Torch

Such an awesome night representing Torch at achieve Engagement's Leadership Development dinner last night. I got an opportunity to facilitate an incredible discussion with my TABLE THREEEE crew 💜 🙌 Great to meet you all and thanks for joining Steve Holden Olivia Bujak, MA Peggy Quirk Ryan Arpin Adam Behrens, CPTD Jane von Halle, CPTD Ellyse Najdek, sHRBP, MHRM

In our most recent executive panel during our All-Hands meeting, the leadership team received a question that felt confrontational. The question essentially challenged the optimism present when execs share information. They highlighted that it felt unbelievable in light of the uncertainty in the world and market. We create psychological safety for our employees so they can feel free to ask these questions.  It makes for a healthier culture. For me, it offered an opportunity to reflect on how leaders face anxiety, fear, and the unknown. I’m a big believer in not compartmentalizing the scary stuff.  Pretending to be totally optimistic in challenging conditions can result in negative organizational outcomes and it’s certainly not an authentic posture to take as a leader. That being said, I do not choose to lead from a place of pessimism with regards to what we can achieve and I don’t believe other leaders should either. In my experience in the field of Positive Psychology I’ve learned that we create our own reality. I’m very conscious about the narrative that I create, not just for our broader team, but for myself. We are what we believe to be true. While there is part of me that can feel worried at times, there is another part of me that very much believes we will not only succeed but be better because of the journey. I choose to lead from that part, rather than the part that fears uncertainty.    TLDR:  it is natural and human for leaders to feel anxious and worry about the future.  I am no exception to that and I feel those things plenty.  But as a leader, when I show up in All Hands meetings, or on team meetings, I prefer to galvanize the team around an ambitious and positive future that sends the message “I know this is hard, I know it feels scary sometimes, but we can do this ya’ll! LFG!” #leadership #coaching #HR

A coach asked me today if their marketing background should make a difference in their work with clients. It is a fair question considering that much of coaching relies on soft skills like listening, empathy, and tough love.  In training, coaches are instructed not to give advice.  The most disciplined coaches listen, ask questions, mirror emotional reactions and challenge the client appropriately.  So I understood where she was coming from.  She said, “As a coach I’m supposed to come with questions, not with the answers right?” I’m here to say to all coaches everywhere that yes, your business experience matters…a lot.  While coaching is not consulting, the best coaching relationships draw on all that the coach brings to bear including life experience, business experience, training, and academic background. In this way, coaching takes shape as active listening, but from a very informed place, allowing the coach to empathize more effectively and ask questions that are more on target.  Personally, I don’t think a coach needs to have grown up through the same functional discipline at all (enterprise sales, software engineering, marketing etc).  But I do think that some kind of broadly adjacent experience allows the coach to empathize with the real world challenges that the client is facing.  Having genuine experience in the business world is a huge plus.  It isn’t for the purpose of offering advice.  At the heart of it, we are talking about the coach's ability to deeply understand and connect with a client.  The deeper the understanding, the deeper the trust. That is the container through which people can change.  #coaching #hr #leadershipdevelopment