained from our own human journey (often insights from our own regrets and lessons learned) to solve real problems and to make an impact in the lives of others. This shared creativity makes life bigger - it allows us to be part of something really significant. ‍ If we as leaders fail to understand this simple principle - this fragile ecosystem of business can become our own Frankenstein - a monster of our own making. Having all the parts, but more a collection of human corpses - killed of any spirit, heart or soul. ‍ But our business can also become something that bears the characteristics of Christ. Or Gandhi. Or Mandela. Or Milk. Or Yousafzai. Perhaps we can amplify the message of all of those revolutionaries who did not confine themselves to the small-mindedness of confusing operational effectiveness with human impact. ‍ So, if we want to find the humanity in business, we must dare to make life bigger than ourselves. We must spend the time to truly understand and embrace those around us. We must hear their stories and honor their contribution to the greater purpose we all seek - to balance the pain of life with the glory of it.