DS Consulting

How would rate your followership skills?

In my September Newsletter the main feature subject is of following and how it compares to leading. How different is it really? What skills can followers and team members develop that will prepare them for being great leaders?

In reading this, you find along with my thoughts an article from Harvard Business Review.

Additionally, and based on one of the skills of leading, the topic of creativity is explored with four ideas that can expand thinking, opportunities, perspective etc. Of course, there are more ways but hey, you have to start somewhere.

You’ll also find a video link to show more of how the brain is operating when being creative.

I haven’t suggested ‘brainstorming’ directly in the creative section of the newsletter.

Brainstorming, it’s a form of brain exercise

Sometimes ‘brainstorming’ gets a bad press and I see eyes raise to heavens on the mention of it. Let me give it a new focus.

Brainstorming is about creativity and not only can it mean great ideas are collated. It will test your brain, exercise it, encourage it to connect your knowledge, feelings and experiences together. This firing of neurons helps you brain as it ages, keeps it fitter for longer, can help it to keep working well when aging causes less able parts of the brain to function as well as they once did.

The main feature article of my May’24 blog

Also included in this edition:

• Listening – a critical leadership, 4 tips to do it better
• The HeadStart coaching session gets a 5 star review – see what a happy clients says

Don’t miss out on A Listening workshop for your team to understand this skill better and to strengthen relationships

My team are hybrid and virtual. How can I set them up to think and feel like a team?

In this edition:

Main Feature

My team are hybrid and virtual. How can I set them up to think and feel like a team?

Head 4 Leaderships 4 Tips

Ways to put a🌷spring (back) in your step

The Head Start Coaching Session

For first time managers – a one-to-one session with Dominique to set you up for the challenges and rewards ahead.

Main Feature

My team are hybrid and virtual. How can I set them up to think and feel like a team?

It’s a question I ask leaders I work with and they ask me.  With the hubbub and pressures of daily activities, taking time for a holistic view of how the team is doing can and does get lost.   Proximity doesn’t always evoke a strong team bond. This means that hybrid and virtual team leaders have even more work to do to optimise what they can achieve.  

You can have the most talented individuals in your team, and yet, that is no guarantee if and for how long they will work well together.  

Examples: Rolling Stones Magazine wrote an article in 2023 on the top 50 messiest band breakups. Within these stories, there are changes in motivation, behaviour and time, that can inform you on what to be looking out for in your teams.  

One of the most common statements I hear from leaders is along the lines of, I’ve got all these performance reviews to do, which means I don’t have time for my work!

  Why is giving time to building the team and the individuals in it not seen as an essential part of a leader’s role?

Take the work of John Adair a British leadership theorist – the link is to a video of him speaking at a London Business Forum and referring to his model of focus for leaders. Task, Team and Individual.

Adair’s model is to put equal time and effort as a leader into the three areas.

• TASKs – Directing the focus of the team, what we are here for, who is doing what, how and by when. Having a plan, vision and communicating them.  
• TEAM –  Knowing the team, their talents and expertise and having clear roles and responsibilities.  Co Creating team behaviours, processes and standards. Encouraging team appreciation for member’s similarities and differences.
• INDIVIDUAL – Taking time to acknowledge each team member, to notice when they need support and provide it. To understand their motivations and adapting to meet these.

How can this model work with hybrid and virtual teams?  

There are more challenges here, however in my experience, if the model is central to how you share your time leading, it can help establish a connected and motivated team. One where issues are raised, noted and dealt with promptly.

For example:

Team meetings – Weekly, 3 per month, dedicated to the tasks, progress and problem-solving.  1 x meeting per month dedicated to team learning – about each other, to giving and receiving feedback, to focusing on behaviours.  Quarterly, where possible, in person with fun and relaxation included.

I-2-1’s – Once a month check on the individual’s progress on tasks and two-way feedback.  Once a month, a meeting is dedicated to getting to know each other better (it’s a two-way sharing), an individual’s personal development and motivations.

Finally, a leader needs to check in with themselves and have their own support mechanisms and space for development.  Especially if the above approach does not come naturally.  

Head 4 Leaderships 4 Tips

To put a🌷spring (back) in your step
Many of you will have times when your motivation dips.  There are multiple reasons for this including: work, personal life and health status (physical and mental). Life’s complicated!

My own experience as a business owner in their 10th year (already!), is that there are times when I am on fire and times when its a slog!  It’s in these moments it’s important I stop and take a proper look at what is behind these feelings. And, it is something I assist coachees with too!  

I’ve been a qualified coach since 2005, and its common for clients with low motivation to express harsh self-judgment and question their value.  Sometimes, prematurely considering leaving their organisations as they seem so out of kilter with it.    

Here are 4 tried and trusted ways to re-ignite motivation

🌷Revisit what matters most in work and life – prioritise and verify. A life wheel can guide this thinking. Taking a holistic approach, the wheel shows aspects of work and life.  The idea is to rate these as you see them now and where you desire them to be. Example below*.   Exploration of this wheel gives insights for where to put your focus.  And then to prioritise that focus.  

🌷Check in on how you are spending your time. Using the life wheel as a guide.  Drill down into the relevant segment/s (e.g. career).  Explore what you seek from your career. What are you doing within your role that fulfils you? How much of what you are doing does not? What do you want from your career? The demands of current roles with reduced resources and high expectations, can cause you to lose sight of what your role’s most valuable activities are.     For example: one client was going to meeting after meeting and with reflection, a good few were not valuable use of their time.  They became more cognisant of what meetings they were accepting, only attending ones where it was clear they would add value.   When you calculate what you are paid per hour, and look at what you are doing for that, it can help identify what to do less of or stop altogether.  

🌷Measure for progress over perfection. When confidence, frustration and motivation are at a low ebb, I’ve noticed how tolerance levels change.  High levels of frustration can lead to rushed decisions.  Low confidence levels can lead to inertia.     To regain balance in response to these heightened feelings it has been useful for my clients to plan step changes and then to measure the progress being made toward these.

  For example: One client’s step change was resetting expectations with their peers.  Their habit had been to respond immediately to requests and emails, it made them think they were being conscientious and dependable. These interruptions derailed their focus, and although busy, very busy, at the end of the day, they were left feeling as if no real progress of significance had been made.  Sound familiar! The reset (e.g. setting time aside to attend to such requests, forwarding them to others where appropriate, protecting time for projects and team time) wasn’t welcomed by all! Gradually though, the new habit was established.  It wasn’t an instant, perfect solution. Each time we met though, more progress and benefits were revealed with these changes.  With that, their frustrations had decreased significantly

🌷 Use / build or reconnect with your network. One of the results of frustration and a lack of motivation is that it can cause people to withdraw.  It can result in presenting a façade and hiding real concerns and feelings.  This kind of response puts a great deal of stress on the body and the mind.   When I am coaching people I often enquire into their network. Who do they interact with at work or from previous roles? Who can they trust and be open with when the coaching is over?  What groups would help them with their ambitions or interests?  How can they foster and build supportive relationships?

Network and support ideas:

• Hobbies and interests
• Family and friends
• Faith and volunteering
• Business and profession
• Learning and qualification
• Counselling and therapy

  In summary, it’s natural for motivation to fluctuate. You can get caught up in life’s pace and lose sight of what makes you fulfilled. There will be times when you can self-reflect and get back on track. A change of scene and getting outside are proven to induce breaks from a low mood. Nurturing connections, relationships and networks gives you access to trusted people. Ones who can be relied upon to support you in regaining a spring in your step, and you for them!

*Wheel of life

🌷

The Head Start Coaching Session

For first time managers – a one-to-one session with Dominique Giving you awareness and focus so you can have the best impact as soon as possible in your role!

With out a map, taking a trip into the unknown is a bit daft! Getting lost can have many implications!

My Head Start session gives you a map and reference points to help you check-in with and adjust your thoughts, perceptions and responses.  

‘I put this vital session together because clients often come to me a few years into their leadership roles. Many having had little or no development.  As their roles changed and grew, rather than growing in confidence they were in fact losing it!

The aim is to provide a first time manager with focused individual develop time, as early as possible.  To establish strong foundations and understanding from which to build their resilience for what’s ahead.

This individual virtual session (1-2-1) fills self- awareness gaps of a new manager. Awareness of their mental strength and resilience.

For just £250* per person, you gain:

• A mental strengths model that describes four components of resilience (control, commitment, courage and confidence)
• A report that reveals your self-assessment of resilience (via an on line link) in these four areas.
• A set of development ideas for each of the 4 areas and
• The insights that a one hour coaching conversation with Dominique reveals.  Helping you focus on what will have the biggest impact and meaning for you in your role

*Ts and Cs apply, face to face a group delivery are an option, enquire below.

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